Today I am excited to share Charlotte’s toddler bedroom with you. Over the last couple of months we have changed her room a lot. I wanted a place that was simple, calm and allowed her to be independent. Her bedroom has some Montessori inspired touches, but I designed it to be what works best for her and our family’s needs.
Baby proofing for a floor bed: Previously, she had a crib, dresser and bookshelf that stored her toys. We removed the dresser and shelf to avoid them tipping over on her. Her clothing is all in her closet now. We put her monitor and sound machine up on a shelf, used outlet and plug covers (similar here – affiliate link) and covered all cords using these covers from Ikea. Her bedroom does not have an overhead light and we had been using a lamp. I did not want her to pull a lamp down or burn herself on the bulb, so we got this plug-in ceiling lamp from Ikea. We covered the plug & cords too. Her bedroom door has a baby gate on it in case she would open it up. Her blinds do not have cords.
We moved Charlotte from a crib to a Montessori floor bed when she was 15 months old. We made this change when she went from crib to cot at school. She transitioned very well and we have really loved this change. It’s a great place for a story time cuddle and it is so much easier to soothe her back to sleep if she awakes during the night. I sewed a small quilt for her bed and a little pillow. She always has some “babies” in bed with her. Next to her bed is a wooden crate that we keep bedtime books in, her mirror and a comb. Above her bed is a felt ball garland (high up to be safe) and a framed photo of her and her dad. She points to it and says “Dada” all the time. There is a thick shaggy rug next to her bed. On the edge of the mattress I have a long but skinny pillow under the fitted sheet. This helps prevent her from rolling out of bed. Only do this for children old enough to safely use a pillow. We baby proofed this room so that if she gets out of bed, her room is a safe space for her to be by herself.
We have kept toys to a minimum in her bedroom. She has a wooden doll bed (thrift store find), Baby Stella & accessories, her rocking chair my dad restored for her, a bookshelf with books we rotate, a crate with her dollhouse and a puzzle. I intentionally put toys and materials in her room that are calming and quiet. Her bedroom is a place for rest and sleep.
We really are enjoying her toddler bedroom and so is she!
Animal matching – For her, this worked best starting with two at a time. Once she got that down, we added another card & animal.
Puzzles – Recently she has been able to successfully complete puzzles and luckily all of our puzzles happen to be farm themed!
Books – We went through our home library and picked out all the farm animal books. She especially likes
I brought up these pieces from our basement and the cutest little farm kitchen emerged. I also added more vegetables to her pretend food and sewed some pot holders. She has been working hard at cutting those veggies and serving Madeline.
I made a chocolate play dough using the recipe in 
She used the duck to peck at the dough and thought it was so funny. She spent the rest of her time covering her animals with the dough.
Charlotte’s favorite activity is taking care of her “babies” – stuffed animals, baby dolls, Schleich animals, her wooden Melissa & Doug people. I knew I wanted to get her a play kitchen for Christmas to expand on her play. At first I was going to DIY it with a piece of furniture, but quickly decided I didn’t have the time or knowledge for that. Then I started to look for ones I could buy but they were either too expensive or not the style I was looking for. I wanted a wooden one that was very simple and unpainted. One morning I did a search on Craigslist and found the perfect one. I emailed the guy and picked it up the next day. It is made by Little Colorado (links below). I got a great deal on our hand-me-down one, but at retail they are still a good price (this post is not sponsored, I just love our kitchen!)
We put her play kitchen, 
She received a lot of pretend food for Christmas so we added a few pieces from each set to her kitchen. The rest is in our storage area for rotating out later. We also set-up a little tea party – she loves to serve and pretend drink out of the mugs. 
Love, Joy & Wonder 