New accommodations

Ever since I was told that Charlotte would see better in dim lighting, I have realised that she is going to need her own bedroom. We are in a 2 bedroom flat and I was going to have the girls share the second bedroom. It is large enough and has a huge window with a Southerly outlook. It's a really lovely room. What a shame.

I've looked around at what is available in our neighbourhood, on our budget and it is pretty depressing. Everything with a garden is a basement flat and we would have to give up our gorgeous living room with its 12 foot ceilings.

We are now investigating building a basement level below our flat and putting bedrooms on that level with all the living areas on the ground floor. It is quite an exciting idea, but hugely daunting too. We had a preliminary meeting with the neighbours today and they were very guarded in their response. I have permission to contact the building company and have them around to discuss what is possible and get a quote. After that we have the hurdles of planning permission, finances and the neighbours.

But if it all comes together, it would be a great flat and we really can't imagine living in a better location than this one.

Little Charlie will have her own, very dark, basement level, North-facing bedroom. I want to make it a space where she can retreat if she feels like it is all too much for her, if the lights are too bright or if she has a headache. She can set up any special computer equipment or reading aids that she needs. I might be going overboard but I was thinking of painting the walls matte navy with one wall with navy and white wallpaper. The ceiling and furniture would be white, the carpet would be taupe and the bedlinen would be large stripes of navy and white. I would have a chandelier with lots of sparkly crystals (on a dimmer) and maybe a lamp the same. I'll have to check with people who only use their rods to be sure this would work for her but I think it's a pretty cool idea.