I did a mini makeover in our oldest son's room a few weeks ago and am finally getting around to showing you. HOW LUCKY ARE YOU? 😬
I painted his room when we moved in, took the doors off his closet, had a new light fixture installed and then generally just used what he already had to make the room work. And it was fine. But it wasn't great. I LIKE GREAT.
Mostly there were just some things that weren't working. He needed:
-Better lego storage and a table to get his build on
-A spot to sit and read (the boy LOVES to read)
-Taller bookshelves for books and game storage
-An updated bunkbed (it's a hand-me-down that's in great shape, just dated) and Josh's Gpa built the ladder
Design Board
It always helps to make a design board to make sure patterns and colors are all working together. I fell in love with that wallpaper - SHOCKING, I KNOW 😏 - and knew I wanted it on the back of the new bookcase. So I needed to find a rug that had a larger scale print to make it all work together. I think it helps to have one or two pieces that serve as the jumping off point for each room I put together. For this room it was the wallpaper and the wave pillow. I just made sure all the other elements worked well with those two items.
I also REALLY wanted to do something cool with paint in his room. I had an idea for something above/around his bunkbed...you ready? LET'S DO THIS THING.
BEFORE + AFTER
His room is small so I really tried to make every inch count.
PAINT. It's for walls and bunkbeds and EVERYTHING ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF. Instead of painting the whole bunk I just painted parts of it. So that meant it was much less work but still looks much more updated. That, my friends, is what we like to call a WIN WIN. (Plus I love the contrast of the wood with the white.)
I didn't go too crazy with a wall mural above/around the top of the bed. I think these rounded stripes add just the right pop.
Relocating the lego area underneath the bed made the whole room function so much better. (All items will be sourced at the bottom!) Yes, the green bins are all full of legos #sos.
Oh, and I added a little picture ledge/"nightstand" that holds books and tissues (#allergies) for the B-man.
The lego area is Bauer's favorite spot (well it might be a tie with the reading chair). And the new rug is just what the space needed.
This wee desk nook was Bauer's classroom all last year #thankscovid. INDIANA JOSH MADE THAT DESK. Everything else I added from IKEA 😏.
I mimicked the rounded stripes on this wall too #holler. The chair is honestly slightly too big for this space. But function won out because our boy curls up here every day to read. He loves it so much.
I had Josh cut a small hole through the back of the bookcase so we could easily plug in Bauer's clock and sound machine. This is an easy, easy way to hide cords and add things to bookcases that you normally wouldn't be able to. Mr. Plant is hiding the hole very nicely. We salute you, sir. (A small lamp on a bookcase would look supes cute too.)
Before + After
Taking the doors off the closet created a perfect spot for Bauer's dresser and made the room feel bigger. And having the walls painted the same color as the rest of the room helps to make it all work together.
He had no idea I even took this picture:
That's it! That's the whole thing, baby. Not the most epic before + after BUT THAT'S OK. It now functions better and looks better too. Bauer likes it. I like him. EVERYONE WINS.
Source List:
-Wall Color - Rapture Blue by Sherwin Williams
-Rounded Stripe Color - Falling Snow by Behr
-Rug
-Desk Chair (I scored Bauer's red chair as a last chance buy at IKEA but it's cool in black too)
If I forgot anything please don't tell me. I just couldn't bear it.
Hugs + Kisses,
Best friends forever,
Never change,
B