Boy's Room Reveal!

The kids were fine with the idea of moving to a new house (Nov. 2010) but to help them have something to be really excited about we let them choose a new theme for their bedrooms. Tenor asked for a 'science' theme. There's so many ways I could have gone with that but I thought the easiest would be a travel/adventure/animal theme. With a simple bedding change, I think this theme can last well into his teen years.

Let's take a peek at where the room started. These are pics from our first walk-through....

 

  

Looking into the room from the doorway.

 
Gotta love me some cranberry carpet from the 1960s.

Let the adventure begin!

The color inspirations came from this bedding set I got on clearance at Wal-Mart $15. We got a full size comforter so that it would cover him better at night. The coordinating sheet set was also on clearance along with the matching curtains. The reverse side of the comforter is green camo.

 

A $5 curtain rod from Christmas Tree Shops in oil rubbed bronze to hang the curtains.

Getting straight stripes was not as hard I thought it would be. We gave the ceiling and walls 2 coats of Crumb Cookie by Olympic in a satin finish. Then using a laser level, we taped off one line then the next. To get crisp, clean edges, after I taped, I used a small brush and painted the edge of the tape with more Crumb Cookie. After that dried, we painted 2 coats of Stony Creek (by Olympic). The paint is brown with an olive undertone so in real life it matches really well. The stripes really make a statement, make it masculine, and yet with the white center stripe, it's not too heavy or dark. A super easy paint treatment that will last for years. (I hope!)

On his dresser are a Christmas gift globe toy, a basket from Bass's office that he didn't need anymore to hold tissues and vitamins, a lamp made by a family member with a super cute shade that I found at the Pottery Barn outlet. At $16, the shade was definitely a splurge for me but so worth it!

Looking in from the doorway.

The shelf (a $3 Goodwill find) above the mirror with all of his treasures. Anyone recognize Kipper? We love those videos!

I made some super cheap artwork to decorate for the new 'science' theme. I used these frames which I originally got at Wal-Mart for $2 each. We used them in Tenor's 'big boy' room in the last house with puppy pictures cut from an old calendar in them. Then they had wild jungle animals, farm equipment, and Americana scenes. Pretty versatile artwork for a child's ever changing interests. (I would always wait until February or March and get calendars for about $0.50 to use to fill the frames. You just have to make sure the overall pics aren't too big for your frame.) I found an atlas and a geography book for $1.00 each at a thrift store. I cut out pages from the atlas to create the backgrounds and then layered pictures from the geography book, some scrapbook embellishments from my stash, and jute twine on each. Then I used the Stamped cartridge and cut out different words for each picture with my Cricut. These hang in the white stripe on the wall to the left of the doorway.

Discover
 

Faith

Explore

Take Courage

Adventure

The headboard was a freebie from a church give-away. We actually got 2 of the same style. One went to Tenor and the other to Soprano. Another look at his new bedding. (With all of the snuggles at the bottom of the bed!) I thought about trying to convince him to get rid of all except maybe 1 or 2 and then realized that if my almost 9-year old is still cool with having stuffed animals, I'll go with it. I'd rather he be into stuffed animals than growing up too fast. Although in the middle of the night, when his long legs push one out and it hits the floor with a loud thump and wakes me up, I tend to reconsider.

Next to his bed, we put 2 stacking bookshelves (left over from Bass's post-college apartment dwelling days). They hold a ton of books for our bookworm and most of his toy bins. We organize toys into these 2 different size bins by type or category. He has Lincoln Logs, K*nex, balls, Hot Wheels, plastic safari animals, a car race set, a train set, a shooting gun game, and 2 bins of 'assorted' toys. All of his little treasures that don't have enough for their own bin or that don't stay too long in our house (aka McDonalds toys).

Evidence of my bookworm! He has bookmarks in 6 books, just on this shelf. I'm not sure if he finishes the book and leaves the bookmark or if he just starts a new one and never finishes any. Either way, I'm glad he loves to read!

On the wall between his bookshelves and desk, we hung this print that I got on sale at Hobby Lobby. The colors pick up on the bedspread and the horses made me think of long-ago explorers or settlers who tamed the Wild West. The verse (Proverbs 3:5-6), which is my verse for the year, is a constant reminder of how Timothy can live his life. A funny story, in trying to decide where to hang it, I was having trouble figuring it out. Timothy insisted that he be able to see it from his bed so it ended up in the middle of this wall. I might add some small prints on either side down the road but it looks okay for now.

Traveling around the room, we come to his desk. (Which, yes, was cleaned off so I could take pictures. My boy is a paper pack rat. Must be a genetic mutation. LOL) We found this piece at a second-hand store and then found the chair at another re-uzit shop for only $12. This holds more books, CDs in another basket from daddy's office, notepads, bookmarks, and pencils in yet another repurposed basket, and some more boy treasures.

On top is his baseball mitt which will probably head to the garage soon. It was a Christmas gift and couldn't be utilized during our cold and wet winter. The globe was a $10 find at Christmas Tree Shops and also a Christmas gift.

On the wall next to his desk are a print I found at Goodwill for $3 and a memo board that I made using a piece of plywood, batting, fabric from my stash, some ribbon, and upholstery tacks. Filled with more paper treasures.

The last stop on the tour is the uber tiny closet. Poor boy---he's older but got the smaller extra bedroom (a cozy 13' x 9') because sissy needed the bigger closet. He hasn't complained at all!
It's small but we're able to fit everything in that needs to be there.

Lego and K*nex sets up top along with extra sheets for his room (since our linen cabinet is too tiny to house them.) Church shirts and extra jackets hanging on the right.

A divided, hanging organizer on the left holds shoes, snow pants, a box of neckties, and hats. Usually he doesn't have this many shoes but I got a box on Thred-Up that had quite a few pairs of crocs and flip-flops in it. I can guarantee he'll wear them all out this summer!

Down below, a repurposed plant stand, holds some misc toys, snow boots, and a plastic bag filled with paper airplanes and origami creations. He has a serious paper thing goin' on!

A quick recap of before

And 99% done AFTER!

99% done, you ask? Well..... is a room ever really finished? We still need to replace the window, refinish the wood floors (some day in the far distant future), replace the doors and their hardware, and I'd love to make a 'meaning of your name' piece of art to frame. I wonder if that makes this room only like 87% done? I think I'll stick with 99% and hopefully finish off those projects soon! (Like before he moves out for college!)
I hope you enjoyed the tour of our boy's cute on the cheap room!

I'm linking up at these fun blogs!
and at the Show Us Your Kids Rooms party at Thrifty Decor Chick.