Since writing my last Sebra Kili cot review we converted it to a junior bed when Mimi turned 2.5 years old. I want to give you a clear review of the cot in this new configuration, as I promised I would in my first review, because it’s the longevity of the cot that justifies its high cost.

I felt very nervous about converting the cot into a bed as Mimi is such a good sleeper so I was worried changing her bed would totally disrupt this. I forecast lots of running around her bedroom, roaming the halls in the middle of the night and rolling out onto the floor! I put the move off a little too long if I’m honest as Mimi was too big for the cot by the time she was 2.5 years so I had to take the plunge.

The cot was super easy to convert and I just had to add an extra chunk of mattress that is sold separately at the bottom. The cot lengthens but it doesn’t get any wider. The very clever design means that the mattress is sunk down by about 10cm so that rolling out of the bed is almost impossible. In the 18 months that she’s slept in it she has never fallen out.

I wasn’t able to find a sheet to fit this mattress size so I use a single one tucked in around the sides and that is fine. Mimi is quite a wriggly sleeper so a toddler sized duvet that fits in this junior bed was no good as it just got kicked to the bottom so I also gave her a single duvet in the hope that that would provide more coverage.

Mimi was super excited about sleeping in the bed for the first time and she had a really great first night. The bed is very cocooning and comfy and I needn’t have worried about the transition disrupting Mimi’s sleep.

As you can see there is lots of space in the bed for the toddler and lots of length for growth. However, the big downside for us was that we couldn’t sit or lie in the bed mainly because of the 10cm lip around the bed. We don’t stay with Mimi whilst she gets to sleep but I can see how this would be a huge downside for some parents. For us, we just had to organise to have a chair next to the bed to read bedtime stories.

The only other potential downside is that the bed is relatively high. Mimi never really had a problem getting in and out, especially as she got taller, but for some less physical children it may be a stumbling block. My nephew, for example, fell out of the bed trying to climb out.

Mimi is about to turn four and we could easily have kept the junior bed as is for another couple of years but we’ve made the decision to pass it on to my niece. This decision was mainly prompted by the fact that we need to create a dedicated office so we need a home for the single bed that was in that room. It made sense to put it into Mimi’s room and I have to say it is a welcome change being able to snuggle in bed with her now, which I was never able to do with the junior bed. But saying that it really did make the transition to a bed so, so easy and I was heart broken saying goodbye to the cot as it’s been such a big piece of the baby and toddler years and we’ve loved it at every stage.

If you do have any other specific questions please do ask me below!

Katy x

Crittall doors are everywhere at the moment. They are a beautiful alternative to bi-folds to lead out onto a garden as not only do they allow light and views in to a room they also add architectural and design interest, which bi-folds can lack. However, and this is a big drawback, Crittall is mega expensive – for most of us there is just no chance!

The good news is that there is a way of creating the look and feel of Crittall without spending a fortune. Replacing any type of external door costs a lot so what you can try is to make internal doors look like Crittall.

If you are super lucky you may well already have glazed internal doors like these beauties and just by painting the timber a dark colour you can easily create a Crittall look…

If you are installing standard sized internal doors you can choose a glazed option and paint them off black for a Crittall feel. This will look great and also have the massive added benefit of allowing light to flow through from one room to another. These doors do not have to be expensive at all but will have a big impact on a room…

And if you have an existing glazed door but it is dated and as far from Crittall as you can get you can do an easy DIY job like Becca has done. What a brilliant difference!

If your DIY skills are more advanced you can even create faux Crittall internal doors like Frances is currently doing in her home. I think these will look fab!

What do you think? It’s definitely worth considering if you are making changes or renovating at home, especially if you have any dark spaces or rooms that need some borrowed light.

Katy x

This isn’t a long or detailed post but rather a few images that have really inspired me the last few weeks and spurred me on to take the leap and make a big outlay on buying wardrobes for our bedroom. I will write in a lot more detail about the process of choosing and fitting the IKEA PAX wardrobe system, which is what we’ve gone for, as so many of you sent me messages when I showed what we were up to on Instagram stories the other day. The messages made it very clear that a lot of you are desperate for a lot of PAX chat and I’m pretty sure that’s because there actually isn’t a huge amount of detail about the system online, especially the hack process we want to attempt. That will all come, I promise!

In the meantime, these wardrobes really stood out to me and made me think I could make a large bank of wardrobes work in our small bedroom. I’ve been very hesitant until now to commit to wardrobes because our room is so small (3.1 x 2.9 metres). I was worried about filling the alcoves as any feeling of space and airiness we have is because those spaces are quite empty. I was also hesitant about buying free standing wardrobes as I would want antique ones and generally speaking they just don’t make the most of the space and we are desperate for storage. Therefore, I have been leaning towards floor to ceiling bespoke wardrobes, which we can’t afford (the average quote was £2800), and trying to make them tie in with the decor in our bedroom as much as possible so that they enhance the room rather than swamping it. These are two brilliant examples of that…

I absolutely LOVE the bedroom above. Every single bit of it. The chair, the kilim, the muted colours, the texture of the baskets on display. In terms of the wardrobes they are so simple but very stylish and they enhance the room without detracting from it. The fact that they continue the wall colour helps to make them less dominant. I also love the handles (I’m on the hunt for some lovely ones).

Suzy’s bedroom above is gorgeous! I love the soft colour palette and cosy textures. Similar to the other bedroom, the wardrobes are also painted in the same wall colour with grooved door panels. I would love to recreate this look BUT we have to work with a PAX door panel as there’s no way we have the capacity to buy and make 2.5m high wardrobe doors ourselves! The PAX doors are laminate and it remains to be seen what I will do with them to customise them to fit with my bedroom.

The only definite in terms of our wardrobe doors is that I will paint them. Our bedroom walls are School House White and even though I love the wardrobes that are painted in the same colour as the walls I’m drawn to using a slightly darker shade. I have used Shaded White in our spare room so I have the paint and I think I’m going to use that for the wardrobes as well as the skirting and bedroom door as I’ve been meaning to do that since last year when I painted the walls!

Kerry has used the same colour combination in her bedroom of School House White and Shaded White on the woodwork and I think that will work really well in my room. I’ve been saying that I need to change my bedroom door from Brilliant White to Shaded White for a year so hopefully fitting the wardrobes will push me to get the job done.

Lots more PAX chat to come soon!

Katy x