What a Difference a Shade Makes

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With the baby here and all four boys needing to share a room soon, the 2-year-old is getting kicked out of his crib and moving on up to bunk bed status!

Bulky drapes can feel way too heavy in a kids' room

The bad news? That second bunk bed needs to go here, butted up against the first bunk bed, right in front of this window. Obviously it's not ideal to block a window with a bed, but that's the position we find ourselves in. We've measured and calculated all sorts of potential layout plans including knocking down walls and rebuilding closets, and this is the conclusion we've come to.

There is no other way we can fit ourselves and four kids into this house.

Replacing oversized drapery can really open up a room.

Clearly this meant these curtains had to go, which I not wasn't too torn up about. The funky wrought iron rod went well with the room's quirky nautical theme, but the black was a bit much and weirdly didn't block light all that well.

Heavy black drapes can make a kids' room feel gloomy.

They were also totally in the way of where the second bunk bed needs to go, so we did a quick switcheroo thanks to our sponsor Made Blinds and got some slim roller shades up in their place.

Inside-mounted roller shades can open up a room, particularly if you have furniture partially overlapping a window.

The order process was ridiculously quick and simple. Measure, plunk the info into the website, bust out the credit card and call it a day. Just a few quick turns of some screws and this thing was solidly in place with less than half an hour of effort. I didn't go for a valance because I wanted to keep our space as uncluttered as possible, since the top of this shade will ultimately be hovering above one of my little dudes' heads. I can always add a small window scarf or header later if I change my mind.

Slim roller shades with pull-downs.

I opted for a cordless lift option, so a quick tug makes the window treatment glide up or down. Come naptime, the kiddo up top can operate this thing all by himself. The shade came with removable tassels for ease-of-use, but they're not really necessary and I'm thinking I'll probably take them off to maintain a sleeker look.

Blackout roller shades

Since I mounted the roller shades as a reverse roll (with the fabric coming off into the room as opposed to towards the window) there is a bit of light leakage on the sides, which was to be expected. I like this look best, and the blackout material pulls its weight mightily and gets the room more than dark enough for a mid-day rest.

Slim roller shades can change the dynamic of a whole room.

Next up, I get to drag the second bunk bed in here and put the whole four-kids-in-one-room idea to the test!

So tell me your opinion: tassels or no tassels?

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