I know, I know.
I said I’d share the boys’ room yesterday.
But I had to first CLEAN IT. And then it had to STAY CLEAN. And then the dumb baby had to nap and robbed all the best lighting.
Also, mostly I got sidetracked.
Again, I’ll make note of where I got stuff. And again, nothing is sponsored. FYI.
As you can see, Owen is dying to take a nap.
“Just a few more minutes buddy. Mom’s just gotta take some pictures for her blog.”
Not weird at all.
I painted the room a gray-blue that I’m really happy with. It’s not so blue that it feels babyish for Henry, but a little more masculine. The color is Heaven on Earth by Behr.
Sometimes I end up leaning towards a certain paint color because it has a cool name. That may or may not have happened this time.
We also put the boys in bunks when we moved. You might remember that the Porkchop was climbing out of his crib anyway, so we figured now was as good a time as any. And no bed rail for baby. Because the only bed rail we had we ended up having to put on Lucy’s top bunk (remember that from yesterday?), and we had to decide which kid we liked more, and that would get the bed rail. Lucy on the top bunk won. So he slept just like this. The next morning we found him on the floor. He’s not fallen off since.
That we know of.
Andy had a meeting at NASA a couple of months ago (I know, right?!), and apparently NASA has a gift shop. Which, for some reason, I find really odd. Offices. Water cooler. Lobby. Gift shop.
Either way, he came home with these really cool metal die cuts. I mostly died at the one of the shuttle on the 747. Because you might remember that I GOT TO BE AT THE SHUTTLE PULL a few years ago. (Still one of the coolest experiences to date.)
Henry gets the top bunk and uses the quilt his grandma made him and of course, a Land of Nod initial pillow.
Andy also got this one of a stealth fighter jet thingy.
Because nothing says sweet dreams like an oncoming jet. And bunting.
The mismatched bedding was a happy accident (in both rooms, actually). The white comforter was supposed to be a placeholder but , I really really like it like this. Not too matchy matchy, but also not so busy as if both beds had different quilts on them.
Owen’s crib quilt (also made by grandma), sits folded at the foot of his bed and adds a little color and makes for a quick cover at nap. Which he is DESPERATELY trying to take, but his annoying mom has her camera.
Our sitter went on vacation and brought each of the kids back a treat. She brought Owen this coyote from a national park gift shop, because we have coyotes. I mean, not as pets. But wild. You know, that roam around and wail and keep me up at night with their creepy terrifying howling? Those kind.
Weirdly enough, Owen carries this thing around all the live long day (I had to “borrow” it for the photos), sleeps with it, and calls it Tee-Tee (because he can’t say coyoTEE, get it?).
He also has an initial pillow, which is decidedly less creepy.
Hinting much?
Nap. Soon. Just a few more.
Owen’s clothes live in this hand me down Ikea dresser (Henry’s dresser is in the closet). Next time I’m somewhere with an Ikea, I really want to get a second one for the other side of the bed. I’m picturing oversized night stands.
(Gray “Oaks of Splendor” print by Blossom & Vine. Wooden “When God First Thought of You” sign from Barn Owl Primitives.)
A fun collection of boyish stuff that isn’t too young since it’s Henry’s room too and mostly non-breakable since it’s Owen’s room too.
A metal tin that was Andy’s dad’s when he was a kid (and who has since passed away), a bull dog head book end (because it’s weird and cool), and Henry’s prized container (because the kid loves himself some containers).
And because every room in my house must have a gallery wall, the boys get one too.
We hugely encourage science-y type stuff in our home, and it doesn’t hurt that Henry has a natural affinity for it too.
These fully customizable prints are by Hello, Marshmallow!. You can choose background color and name and she’ll email you a file to print in a jiffy. And for just a few bucks too.
Love.
Using clipboards to hang them was really another happy accident. I had clipped them to a board to keep them safe and not get crumpled. I really loved how it looked so I bought a couple more boards at Walmart for a buck and hung them as is.
You should pin that. It’s practically genius.
And really, the Piece de Resistance: a little clay man THAT ANDY MADE WHEN HE WAS FOUR.
It literally says “Andy Gibson, 1984” on the back of it.
The far wall has some of Henry’s old boards up on display, a toy box, navy blue curtains I found on MAD clearance at Marshall’s, and a lime green stool I scored at a flea market years ago.
See why a second Ikea dresser would be perfect here? This corner is kind of a catchall for now, but you can’t really see it unless you walk over there, so it’s not too annoying.
I found these simple unfinished shelves at Target on clearance for $2.49 each, and Henry “decorated” them himself. As soon as they were hung, he rushed out of the room and came back with two big picture books (of airplanes, what else?), and a clock he had begged for a few weeks back.
Except the clock doesn’t have batteries because it ticks and tocks so loudly, that it kept him up all night the first night. So it’s just for decoration now.
I bought Henry a book light and he often looks at his airplane books in bed, and puts them right back from the comfort of his top bunk. Because I totally planned that.
Yes, I brought our map mural with us.
I’ve always known deep down that we would be moving eventually (although I was really thinking more like the summer of 2015), so when we put it up in the last house, we just put it up with a staple gun (instead of wallpaper glue, like it’s supposed to).
I very carefully took it down, rolled it up, and transported it.
Boom. Don’t tell me I’m crazy because that thing wasn’t super cheap. (Yet worth every penny. BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME.)
And yeah, I totally brought the felt bunting too.
Because gallery walls and bunting are REQUIREMENTS OF LIFE.
Just a word to the wise…if you’re thinking of getting a map mural:
We put it up with staples again, not because I plan on moving again, but because wallpaper glue isn’t even a consideration in my life…and I had noticed in the last house that the seams were the places most likely to get torn (because little hands running along the wall snag)….so I thought I’d secure the seams with clear packing tape. This is an effective solution for tearing, BUT, at least in our case, the way the light comes in that window, there is a hugely obvious glare all along the tape. And I hate it, but then again, I hate it less than the thought of this happy map being torn.
Cousin Tess gave Henry a package of Harry Potter wall decals, and before I knew it, he had decorated his bed with them. (They are all over if you look close).
Honest? They drive me crazy. Because they don’t match the theme of the room. I know. It’s ridiculous. So I let them be.
But it still drives me nuts. NUTS.
Even if I’m tempted to pull them up one by one all stealth like.
But I don’t. Because I realize that would be Mama Crazy of me.
Okay, one last thing, which, I need your help with:
I have four cans of navy blue spray paint sitting in my garage, which I bought with the intention of painting the bunk beds with. Thoughts? Should I leave the bed natural wood or go navy? I really hated the wood tone at first, but now that the room is painted and set up, I don’t mind it so much and it does match the browns in the map…but I also think it would look cool in navy blue. So really, I can’t decide.
WHAT DO I DO? (No, really. Help me. I can’t make these life-altering decisions alone. Not really kidding. For real.)
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I think the bed would look great in navy blue!
I honestly think it looks good either way (worst answer ever I know) but if the bed is navy youre prob gonna end up wanting different color curtains (voiding the glorious steal of a purchase they were). And also…youll for sure want to hurt somebody if you try and spray paint that bed. I mean…oh my. I thought I would be genius and spray paint my 3 barstools to be “easier” and almost lost my life. It took a TON more spray paint than I thought and was just oh…so I vote for the sanity of momma (and everyone else because obviously) to leave ’em be! And I feel your pain…my boy is 8 and has allll sorts of opinions about how I should no longer be allowed to “decorate” his room. Thus, he came back from a dollar store trip with my husband with sports posters. POSTERS. And they are hanging everywhere all crooked in his room…Ive developed a twitch but am realizing the phase of leaving his door closed at all times has arrived!!
Paint it!!! Navy beds will look awesome in there.
Painting involves, disassembly, sanding off a perfectly good finish, priming, painting , reassembling and then watching as the paint chips and peals and scratches off little by little. I vote no.
Leave it (looks good) and paint the dressers/nightstands navy blue.
Best,
Caryl
Ditto. Beds are a high wear item, the rungs on the ladder will drive you batty after the paint chips off. I like the contrast of the natural wood with the quilts and a navy bed might take away from that.
However, navy nightstands would be genius!
I think navy bunk beds would be an extra pop. They would look awesome.
Leave the bunk beds. We bought an Ikea bed for my 4 yr old that is the same finish along with a can of green paint because green is his favorite & for as long as he could talk he’s wanted a “green bed”. It’s been about 6 months & the bed isn’t painted – he hasn’t brought it up and we haven’t either (mostly out of laziness).
I think they look delightful the way they are.
I would absolutely leave them wood toned. They look great in the room. Classic and not too matchy. Also, I have a 6 year old son whose dining room chair I spray painted navy blue. He scratched into the pain with his fingernails and took big stripes off the top. It doesn’t look good!
I’m currently OBSESSED with Navy Blue; I vote you paint it, too!
paint it!!!
:)
I would leave them as is. Personally, nave would darken that room more than I would want it. And the wood looks fantastic. Plus, wood is totally a guy thing, right? :-)
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I love the beds as is, and painting them would be a huge undertaking. I tried spray painting a very small table once and it was annoying and terrible. If you want a “pop” of navy, maybe paint just the ladder? Although I did read and agree with the comment above that the rungs might get chippy (or maybe not because the kids will not be climbing them in shoes?), which would personally drive me nuts.
I definitely would have brought that wall map too, I love it and I wish I had a big enough wall to put one on. Also, I would leave the beds as is, wood looks great in boys rooms. spray painting furniture is a huge pain, I know this from experience. It also takes a lot my cans, more than you think. And it will chip and you will see those chips and they will annoy you (like my spray painted dining room chairs do to me). If those stickers annoy you, don’t spray the beds!
Well if you paint the bed navy, then you *have* to take the HP decals off. And when you’re taking them off they just *might* be rendered unusable and not be able to be put back on. And it’s not even crazy. Problem solved.
don’t paint the bed. plus you’ll need like 3 times that much paint to do a decent job. maybe just the ladder?
I say leave the bed natural as it is. Navy would close down the room a bit too much for my taste. Plus, you’d have to scrape it all off if you didn’t like it!