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Boy Room Makeover

When we moved into our house a couple years ago, our youngest was still in a crib.  To make things simple I kept the same theme and décor for his room and made it work with the existing paint color.  It wasn’t too long before he came out of the crib, and needed something fresh 🙂

Big brothers requested a pirate room (I am just shy of finishing that one and hope to share soon!), so of course little guy wanted a pirate room too.  Wanting to have some variation, I showed him pictures of sailboats and he changed his mind!

I don’t have before pictures, but just imagine blank walls with a aqua blue color and the furniture was arranged a little differently.

First came paint (I grabbed the opportunity when I could, and patiently waited for the time to decorate).  I went with a  light shade of blue. Something that would feel like a sunny day on the ocean.

The first picture I’ll show you is my favorite thing about the room – the sail on the wall that makes his bed look like a little sailboat!   In decorating my house, I like DIY and unique things when it comes to décor, and I actually envisioned this in my mind before I started looking online to see if it had been done before.  Too bad I didn’t think of it first, but I can say I thought of it!  I found a pattern and had a friend with tons of sewing experience help me make the sails.  I ironed on the numbers.  My husband and I constructed the mast.  It didn’t take as long as I thought it would!

The bedding came from various places.  The spread from Marshall’s.  Pillows from 3 different places!  And when I was taking pictures, my little guy insisted that I let his seal “Salty” get on the bed for the picture.  🙂

Here’s a close up of the sail.  I am so pleased with it!

Next, is a view of the wall with windows.  I went with plain white cotton curtains.  I wanted to keep the attention on the sail and the dresser.  I’m still thinking about trimming them in a navy border, we will see.

I bought the dresser off of Craigslist and painted it with some incredible paint.  Benjamin Moore Advanced Leveling latex/oil blend.  This is the only paint I will use on furniture (we used this on our kitchen cabinets too!).  I think this fits perfect between the windows.

The lamp I found at Home Goods, and I put sand and sea shells in it from our beach.  I did some buying and returning before I found the right one.

I used this little cove in the room as a cozy reading spot.

Since its a small space, a bookshelf would be too bulky.  I decided wall shelves were best.  My savvy husband built these.  What’s even better is that my child can “see” the books and has a small selection to choose from (which makes decision making easier!).  There are two small boxes of books in the closet that we use to rotate every couple weeks.  This also gives him interest in all the books!

My son LOVES stuffed animals and there is no cutting down his collection.  He actually plays with/talks to most of them.  This bean bag unzips and you store stuffed animals inside.  Instead of it being stuffed with beans, its stuffed with animals!  Its a great way to keep them put away when he’s not sleeping/playing with them.  I heard about it from a friend and found it on Amazon.

Here’s the last wall of the room.  It houses his fire station playhouse.  The rest of the toys are in the closet (that will be in a future post!).

I was trying to think of something different, stylish, and cost effective for this wall.  And what came to mind was a map of the ocean – a real one that seaman use to navigate!  So I went to a local marina and bought one, and then bought a poster frame to put it in.  This is off the coast of the very beaches we play on all summer long.  Simple, and my kid loves it.

So there you go!  I may add a few more touches as they come to mind, but forward motion feels amazing!  And more than anything, it warms my heart to see my boy’s pleasure in his room.  It also motivates me to continue working with him on putting his clothes and toys away, and making his bed.

So tell me what you think! What’s your favorite part of the room?!

Thanks for reading,

Get Organized.  Simply Live.