So who tuned in to see the season return of Packed to the Rafters last night? Hubby and I rarely like the same shows but we were both nestled up by 8.30pm ready to meet Baby Ruby and get our Rafter fix!

Shortly into the second episode we got a glimpse of Ruby’s new nursery and I was delighted to see that her new nursery had been decorated in wall stickers available at Giggle Smile Designs. It was fantastic to see a girly lilac & pink room decorated in the Hoppy Pond Wall Appliques , Polka Dot Piggy Wall Appliques & Border.

So if you loved Ruby’s new room and would like to recreate it, here is your “Ruby’s Room” shopping list.

1 & 2 - Dulux Paint Colours - Vision Half & Fairy Wings Half

The walls were painted in a pale Pink & Lilac and we think these two Dulux colours are pretty close! To make the room more unisex in colour you could also use a Pale Cream & Mint Green.

3 - Hoppy Pond Wall Appliques

4 - Polka Dot Piggy Wall Border

5 - Polka Dot Piggy Wall Appliques

Ruby’s walls were decorated using two styles of wall stickers Hoppy Pond & Polka Dot Piggy. The friendly farm & jungle animals in the Polka Dot Piggy set have been mixed with the Butterflies, Dragonflies, Frogs & Pond setting to create a magical room filled with friendly faces.

As I mentioned previously both of these designs are quite unisex so to make the room less girly drop the pink & purple paint and replace it with cream & mint for a truly adorable nursery.

Image - Pottery Barn Kids

Decorating a shared bedroom can be challenging, ideally each child’s identity needs to be expressed but an overall sense of unity is important to create a cohesive look.

Here are our top tips to help you makeover a shared bedroom.

Furniture Placement & Storage

1. Matching your furniture style & colour will immediately give the room a sense of unity.

2. Bunks Beds are a fantastic way to save space but think outside the box and place them perpendicular to one another. This means another storage unit can be placed underneath and only one corner of the room will be dedicated to sleeping.

Visit Bunkers for a fantastic range of Bunk Beds.

3. Having two separate matching beds in the room will clearly define a personal space for each child, placing a rug between both beds will create a dividing line between the room.

4. Storage, Storage, Storage! If the room has enough space, dedicate separate storage areas for each child this will give ownership to items in the room.

Image Courtesy of Ikea

5. If you do not have enough room for separate storage areas, divide the room into three and have the third area as a shared space that each child is responsible for.

Decorating the Room

1. Let your children help design the room by helping them pick the colour scheme; this will ensure each child’s personality is immediately reflected in the room. Make sure you read our colour therapy article to ensure the colours you have chosen are suitable for a bedroom.

2. Matching quilts will create a look of unity, however adding individuality to the room is also important. Let each child choose a quilt cover in the palette of the room and accent with personalised cushions.

3. Personalised items will add individual touches to the room. Use wall letters to hang a child’s name above their bed or use vinyl wall art in the room palette colours to express the child’s interest.

4. Add a cork board in each child’s area so they can display artwork and photos this will help to further personalise & define separate spaces. Chalkboard Stickers are also a fantastic way of letting your children personalise their own area.

5. Keep it Simple! Children grow up so fast so unless you want to redecorate every year (heaven for me) it is important to stick with a colour palette or theme that is going to grow with your children.

Popular Shared Room Colour Palettes & Themes

Shared Bedroom for Boys

Colour Palettes

Red, Blue & White
Pale Blue & White
Grey & White
Navy & White
Pale Green & Pale Blue
Brown & Blue
Brown, Red & White

Themes

Pirates
Sports
Construction
Vintage Planes
Trains
Transportation
Fishing / Camping
Fire Trucks
Outer Space
Surfing / Beach
Nautical
Stripes
Spots

Shared Bedroom for Girls

Popular Colour Palettes

Pale Pink & Lemon
Pale Pink, Mint & White
Mint, Lemon, Aqua
Lavender & White
Red & White
Pink & White

Themes

Beach / Mermaids / Flip Flops
Princesses
Flowers
Butterflies
Fairies
Stripes
Spots
Whimsical - Owls, Trees etc
Roses / Lavender / Cottage Chic
Ballerina
Russian Dolls
Geisha Dolls

Shared Bedroom for Boys & Girls

Colour Palettes

Pale Pink, Pale Blue & White
Pale Blue, Pale Pink & Mint
Sky Blue & White
Lilac & Green
Cream & Chocolate
Cream & Mint
Lemon, Chocolate & White
Red & White
Lemon & Mint
Grey, Pale Blue & White
Avocado & White

Themes

Zoo Animals
Woodland Animals

Circus
Stripes
Spots
Monogrammed
Silhouettes
Trees & Birds
Beach
Alphabet / Numbers / Educational

We hope our article has helped you create a functional space for your shared room and be sure to visit our store for a fantastic range of themed decor for your kids room.

Belinda - Giggle Smile Designs

Pirate Bedroom Theme

All products can be found at Giggle Smile Designs

Acrylic Wall Letters

Captain Sharky Pirate Bunting

Assorted Pirate Room Hooks

Pirates of the High Seas wall sticker kit

Ghost Ship Chalkboard Sticker

Wooden Pirate Ship

Ghost Ship Wall Canvas

Treasure Island Bookends

Giggle Smile Designs have put together some co-ordinating products that we think would look amazing teamed together in a room.

All products can be found at Giggle Smile Designs 

Butterflies & Friends Wall Stickers

Butterfly Baby Cot Comforter and Pillow

Butterfly & Flower Mobile

Butterfly Garden Height Chart

Garden Bookends

Acrylic Wall Letters

Assorted Garden Hooks

Happy Butterfly Decorating!

Both little boys and little girls love the ocean and all of its friendly creatures so why not decorate in this theme to create a soothing, fun and friendly space for your little squirt to rest, sleep & play.

An Under the Sea Nursery or Bedroom is a great unisex option for a nursery or even a shared bedroom and with thousands of products on the market in this theme, a room can be made over on even the smallest of budgets.

Here are our tips to creating the ultimate underwater bedroom.

Set the Mood

If you go out and buy bits and bobs in the underwater theme, you may start to put together the room and find that the items you have purchased randomly do not work together so our tip is to pick one key item that will be the starting point of the room. It may be a beautiful linen set, an underwater wall mural or even a photo or poster of a calming ocean. Using this one key item will help determine the mood of the room and the accessories that will match and complement the room.

Paint

Have you picked your one key item? Then look to this for paint colour inspiration.

Any shade of blue will complement an under the sea theme consider vibrant aquatic blues, pale sky blue or aquatic greens.

If your planning to install wall stickers or removable wall art the type of paint you choose is super important. Teflon (Wash and Wear) paints are designed to repel and this means you may have trouble with peeling wall stickers if you choose this type of paint. Please consult with your local paint shop and mention you want to avoid Teflon / silicone based paint if you are planning on using wall stickers in your completed room.

Wall Art

Now that the painting is complete the fun begins!

Choosing wall art for your room can be overwhelming as there are so many choices but please remember to look at your key item and let it help you make the right decision.

Here are some of our favourites:

Whimsical Whale Wall Mural

Sea Creatures Wall Stickers

Under the Sea Wall Print - 3 Super Cute Designs Available

Furniture

If your buying new furniture white or beech are the perfect colours for an underwater theme, however if your repainting old furniture why not give them a distressed look to really carry the theme of the room thru to your furniture.

Final Touches

Adding a Floor Rug that matches your room will help to bring the whole room together.

Find Fish or Ocean inspired Bookends, Coat Racks or Wall Hooks to help organise the room.

Find personalised items such as Wall Letters, Name Meanings or Height Charts to give the room a personal touch.

Under the Sea Wall Letters

We hope we have helped inpspire you to creating the ultimate Under the Sea bedroom.

~ Belinda ~

Giggle Smile Designs 

Decorating has never been so much fun!

Although having a theme  is not essential, it can make the task of  decorating easier and you will find the room will come together easier if there is an object or idea that is the  focus of the room.

We have compiled a list of the top 10 themes that sell the best at Giggle Smile Designs and over the coming weeks we will be putting together comprehensive guides as to how to decorate in these themes with useful tips and DIY tricks you can use to create the perfect unisex themed nursery.

Our Top 10 Unisex Nursery Themes

Under the Sea 

Read our Under the Sea Decorating Guide

Australiana

Beach

Alphabet / Educational

Circus

Teddy Bears

Nursery Rhymes

Jungle Animals

Farmyard

Polka Dots

Customer Comments: “Hi Belinda
Just wanted to email you pictures of the finished decorated room
using the butterfly stickers I bought from your site!!  I
abosolutely love them!! They were soo easy to put up as well.”
~ Heidi ~

These walls were decorated using the Multi Coloured Butterfly Kit and the Large Butterfly Wall Mural from Giggle Smile Designs.

When it was time to take my little mans room from a nursery to a big boy bedroom I jumped at the chance to try out the Walltastic Wallpaper Murals that we sell at Giggle Smile Designs . I thought I would document the experience and pass on the tips and tricks that I learnt when installing the full wall mural.

Firstly let me introduce you to the fantastic range of Walltastic Wallpaper Murals they are highly detailed, unique, 3D, computer-generated murals for kids bedrooms, nursery’s, playrooms or games rooms. They come in 9 designs and are truly a unique and interactive way to decorate your kids rooms.

You will need:

At least 2 pairs of hands

Sugar Soap

Fine grit sandpaper

Wallpaper Glue - we used the Metylan brand

A step ladder

A paint brush to brush on the wallpaper glue

A stanley knife and spirit level to help cut in the wallpaper if needed.

Large Sponge or Wallpaper smoother.

Installation

1. It is important to make sure the wall is completely clean and smooth. Wash over the wall in sugar soap and use a fine grit sand paper to smooth out any bumps in the wall. Even the tiniest of bumps may leave a mark on the wallpaper when its smoothed so please make sure all lumps and bumps and flat.

2. Your walltastic mural comes in 12 strips so be sure to lay out all of the pieces in order to make application more organised.

3. Paint the back of the first strip and hold it up on the wall. Use a spirit level to make sure the sides are straight and when they are stick the strip onto the wall and smooth over with your smoother. Since the placement of the first panel determines the overall look of the finished mural, take extra time and care to place it accurately. The glue will take a few minutes to dry so you will have time to move it into place if needed.

4. Repeat with the rest of the strips until the mural is complete.

Tips & Tricks

1. Make sure your wall is completely smooth even the tiniest of bumps will show up on your mural.

2. Make sure you have time to install the mural all at once. Panels will stretch as they are pasted with glue and shrink when drying so its important to install the mural in the one sitting.

3. The mural begins to dry and contract once on the wall, so be prepared to proceed with each panel until the job is done before taking a break.

4. Remove any excess paste from the front of the mural quickly with a wet soft cloth before it has the chance to dry and stain.

5. Use the smoother quickly and efficiently too much rubbing will take ink off the paper.

Installing the Walltastic Mural with the help of my family was overall an easy experience you certainly need more than one pair of hands and if you have someone that has installed wall paper before well thats a bonus! My little man loves his new wall and pretends to spike his fingers on the puffer fish in the mural. He has also learnt all of the names of the fish and under the sea characters on his wall and is looking forward to his big bed which will be arriving shortly.

For more information on the Walltastic Range, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions.

This Giraffe inspiration wall is ideal for Boys & Girls of all ages and would look amazing in a shared room.

• Riley the Giraffe - Zoo Wallogy - Available at Giggle Smile Designs

• Look at the Wall Giraffe Collage - Available at Giggle Smile Designs

• Orgel Table Lamp - Available at Ikea

• Acrylic Wall Letters - Available at Giggle Smile Designs

• Monogrammed Cushion Cover - Available at Blanky4me ( I received 3 of these adorable cushion covers for my boys this week and they are super soft & totally adorable)

• Vibe King Single Bed - Available at Freedom Furniture

• Brio Pull A Long Giraffe - Available at Giggle Smile Designs

• Barnslig Floor Rug - Available at Ikea

If your looking for the perfect colour to match all of these adorable items, we reccomend Cowardly Custard in the Dulux Colour range.

One of our clever customers has decorated her adorable walls with our Under the Sea Wall Kit.

Using the stickers she has truly created an under water paradise and we think the results look amazing.

Under the Sea room themes are an ideal choice for Unisex or Shared Rooms, its is perfect for both boys and girls and will grow as your tiny tot grows from bub to toddler.

Speaking of growing, if you would like to add the finishing touch to any Under the Sea room, why not add our Under the Sea Growth Chart for the perfect finishing touch.