The Third and Final Boy Bedroom Reveal

Happy Easter! My kids already peeked in their Easter baskets this morning and ate all the good stuff aka chocolate. I suppose that's a good thing because I have a habit of sneaking the chocolate and also because I found Mario on the dining table eating what was left over. Easter is definitely different now that the kids are getting older. They used to get so excited to see what the breaking and entering Bunny brought them when they woke up on Easter morning, but now they are so blasé about the whole thing. Don't they look thrilled? My oldest son in the gray shirt tried to make a show of being excited, but brought his Ipad down and hid it behind his basket. Kids these days!

 

 

Mario was excited waiting for something to drop on the floor.

 



The best Easter ever is when the little naked man in the swim trunks (your guess is as good as mine) was a year old. I bought a bunny eared headband and took a picture of everyone in the family wearing it. He was only a year old, but he hated it. Every time I put it on him he put his head down in shame. Here he is in the background of a photo kicking those bunny ears in the corner. I just crack up every time I see this picture. 

 

 





 

But, today I'm talking about my 9 year old son's bedroom. That's this guy in the black shirt.

 

 



 

He doesn't normally look this tired, but he had a late night at a sleepover last night. He loves everything outdoor and rustic, and sports of course. That's why this room is perfect for him.

 

My favorite part of his room are these sconces I found at Lowe's. They give this room a bit of an industrial look to keep it from being just another boys sports room, which is what he asked for. I just realized he's missing his throw pillows. Unfortunately, my boys take "throw pillows" literally so they are always missing.

He has a thing for hoodies, but can't quite reach high enough to hang them in his closet. Hooks by the door to his room keep them handy.

More craftsman wood trim around the windows and doors.

I love this desk from World Market. It's just slightly bigger than a nightstand so it's great for a small room.

 

 

He really loves his room because it fits him perfectly. And of course this room was done on a budget. Aren't all my rooms? The Ikea bed and dresser aren't the best quality and we will buy something better in a few years when he is out of he destructive phase, as we did my older son. At least we only have to replace two pieces of furniture instead of an entire room redo.

 

I'm exhausted after redoing three boys bedrooms and all of the other projects I completed at the same time, but this was definitely a productive year. I only have one unfinished room in my entire house, my master bathroom, but I've made great progress in there already that I'll show you as soon as I take pictures. It's been a lot of DIY. I'm starting to really dislike those three little letters!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



Nautical Boys Bedroom Reveal

As a mom of three boys I've tried to make their rooms reflect their individual personalities. It's tempting to do a sports themed room for each of them because they are what people call "all boy." They would be perfectly happy, but I love what makes them different from each other and I want to bring that into their rooms. My 7 year old is my youngest son and he's funny, vibrant and outgoing. Well, I hear he's shy and quiet at school. Thank goodness he keeps his wild side at home. He loves bright colors and I found a madras quilt on sale that led me in a nautical direction. That's how I work! I look for the hardest to find item in a room that's also going to be expensive and work off of that. This is one way I keep my costs low. I already had his louvered furniture and it's a perfect match for a nautical theme. The rest of his room came together with small décor items and a lot of DIY.

 

You could say this is the kid version of a bear skin rug. ;) I try to use as much of my kids toys, books and gamer stuff as décor. It's a lot less to store!

 



 



I took his nightlight/lantern off the wall and I'm using it in lieu of a lamp. His lamp kept ending up on the floor so it's now higher up on his dresser.

 



 

 

 

The $20 oar got a makeover with spray paint and new hooks.

 



I prefer two wide blue stripes in his room. It is easier to paint than multiple ones, but there was enough pattern going on in the quilt that it made sense, too. You can see that his room is functional, too. A place to store books by his bed, hooks for sweatshirts, and a pinboard for his artwork from school are must haves in all my boys bedrooms.

You can see how his room opens up right to the game room. His room has the same craftsman wood trim around the doors and windows that we built in the rest of the house. We also replaced his small and dinged baseboard with taller ones as well.

 

 

 

 

So what does little man think? He shrugs and says he likes it. Considering how much time he spends in here I think he is happy with it. I will walk by and see him enjoying himself in here, especially playing on the Ipad in his chair. He reminds me of an old man relaxing in his recliner. He loves to turn the nightlight on at bedtime, change out his artwork, and add new books on the wall for us to read. Without a doubt this room is functional. Everything he needs is in reach and able to be seen. That means this room stays semi-clean most of the time. Works for me!

 

 

Source List

 

Bedroom Furniture-Bought years ago at Bombay Company

 

Quilt, Chair, Lamp, Nightstand-Pottery Barn Kids

 

Octopus Pillow and Puppy-Target

 

Oar and Pinboard-Homegoos

 

Rest of  the wall décor-Hobby Lobby

 

Lantern and Red Rug-Ikea

Boys Varsity Room Reveal

'Tis the month for room reveals! Last week I showed you the completed mudroom and now it's time for my oldest son's room. I will also be showing you my two younger boys' rooms and a small master bedroom update soon. These rooms have been so close to being finished for a while now, but I was dragging my feet on the last few DIY projects that needed to be done. Most of it was just finishing the trim paint, which is one of my least favorite things to do. I finally hired someone to caulk and paint the trim in all four bedrooms, finish the mudroom floor, and paint my older son's room. I can't believe how much cleaner all the bedrooms feel! I should know because when I was an apartment manager I saw the grossest apartments transformed with just paint and new flooring. Sometimes we needed 100 trash bags and a really good pest control person too, but you really don't want to hear about that. In case you're wondering I have held many different types of jobs for being so young. ;) Surprisingly, being a mom and an apartment manager has been far more challenging and icky than being a nurse. I won't go into details, but let's just say after my son's stomach bug this week I am so very glad I opted for laminate floors instead of carpet upstairs. 'Nuff said! Are you ready to see Pukey McPukerson's room?

 

My son is 12 and all about sports right now, especially football. I threw in some baseball décor because he played for so many years and still loves watching the Astros. I bought him furniture several months ago when Pottery Barn Kids was having a sale and opted for a darker, rustic finish. I kept his headboard because I still like it, and it was one less thing to buy. I found the Eddie Bauer duvet for a great price on Overstock to pick up the red headboard. I decided against logo bedding now that he's getting older. The brown bedskirt was $7 at Target online! I love brown and red together so I was happy to be able to pull these colors together despite shopping at so many different places.

Almost all of the wall décor is from Hobby Lobby. That is definitely the best place for affordable kids' art and wall storage. My son asked to incorporate his Texans and Astros pendants, too.

The bookcase works so much better for him than a nightstand. He loves collecting books. Now, if he would just read them!



He really wanted a desk for his room and he does use it all the time. I noticed a full size pinboard with a nice frame was pricey. To avoid a DIY project I decided to buy two smaller frameless ones at Target and break it up with décor from Hobby Lobby.



 

 

My son has no idea how stylish he is with the gold trend in his room.

 

 

 

If a cool new sports bedroom and desk weren't awesome enough, look at the view from his bedroom. I wish I were my kid.

 

 

 

 

I like the new dresser, but it is on the small side. I had to go with this one because his room wouldn't fit any of the larger ones.

 

 

 

Tight squeeze! This room is narrow at only 11ft wide. If we just had one or two more feet it would make a world of difference. I would like to put the tv over the dresser to have more room in front of the bed, but we need to add a tv outlet behind the dresser for that to happen. It was much cheaper to buy this $99 stand from Ikea than to add an outlet. My son doesn't seem to mind the narrow walkway. I'm sure that will change as he gets older and bigger. He's only 2 inches shorter than me and I swear he grows everyday.

 

 

 

This sign is the only thing he picked out for his room. I had to bribe him with the promise of food to get him to the store. I always have hooks in the kids rooms because there is no way they are going to hang up their sweatshirts and jackets in the closet. I like them to be able to see their hats also since the one they need for baseball or golf is always missing.

 

There's no better place for hooks then right by the door.

 

My husband installed the baseboards and the trim around the doors and windows. I'm so glad I didn't have to caulk and paint this! The wall color is Nantucket Dune by SW. I chose a color that's a little bit lighter than before because his room is very dark most of the day, which is why the pictures look a little funny. I had to brighten them up as much as possible. My son loves the cave look when he's playing video games so this dark room works for him.

We also replaced the brass closet pulls with oil rubbed bronze ones to match the doorknobs.

The most important thing about this room is my son loves it. I initially wanted to go more trendy, but he gave me the "Are you crazy?" look. He loves the dark wood furniture, plaids, and sports memorabilia. I had the hardest time getting him to agree to even look at decor for his room so I decided to just work on it without any more input from him. Once I was all done with it he told me it looked cool. Thank goodness!



 





Boys Industrial Workspace

I should have known that buying my 12 year old son a desk for his room would mean that his little brother would also want one. There were two major problems that almost had me saying no. One, I know my 8 year old will not be able to sit in his room alone to do homework. If he happened to see a squirrel outside the window his homework would be completely forgotten. The second problem is his room is super tiny. He already has a full size bed, nightstand and dresser that barely fit. Where could I possibly put a desk? He did have a little space next to his bed, but I didn't think I could find that small of a desk so I mentally scratched the idea. Well, I happened to notice a tiny industrial desk at World Market several weeks later that I knew would fit, and it does!

I also bought a metal chair at World Market to go with it. I love the rubber feet on the bottom so it doesn't scratch his wood floor. I was a little worried it might be uncomfortable, but it doesn't seem to bother him. Ah, youth.


Can you believe I found the sconce at Lowe's for $40? I've always admired this type of light, but the price tag has always been too high. I suppose if you wait around long enough someone will make a knock off version.

I'm a huge fan of pinboards in kids rooms for displaying their favorite artwork. All of my boys look at them regularly, and show off their projects to friends and family.

 

I love the little slot in the desk (just like when I was in school). He's already storing a few school papers in there that he doesn't have room for on his pinboard. Even if it doesn't get much use, it's good storage. He didn't say much about it, but I wasn't surprised since he's always been a boy of few words. I could tell by the half smile/smirk he loved it. I knew he would since he's drawn towards everything rustic and industrial. He might be quiet, but he's got style!

A Cute Nightlight: Boys Bedroom Update

If you remember, all three of my boys' bedrooms are getting makeovers. I've got the youngest two boys' rooms almost finished. The only thing left to do in their rooms is paint the trim and add a few accessories. It's the caulking and painting of the trim that I hate with a passion. Accessorizing is fun, but I've put it off in lieu of other projects that need my attention more. I've still managed to pick up things here and there as I'm out shopping. On a recent Ikea trip, a red lantern caught my eye and I knew it would be perfect for my son's room. The best part is it was only $8! It's fairly large and he didn't have a place to put it so I decided to hang it on the wall.

I used a garden hook I found at Lowe's to hang it. It was just over $3. You can't beat that! Unfortunately, they only had them in black so I had to spray paint it. To make it easier to paint I screwed the hook into a scrap piece of board I had in the garage. This way I was able to paint the entire hook and screws at once. I also use this method when I spray paint drawer pulls and knobs. Any time I paint hardware I use a spray paint with primer in it. I don't like using anchors to hang things since they make big holes in the wall, but it's absolutely necessary for something this heavy. It took me a while to hang this because I wanted to make absolutely sure this is the spot it was going to go before I used those dreaded anchors. I didn't think there was a better spot than next to the bed since it makes the perfect nightlight once you put a candle in it, faux of course.

It doesn't put out a lot of light, but it's just enough to make my son comfortable sleeping alone...most of the time. ;)

 

New House Updates

I haven't updated since last week because it's been crazy around this house! I had one of those weekends where my kids must have been slipped an energy drink. Anyway, I was recovering on Monday morning with a cup of coffee and did not get into my usual frentic cleaning routine since weekends turn my house upside down. I puttered around and noticed some changes needed to be made. I moved a few things around and began getting ideas. I know I'm not the only one that does this!

I bought a chair recently from Target.com for my living room. It was cute, cheap and would go perfect in the corner of the room near the tv. It arrived quickly, but I had to put the entire thing together. It wasn't a simple screw in the legs either. I thought it looked a little small, but when I put it in the corner I realized it was extremely small. I've been trying to come up with ways to make it work because I really didn't want to go through the hassle of shipping it back. I realized on Monday there was no way I could keep it in my living room. I put it in the office as a desk chair and it was even too small for the desk. Who knew there were even chairs this small?! I tried it in the tiny space that I thought was too small for a chair across from the desk and it fit perfectly!

I've been considering adding a bit of tan in here for a while, but this sealed it. I dug out some old Ikea linen (linen-like) curtains and they went great. I still needed a desk chair and immediately knew one that would go perfect from World Market. I took a girlfriend with me and she watched my indecision firsthand as I stared at it. She's seen me do this before so she dared me to buy it, lol. So, I did!

It's amazing how two chairs and a pair of curtains have transformed this room. Now, I just need to clean it up and hang the pictures I bought a year ago on the walls. If you're wondering what took me so long to work on this room it's because I avoid it like the plague. My husband took this office over and uses it to work out of the house a few days a week. There is stuff everywhere and I don't know what's important to keep or throw away. I have just been shutting the door with the hope he'd eventually find the time to straighten up. It never happened, but he will now be working out of his real office in the city instead so I'm taking this room back! Yes! He promised me we would de-crapify it this weekend. We'll see...

While I was at World Market I also picked up these cute wooden starfish. I've never been one for seasonal decorating until the past couple of years. I used these and a few other things I already had to make a summer centerpiece for my island. It's a bit cheesy, but the kids like it. Okay, the kids don't care, but I like it. I'm sure I will be horrified and think WTH was I thinking later, but it works for now.

And, finally...the oar in my son's room got it's stripes. Do you remember me saying last week I was going to paint red stripes on it?




Well, I actually did it and love the way it turned out!

It took me less than twenty minutes to tape off and spray paint it. I roughed it up a bit after it dried so the red would look a little distressed like the white areas. My son still isn't interested in his room, but that's okay. It just gives me free reign to do whatever I like in here. ;) I'm off to buy a few things today and keep this decorating mojo going! Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Surfer Dude’s Room Progress

If you remember, my youngest son (aka surfer dude) is getting a room makeover. There's still a bit of work to do, but since I'm the slowest DIYer ever I thought I'd show you the progress so far. I'm especially thrilled with these blue stripes on the wall.



My first instinct was to add some type of wainscoting, but I already have so many projects I need to finish that I wanted an easier solution. Since painting stripes is new to me I started with one wall to make sure it would turn out. I followed directions from several blogs (thank you blogs!) and I was amazed at how perfect these stripes came out.

Here's a closer look.



You probably already know how to do this, but I used a laser to help me tape a straight line and then I "sealed" the tape with the white paint already on the walls to prevent the blue from leaking. My jaw was on the floor when I took the tape off. I couldn't believe it actually worked!

I will admit that I never planned this room out. I was frustrated with the chipped paint and stick figures my son drew on the walls. I had some left over paint from the boys bathroom and went to town. There! It felt clean...and very white...too white.



I had a moment of panic. What the heck was I supposed to do now?! I considered wainscoting or using navy paint. I didn't want to caulk all that wainscoting and I knew navy would make this room too dark. I focused on the artwork/wall decor instead.







That was a good decision because all of that lighter blue in the accessories inspired me to go with a similar color on the walls. I chose a wide stripe because I didn't want the room to feel busy. I placed the blue stripes in the middle too so I didn't have to tape off the baseboards or paint near the ceiling with the blue color. You know that would have ended up all over the ceiling, right? This is basically just two blue stripes in the middle of the wall. Easy peasy.



Look at the difference!



The only request my son has made is to add more red in here. Besides finishing the painting, I'll be adding red accessories next. This oar will be getting some red stripes soon.



Despite having absolutely no design plan, I'm loving the direction this room is headed. What does my son think? He could not care less! As long as his chair is directly in front of the tv, he's good. He might only be six, but his man genes are in full force. I'm hoping that once I add the red accessories he might be a little more interested. I doubt it, but we'll see!