Multi-purpose bedroom for two busy boys

This multi-purpose bedroom with its cheerful colours is a fun place to hang out;

dad Michael Muller made the bed and mom Lisa Spaarwater tackled the painting.

Thanks to their raised beds, Mich (7) and Christiaan (5) have lots of space to play on the floor. The area beneath the bed provides a cosy spot to read with storage space for toys under the seating. Mat from Mr Price Home; chair upholstered in Farmyard (colour Indigo on Sky), reading nook mattress upholstered in Retro Road (colour Brick on Sky), Animal Alphabet cushions (opposite, on top bed) and Farmyard cushions (below) all from Design Team; red throws from Woolworths; boots from Pick n Pay Clothing

Costs

As the owner of Lemon & Lilac Paint Techniques, Lisa was able to use a lot of leftover paint from the business. The project cost about R5 000 in 2011, with Lisa and Michael doing all the work themselves.

The project

“Whennnnnn will it be finished? Daddy is taking too long!” This was the refrain Michael heard over and over again when he was constructing these ingenious beds for his sons, Mich (7) and Christiaan (5). At the time, they were living in Observatory, Cape Town, but have since moved to Swellendam.

“Michael saw a similar children’s room on the internet,” says Lisa. “I’m crazy about this kind of multi-purpose room – there’s plenty of space to play on the floor and there’s a spot to do homework and read under the beds. It helped a lot that our Victorian house had high ceilings.”

Michael did the woodwork over four weekends. “It was more about careful planning than hard work,” he explains. Lisa adds: “Michael did everything himself – with only a jigsaw, a drill and a few glasses of red wine!”

After that it was Lisa’s turn. She first painted the walls and then the beds. “After the first coat of darker paint (Rich Praline 1), I brushed the edges of the beds with lots of melted candle wax (simply melt plain cheap candles) and a small artist’s paintbrush so that the next two coats – Dusted Moss 2 – wouldn’t adhere to those areas. This gave the beds a weathered look – perfect for a boys’ room which, in any case, would have to endure the scratches and scuff marks made by swords and Star Wars light sabres!” Lisa laughs.

And once the painting of the beds was done, these were the words most often heard, especially when friends came over to play: “Wow, cool, awesome!”

Did you know? You can create your own textured paint with this simple recipe: add one part building sand to 10 parts paint; the finer the sand,

the finer the texture. This area below the bed to the left of the stairs is perfect for doing homework or having a snack. Ceramic robot and Tintin poster from Baraka