What HAVEN'T they been up to? LOL. Xena likes to steal. About three times a day I have to find and return the christmas-tree shaped plant pick that she steals from a mini-rose on the kitchen table. I tried taking it out and putting it away, but in a fit of pique she started to eat the blooms! Back the pick went, back to stealing went Xena, and no more flowers became mutilated. So far this system is working for us. Jasmine is being quite the sucky baby. If my posture even suggests the existance of a lap, she is on it. I leaned against a low box the other day while taking a phone call and she scrambled right up like I was sitting in an armchair or something. Then she proceeded to look perturbed because there really wasn't enough lap there to lay across and she was clutching with all her worth and STILL sliding down my legs. She has perfected the art of "log rolling" - as I turn over at night, she skillfully balances and walks as I turn, then settles onto whatever side ends up at the top when I am done. I suppose I wouldn't mind all the warm snuggly attention. But she drools. Ew! LOL Ruby? What can I say about Ruby. Today I wore make-up because we were going to a local pizza joint to celebrate DD's birthday with family. I had a few moments before it was time to leave so I snuck in a few moments of reading. She trampled over to me across the back of the couch, placed her paw on my head to steady it, and proceeded to sniff all over my face. First she inspected the eye shadow. Then she sniffed each individual eye lash, running her flat nose along the length of each one. She checked out the blush on both cheeks. But the best snurffle was reserved for last! My lipstick. Burts Bees, and it has a bit of mint in it. She sniffed and snotted and sniffed some more. Then she delicately gagged in my face (she does not like the smell of mint at all LOL). No wonder I don't "make myself up" very often!

Yes, this is definitely a temporary fix, although there are many temporary fixes still hanging on 5 years later around here, so I'd like to make the most of it in case this ends up being a 5 year project. I do enjoy symmetry, but it's not necessary if other layouts work out better. I've been doing some shopping around just to see what might work and compare bunk beds and look at trundles. A neighbor stopped by last night to make our weekly goods trade and we were discussing beds, and she mentioned she had bought a day bed with a trundle that can be locked in a raised position to make a king for her spare bedroom. My sister-in-law mentioned futons, which would be easy to move around and could fold up to couches when they needed the floor space, but I'm not sure how great they would be for sleeping in every night. noellabelle- my kids love camping out too! They've been camping in the tipi at my in-laws all summer. Their room turned out great, and like you, I want something they can grow into. While they all love the frilly princess pastels and playhouse beds now, my oldest is already showing signs of outgrowing the look. I think I can do a more modest look they can enjoy for years to come, and can hopefully reuse most of it when they move to their future bedrooms. geokid-I've been looking at the TV cabinets as well. There are hundreds on CL this week. I like the idea of having one for each child too. I'm keeping my eyes out, although dh is not excited about trying to get them upstairs. We had to knock out the closet at the top of the stairs to get our mattress up there lol. bostonpam- I will definitely check out the Ikea system. Even if it won't work in this room, I'd like to put some type of storage in the laundry room/entry. I'm kind of curious as to how many of you have children who share or have shared a bed in the past. How long did they share a bed? I don't want for them to feel forced to share a bed if they don't want to.If I could get away with two beds for now, the girls would have a lot more floor space which would be nice at their ages now and I could satisfy my need to hide the clutter with more storage. nosoccermom- I love those hanging beds! I want one for our bedroom lol AnnieDeighnaugh- I hadn't considered hanging curtains or fabric over the clothes. That would be such a simple fix even until we get everything straightened out! I think I will gather up all of our curtains and try to make something work today!

I guess I'm too wordy because it wouldn't let me include my inspiration pics :) So here they are... Inspiration for window bed. Though I could just do a regular headboard, which would help with my desire for the beds to be matching... Layout 2 - harder to find inspiration pics because few people stray from the "headboard on a wall" idea :) Layout 3 - looking at this, I know this is out. But then again, maybe they'd like being so close... Layout 4 No specific inspiration... most have the beds side by side because the room is square. Layout 5 - definitely out, I think neither would sleep well being directly next to each other. But it's a cute idea anyway!

Okay - late to the party. I want hardwood floor in every room in my house except the bathrooms, where I prefer tile. I do have antique wool oriental rugs in all rooms. But if I could afford it, I would have some wonderful Stark wool carpet in my bedroom. Since the room is 24'x24', that is out of the question. Yes, I DO have allergies and asthma. My daughter has hardwood floor through out all the rooms in her house, but in the MBR, she has carpet over hardwood. She prefers a carpeted bedroom, not area rugs. Yes, she has cats and a son with allergies. Many decades ago, I had an allergist in St Louis who aid that unless a child is ending up in the hospital, there was no reason to get rid of carpet, draperies, upholstered furniture, stuffed animals, and family pets - the recommendation of most allergists for households where a child has allergies. He said that allergies are so complex, that just getting rid of a couple of things will not change things much. He said the only way to totally avoid allergens would be to live like "The Boy in the Bubble", and that wasn't recommended for serious emotional reasons. When we moved to LA, I started calling allergists, explaining that I had 5 cats and 2 dogs and no intention of getting rid of any of them. Finally found a terrific one who totally agreed with the St Louis allergist. When we moved to KY, I did the same - found one who agreed with them. He retired and I now have yet another allergist. He, too, agrees. Another thing I liked about all these allergists was that they were not selling ANYTHING other than their medical services! Most allergist's offices want to see you special filters, air purifiers, special bedding - you name it - they have a very expensive product just for you. This is especially true in pediatric allergist's office. Don't like that at ALL! Allergies are very complex. When I go somewhere without my dog (now only 1 dog), my asthma is no different than when I'm home sleeping with the dog. Allergies are very complex. If one is already having hardwood put down, put it down EVERYWHERE. If you prefer carpet in a bedroom, put it down over the hardwood. Do it for resale if nothing else.