The ‘90s Inspired This Cozy Tree House-Themed Bed Nook (It Was Once a Kitchen!)

Here’s a home renovation you don’t hear about every day: turning a bedroom into a kitchen, and vice versa. But several months ago, Emma Shoemaker (@shoemakesnew) decided to do exactly that, swapping her kitchen and her 4-year-old son Theo’s bedroom.  

“This switch gave the whole home a much better layout, gave us a much bigger and more light-filled kitchen, and gave him a cozy space that had the configuration for a closet and bed and space to put all his treasures on the walls,” Emma explains. 

Before the redesign, Emma and Theo had been watching a lot of classic ‘90s movies, including The Sandlot, The Parent Trap, and Matilda, so those influences were top of mind. “My goal for this room was a mashup of summer camp, storybook, tree house, ‘90s movie vibes that Nancy Meyers might be proud of,” she says.

Theo’s general design guidance was that he wanted “a lot of colors.” After Emma created a few mood boards, Theo selected his favorite — a tree house theme — and she went to work introducing as many shades as possible. 

Emma had been seeing a lot of alcove beds on her social media, and she had experience building various built-ins in the past — everything from bookcases to Murphy beds. Once she realized that constructing a bed nook would “solve a few weird little former-kitchen problems,” like hiding discolored floors and making the most out of a drop-down ceiling, she was convinced it was the right move. “A win-win,” she calls it. 

The room doesn’t get a ton of natural light, so Emma didn’t want the paint to feel too dark, plus she had Theo’s request of “a lot of colors” to consider. So, she painted the room with Benjamin Moore’s “Smoke” and then added Sandberg’s “Charles” wallpaper in green as an accent wall. It totally captures the tree house spirit! 

“Storage is always an issue in older houses, so I also integrated some deep drawers underneath the bed for dress-ups and board games,” Emma says. “Then I did a built-in bookcase at the foot end of the bed so he had a spot for displaying his books and knickknacks, but it worked double duty also to fill out the rest of the space between the end of the bed and the wall.”

The bookcase’s live edge wood shelves, which Emma purchased from Facebook Marketplace and cut, sanded, and stained herself, are Emma’s favorite feature in the room. 

“The whole room just has the coolest hideaway kind of feel to it now when you walk in,” Emma says. “It’s still a small room, but it’s so much more functional than his old room was, with a custom closet, the toy storage, and the bookcase.” 

According to Emma, Theo is at that age where he’s developing his own interests and individuality, “so it’s so fun to see him have a space that feels so him.” She says he spends way more time playing in his bedroom than he did before. 

Unsurprisingly, Theo isn’t the only one who enjoys the new bedroom. Even the family’s sheepadoodle cuddles in Theo’s bed at night!