...because home doesn't happen overnight.

It’s Feature Friday! On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it. If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes. Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house. And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it. Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.

I shared the process of decorating my boys’ shared room a few months back but here is the ‘official’ tour with bigger and better pics.

I painted the navy circles and hung store-bought letters in the center {after I spray painted them green} to personalize the space.

The bedding is from IKEA {duvet & pillow case} and Home Goods {geometric print lumbar pillow}.

The adjacent wall is a collection of license plates we’ve had over the years…including hand-me-downs from family members.  They’re in theme with the ‘car room’ the boys wanted without being too theme-y.

Across from the beds is a Craigslist metal credenza that I spray painted yellow.

The credenza serves as a cool garage for the boys’ CAT machines…an ode to Handy Hubby.

I Mod Podged car, truck and tractor pages torn from books onto stretched canvases to keep artwork cheap.

We hang the kids’ art here, too.

A cozy and kid-friendly vinyl chair is the perfect spot for bedtime stories.  The road signs hail from Handy Hubby’s college dorm decor.

I couldn’t find the exact curtains I wanted at a reasonable price, so instead I sewed 2 panels out of canvas dropcloth and painted stripes onto them.

And to keep my boys safe at night, there is a knight standing guard by the door.  It was their Pap-Pap’s and I spray painted him {the knight not Pap-Pap} acid green.  Layne has lovingly named him ‘Fred’.

So, there you have it…that’s where I tuck my kids in at night.  We’re still in the trial-and-error stages of letting our younger son {2 years old} sleep in his big boy bed in the shared room.  For now, we just kinda play it by ear every night.  If he’s super slap happy {and bothering his sleepy brother}, we happily return him to his crib in the nursery.

Sweet dreams and happy weekend!

45 Comments

08.October.2010

Love those drop cloth curtains!!!!

08.October.2010

you’ve made such smart choices in this room! my almost-teen would love this room, too, especially the yellow credenza, the license plates and highway signs…what a fun layout! I would love that chair and circle rug in my room, if only I had the space…

08.October.2010

I know I mentioned this a few posts back, but I’m especially in love with this room! I love the combo of kiwi greens and blue. Will for sure plan to copy this in the future – when we move, my youngest will be about 18 months and perhaps it will be time to move him to a big boy bed and share a room with his brother!….We’ll see!

08.October.2010

Those painted curtains look reallllly good!

10.October.2010

Wow what a cool room. I especially love the curtains very fresh!

22.October.2010

I am curious what kind of paint did you used on the curtains? Fabric? Spray? Latex? I have some drop-cloth curtains that could use this!

25.October.2010

Upcycled Home – I actually used Lowe’s line of NO VOC paints…it’s a latex but with a higher content of acrylic than the regular ol’ latex. The paint mixer recommended it to me because the higher acrylic content makes it a little more ‘flexible’ when dry. It worked great for the stripes I painted. You definitely wouldn’t want to paint an entire panel in it or it’d be too stiff. Good luck!

09.November.2010

I love the room! You did a fantastic job, and I’m sure your boys are enjoying the room. Wondering where you bought the platform beds, I need something like that for my son’s room. Thanks.

09.November.2010

Rachel – The platform beds are from Gothic Cabinet Craft. The website sounds and looks a little cheesy but we’ve been very satisfied with the boys’ beds. We got ’em in the Dark Teak finish and one bed has 2 drawers {with metal sliders} for extra storage. See the platform bed here…

http://www.gothiccabinetcraft.com/products/Platform-Bed%2C-Twin.html

19.November.2010

Hi, i love what you did with your kids bedroom! Your decorating taste is fabulous. I liked your color Bonsai so much that I repainted our master bedroom in that color. One question- where did you get the letters above your boys’ beds?

19.November.2010

Tina H – The letters were from Hobby Lobby on clearance. They were originally gold and I spray painted them green.

22.November.2010

Thank you for the info, Dana!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! So nice to see a non-themey child’s room! Where oh where did you get that fabulous green colored spray paint you used on the knight! I’ve tried out several colors and none have been that perfect!

08.January.2011

Julia – That green is great, isn’t it?! As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. It’s Rust-oleum’s gloss fern. I got it at Lowe’s.

08.January.2011

did the dropcloth curtains have any weird smell? i was going to do something similar but worried when the dropclothes themselves had a smell….maybe after airing them out they were ok? the room is awesome!!

08.January.2011

I absolultely adore the painted curtains, I was thinking of doing the same thing, and googled it and found you, I’m def. gonna try it, great space!

09.January.2011

Christine – I made sure to wash the drop cloth fabric before sewing in the rod pockets or painting it. I’m not gonna lie; they did still smell for a few weeks after hanging them {we used no voc paint} but now {several months later} they’re just fine. The weird thing is that the drop cloth I used for our foyer fabric art never had a smell to it??!! Airing them outside for a while before hanging them probably wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Great question!

21.January.2011

their room looks soooo great!

i’m amanda. found ya, and your amazing blog, via “my sweet savannah”.

i already commented on the “skies are gray” post. i’ll dream of having that in my home when i finally pull myself away from your blog and go to bed tonight.

i asked if you were anywhere near Columbus, Ohio. i first wondered that when i read your most recent post and you wrote “we’re supposed to get more snow”. as if everywhere isn’t getting snow but whatever, it made me wonder if you were nearby…

and now, what do i see, Ohio plates. yay! i’m not the only woman in Ohio trying to make her home look less “new”. ha. :)

super cute room for your boys. working on my 3 year old little mans room currently. hubby set up the bedframe tonight, and the mattress set comes tomorrow. it’s kind of bittersweet to have the “baby” stuff gone. :)

so glad to have found your blog. it’s full of inspiration just up my decor alley.

22.January.2011

Amanda – We’re just north of Cincinnati. Good luck with the Big Boy Bed!

24.January.2011

Hello, I have recently found your blog and I’m enjoying the wealth of inspiration here! I would love to make these curtains :) can you give me the dimensions of your stripes? and do you remember what size drop cloths you bought? Thank you so much!

24.January.2011

Hollie – I used the 6′ x 9′ drop cloths. After washing and drying, they shrunk to 5′ x 8′. I’ll have to measure the stripes tomorrow as my boys are sleeping in there right now! I’ll get back to you…

25.January.2011

This is so nice of you, thank you! I ordered a capiz chandelier today so that I can have my own “fandelier”. My ceiling fan is exactly like yours, every time I walk past it now I can’t bear it. Thanks so much for sharing your awesome ideas!

31.January.2011

I recently found your blog and I am loving all the great info! Can you tell me where you got the great green lamp? I love it!!

01.February.2011

Diane – The green lamp was a HomeGoods find. They usually have a pretty nice selection of table & floor lamps at affordable prices.

01.February.2011

Thanks for the lamp tip – I’m going to have to make a trip to HomeGoods. I was thinking of asking my husband for a gift vertificate from there for Valentines – and that was before I got your answer. Are home goods considered a romantic gift? :) Love the blog!!

01.February.2011

Diane – I don’t know if a HomeGoods gift certificate is considered ‘romantic,’ but there’s a good chance you may want to give your hubby a big fat wet kiss when you come home from spending it!!!!

02.February.2011

I love your boys room! Can you tell me what color you painted their walls?
Thanks

02.February.2011

Celest – It’s Valspar {Lowe’s} Bonsai…much like the rest of our home. Hope that helps you out!

22.February.2011

You’re a great decorator and wonderful for the pocketbook, but don’t you worry about painting so much stuff in a house with little ones? Just don’t spray paint their pillows! :) Love the grey color. West Elm has a striped grey and white comforter right now that’s back ordered until April. It makes me think of your house, want one!

07.March.2011

hi…i love your ideas and i’ve already copied a couple of them shamelessly, like the chalkboard pantry door. i’m wondering where you got the silver pole lamp with the three lights? i’ve been looking for one exactly like that forever for my son’s room and haven’t had any luck. thanks!

08.March.2011

Janine – The pole lamp came from Home Decorators Outlet (online store). It’s sometimes hit-and-miss over there, but when you find something it’s usually a great deal! Good luck!

31.May.2011

So, back to those curtains again…Just wondering how you kept all that material under control while painting it. Did you have it stretched somehow, and did you use a roller or a brush?

01.June.2011

Kate – I did one panel {drop cloth} at a time. I laid it out in our unfinished basement on top of a plastic drop cloth on the floor and rolled it. You could do something similar in a garage or driveway if you don’t have a basement. I didn’t do it all in one day…I’d go down there for about an hour at a time {however much time I had while kids were napping/occupied} and roll away. It took me about 3-4 days to get both panels done. The fabric does absorb the paint pretty quickly so it takes longer than rolling drywall. I only did one coat of paint to achieve a worn, weathered look and I LOVE it!!!!

01.June.2011

I’m getting ready to paint a out door side table the Gloss Fern! Can’t wait!!! :)

06.June.2011

Heehee, my boys are ages 2 and 5 and we play it by ear with our 2-year-old, too, who is also prone to being “slap happy” at night. Too funny!
I love the handsome room–not too matchy-matchy, but still with a theme. I love your mix of colors, patterns and textures, like the garden stool and the fluffy rug–wonderful!

03.September.2011

Thinking of making curtains with orange stripes for my daughters room. Did you ever post the measurements of the stripes and what kind of paint did you use?

I already have a canvas drop cloth in the pkg from Lowes because I was going to use it for either reupholstering or outdoor pergola curtains…love them.

Thanks

04.September.2011

Becky – Here’s a post about how I made the curtains…

https://www.housetweaking.com/2010/06/26/the-ugly-duckling-part-2/

I hung the prewashed panels before I painted them and taped out where I wanted the stripes to be. Then I measured and taped across the entire panel before painting.

10.September.2011

LOVE this room! I stumbled upon your curtains on Pinterest and had to hop over to your blog to see the rest of the room. Fantastic job!!

31.October.2011

I love love loveeee the curtains! I actually just added DIY dropcloth curtains to my to-do list and this is amazing! I was wondering, how much paint did you used? Did you need 1 can of the 3.8L or would the small can be enough?

10.May.2012

Did you use the gloss fern for the letters too?

10.May.2012

Yes!

10.May.2012

Thanks!! One more question, about what size did you paint the navy circles?

10.May.2012

Ooh, that’s a toughy as we don’t live there anymore…but 24″ diameter is sticking in my mind. Don’t hold me to it!

11.May.2012

Thanks so much. Going to try to do it in my sons room. Got the spray paint this morning :)

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