Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Boys’ Room Tour

Welcome to the boys’ room. 

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Originally, this room was a nice neutral tan color and I hadn’t planned to paint it, but the more I thought about it, the more I had the persistent nagging feeling that it would look better white. (I’m really on a white kick right now!)  And by this point, I’ve learned not to ignore my gut feelings on these things because if I do, I know I will regret it later. So even though I had just finished painting Peyton’s room twice, our kitchen before that, and our living room before that (all since January), I just bit the bullet once more and spent a day re-painting this room, because I knew it would be worth it in the end. And it was. I think the white makes everything really pop. The color is called “Decorator’s White” by Benjamin Moore.

This room came together pretty fast and easily. I stuck with the same general colors that I had used in Hudson’s baby room (red, white, and blue), so I could use a lot of the things that we already had in there, which was great. I’m not real big on major themes, but there are little touches of nautical things around the room.  And Tyson is really into sharks these days, so we got them shark sheets and the shark corkboard hanging above his bed.

The main purchase for this room re-do was the bunk beds.  We really wanted bunk beds in this room because of the extra space it would free up on the other side of the room for toy storage and play space.  Thankfully, we found these Pottery Barn Kids bunk beds on Craigslist, so we saved a lot of money by going that route rather than buying them brand new. They are a dark blue, so the colors fit in perfectly with the rest of the room.  This was one of those things where I just felt like it was a God thing to find something that I really wanted at such a great price and that fit so perfectly with what we were already working with.  (We removed the ladder to keep Hudson from climbing up there and falling off.  Tyson is able to use the step stool to get up and down.)

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The flag bunting over the window is from Etsy.  (There’s a better picture of it up top.)  I’m still thinking about hanging curtains on the lower part of the window, but have not decided exactly what I want (possibly gray and white thick horizontal stripes).  This giant window is kind of a frustration to me.  I’m not really sure what to do with it, but I think curtains might at least help soften the look of the humongo blaring white blinds. 

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One of the challenges of this room was making Tyson’s top bunk a space that functioned well for him. Usually, he stays up looking at books after Hudson has fallen asleep, so two things that he needed easy access to up there were a place to keep a few books and a light source.  After trying out a few ideas (a flashlight and a camping lantern) that didn’t work very well, we settled on this wall sconce that we found on sale at PBK.  And the bookshelf is actually part of a pallet that I found. Tim added boards to the bottom of it and then I painted it. It was easy and free.  We also put up the red cubbies above his headboard for an extra place to keep things that he doesn’t want Hudson or Peyton getting into. 

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A close up of the pallet book shelf.

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On the other side of the room, we stacked two Ikea shelves (that we already had in another room) to organize all their books, blocks, and toys.  (Tim attached the shelves to each other and then wired them to the wall for safety.)  I love when everything has a place to go and it looks nice too….form and function.

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I used different buckets and baskets to add storage spaces for smaller toys (like Hot wheels or blocks) and to bring in colors and textures to this side of the room.  

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The dresser in the boy’s room was originally Tim’s dresser when he was a kid.  A few years ago, we painted it white  and used it for Tyson and Peyton while they were sharing a room.  But over the years, the white had gotten pretty scuffed up and it wasn’t looking so great anymore.  So one day in the middle of this room re-do, I just got tired of looking at it (obviously the scuff marks weren’t going to disappear on their own), so I grabbed a roller, a paint brush and some gray paint that was sitting in the garage and just started painting away.  It was such a spur of the moment thing to do, but there really was nothing to lose and it turned out great. securedownload

 

I originally made the shelves hanging above the dresser for Hudson’s baby room a few years ago. They are a knock-off from some shelves I saw in the PBK catalog back then. I still love them and wanted to incorporate them into the boy’s room. 

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Well, I guess that about wraps up this room tour! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Peyton’s Room Tour

Since we moved Hudson into Tyson’s room and Peyton into her own room a few weeks ago, it was time for some room re-dos.   Although I’m still adding a few touches here and there, for the most part, I’m finally done with both rooms, so it’s time for the room tours. 

We’ll start with Peyton’s room.  I’m using a mixture of iphone pics and camera pics.  So get ready to be overloaded with pictures.

The color of her walls is Benjamin Moore’s “Irish Mist”, a super soft gray/white. Originally, I had painted the walls “Heaven” by Benjamin Moore and I loved the color, but once I moved the dresser and vanity in, the color of the furniture did not work well with the walls.  I went back and forth on what to re-paint, but settled on re-painting the walls. So, yea, I painted this entire room twice.  It was not fun.  But I’m happy with the color now, so it was worth it.

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Peyton painted the rainbow pic.  The alphabet and number prints are from Etsy.  And a friend made the giraffe picture a few years ago with scrapbook paper.  Isn’t it cute?! (Elizabeth, do you remember that one?!)

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When I saw this side table at an antique store, I knew it would be perfect for Peyton’s room. And I took a boring lamp we had sitting around, spray painted the base yellow and re-covered the lamp shade with some fun fabric and ribbon. I used things we already had, so it was a free transformation.

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Sadly, lamps and Hudson do not mix well right now, so not long after that picture was taken, he threw a coaster and busted the lamp.  This is the second lamp in about a week that he has busted.  At least the lamp shade is still usable.

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For Peyton’s birthday last year, I made this flag bunting with ribbon, scrapbook paper and a hot glue gun. I was excited to be able to use it in her big girl room.  In many ways, this was the inspiration for the colors I used in her room.  I really wanted her room to feel bright and happy.  The curtain rods were previously dark wood.  A little paint works wonders. 

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Here’s a close-up of the wall. As I’ve mentioned before I looove Katie Daisy prints…. and my favorite weather is bird chirping weather. The crate was something I made several months ago and painted.  I thought it looked cute hanging on the wall. 

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As a reminder, this is what her dresser looked like before:

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And now:

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The color is called “Whispering Spring” by Benjamin Moore.

Some details:

The window is from an antique store.  The dress was her baby dedication dress.

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The fake flowers were from another spot in our home.  I wrapped them in twine and stuck them in a ball jar. And here’s another lovely print by Katie Daisy.

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Moving right along to the other side of the room…

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Cheap decorations made from paper products that add fun and color to the space.

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The vanity before:

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And after:

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This was an antique stool we had sitting around.  It was brown and ugly.  A little paint, a little fabric, and some distressing totally transformed it into something adorable.

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So there you have it… her room tour.

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