Ever since I finished Mabrey’s room, Layne and Everett have been begging me to make their room ‘perfect.’ I asked them what their idea of perfect was and this is what I got:
Everett: Paint the walls red and black and orange and gray and blue.
Layne: I want my own room.
Awesome. There’s a very good reason why we never hear of famous five-year-old interior designers. Maybe I can teach my kids to embrace imperfection?
Even without the boys’ ideas, their shared room is a challenge for me. {This is where the title comes in. Picture smoke billowing from my ears as I brainstorm a plan for the boys’ bedroom.}
It has to function as sleeping quarters and a playroom. There needs to be ample room for both…for two kids. We already bought a bunk bed that I caved and let the boys pick out. I would have preferred a wooden one {L & E weren’t feelin’ it} or a built-in {HH said he didn’t have time to DIY it right now} but the steel one is sturdy and simple enough. The boys love it. I like the trundle option that we spent extra on. A third mattress rolls out from under the bottom bunk to sleep a total of three kiddos. I see us using it in the future years down the road when we have overnight guests. Mabrey could easily camp out with her brothers in their room on the trundle while guests sleep in her room. It’ll be great for boy sleepovers, too. Ah, small space living. You are so multifunctional.
As for the playroom aspect, I want to keep the middle of the room as open as possible for floor play. I’d also like to incorporate some type of desk/craft area for the boys to do homework, draw, piddle around, etc.
On top of function, I want their room to look like a boy room but I want it to last. No themes, no juvenile items that will be inappropriate in a year or two, no kid-sized furniture. After several weeks of rolling ideas around in my head {most of which weren’t all that great…HH said the first one looked like a girl’s room!…back to the drawing board}, I *think* I’ve finally got it: a woodsy industrial boy room.
1 – The wall color will remain the same. It’s Sherwin Williams Contented. Everybody that sees it says they love it. We do too. The floors are the same as the rest of the house. They’re Texas Brown birch. They’re not necessarily wrestle-around-on-the-floor kinda floors though so I’ll be bringing in a large, durable Flor rug. Hopefully, the gray color will hide dirt but the sweater-ish pattern will give me that textured look I like so much.
2 – We’ve already purchased and installed this industrial cage light. It’s so great! My favorite part is that the boys can throw their nerf football around and I don’t have to worry about them taking out the ceiling light.
3 – I’ll be keeping the bedding simple. White sheets and textured white duvets layered with a rustic linen blanket. These exact ones are a bit pricey so I’ll be scoping out cheaper alternatives.
4 – I have plans for dual built-in desks along one wall. I’d like to use kid-friendly, masculine chairs for the desks. These midcentury dining chairs would be perfect. The faux leather seats should hold up well to two boys and I could easily bring them out to the living room or dining room when we need more seating for guests. Again, in our small house, it’s nice when items can work in more than one area.
5 – Bucky Jr. has been looking for a place to live for a looooooong time now. HH got him for me over a year ago. He’s just the right dose of faux taxidermy that I need in the room.
6 – For a pop of color, I like the idea of Swiss red cross throw pillows on the beds. These are adorable. I may try making my own. Or I may decide that my time is worth the money spent on buying a few.
7 – The dual desk area will be made using different styles of these shallow cabinets topped with a continuous wood countertop. The shallow depth will maximize open floor space in the middle of the room for play.
8 – I want to hang a trio of these woven baskets on the wall for Everett’s costumes. He’s in and out of them so much that they really need to be easily accessible…instead of in the closet.
9 – To make the space personal and fun, I plan to DIY large black and white wall photos of Layne and Everett. I like Katie’s oversized inexpensive version in Will’s room. The image of this lil’ skater dude is fun. I want the photos to be candid – not staged. Maybe Everett will be in his Batman costume. Maybe Layne will be missing his two front teeth.
10 – Since I didn’t get my pick of wood bunk beds, I’ll just have to DIY a plank wall behind the metal ones we did get. The white beds are totally gonna pop against the warm wood. Along with an industrial reading light in each kid’s bunk, the wood plank wall will make for a cozy reading spot.
So that’s the tentative plan for the boys’ room. It feels good to have a plan. Finally.
images: polyvore collage by Dana Miller linked within
DIY, inspiration, interior design, kid-friendly, mood board