One Room Challenge Week #2: Boy Bedroom Makeover
HI Guys! Welcome back to Week #2 of the One Room Challenge! I’m Kristin from Postbox Designs E-Design and I’m taking a tiny break from my client projects to makeover a room in my very own home. For six weeks 20 featured designers and a bunch of us Guest Participants are going to attempt to makeover a room from top to bottom. In a way six weeks feels like a long time…until you think about everything that is involved in a full room makeover! This is my fourth time taking on this amazing Challenge (check it out HERE if you want to see my past One Room Challenge makeovers!). And if you missed Week #1 I announced this year’s Makeover will be:
Boy’s Adventure Themed Bedroom Makeover
You can check out all of the details here:
One Room Challenge Week #1: Choosing a Theme
Funny story. I told my son that I was going to give him a whole new “big boy” room and his first response was “No! I like my room!”. I tried to sell him on the changes, telling him about his new wall color etc (okay, white paint ISN’T the most exciting change I know!). Finally he came around and was a bit more excited when I told him more. (My daughters are MUCH more into this makeover then the recipient himself though). But my boy loves to play in our woods and outdoors is his favorite place to chill after a long day at school. So I wanted to bring some outdoors in for his new bedroom makeover. If you missed last week, I unveiled the Mood Board for his Adventure Bedroom Makeover:
One Room Challenge Freebies Along the Way
If you love what you see and want to know where to find it all, you can snag it here:
FREE BOY’S BEDROOM MOOD BOARD + SHOPPING LIST
It’s going to hang out in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY with all of the other One Room Challenge weekly freebies (and oodles of other Mood Boards, Guides, Shopping Lists, How To’s, and more)
I know you are busy. And there are hundreds of amazing ORC makeovers going on right now. So as a thank-you for stopping by and checking out my Boy’s Bedroom Makeover, I wanted to create a brand new freebie each week to make the whole process fun for YOU too! I hope you are inspired by them, and it gives you the courage to take the next step in your room’s makeover.
One Room Challenge Week #2’s To Do List
Last week I showed you my plan, but this week I’m concentrating on getting everything ordered! I did pre-order a lot of the items just to make sure they were here in time. HOWEVER, this is real life…I’ve still been waffling on some of my items (or holding off until something goes on sale!). Honestly, I still don’t even know how I’m going to arrange his furniture, so I’m still holding out on making some final purchases.
But you know I have been a busy bee because this is what my hallway currently looks like with all of his boxes stacked up! It’s been like Grand Central Station with all of the boxes rolling in….
I’ve also been busy painting! Even as I type as this blog post I have splatters of white paint all over me since I just did the second coat this morning. His old room had BRIGHT blue paint, so it’s going to take a few coats to turn it back to white. Don’t worry, I’ve had my podcasts and our Labradoodle Jasper to keep me company. You know how helpful dogs can be during the painting process.
And last minute I did switch out my rug choice. I was going to go with the Land of Nod cross rug in blue, but I stumbled across a different swiss cross rug from Urban Outfitters. I literally snagged the last one on clearance (sorry!) for a mere $65 and I’m going to use that one instead. But I kept the Land of Nod version in my Mood Board since the Urban Outfitters version is one longer available.
Honestly designing a room from scratch can be overwhelming.
Since this week has been all about purchasing items….how the heck do you start a Bedroom Makeover? For my little man I’m doing an Adventure/Camp/Woodland themed Bedroom Makeover, but for any style or type of bedroom you have a couple of must-haves.
Bedroom Makeover Tip No 1: Choose a theme or decor style for your bedroom
Like I mentioned my boy’s bedroom makeover theme is going to be a Woodland/Camp theme, so I wanted to find items that hinted at that without being too “theme-y”. Some rustic patterns, some animal prints, and some adventure inspired items are all going to be part of his bedroom decor.
Choosing a theme might come really naturally. If you already have a Farmhouse decor home, then extending that design style to your bedroom may be a no brainer. If there is a color palette you are drawn to, that is usually a good starting place. But kid bedrooms are a little bit different-you can have a little more fun with them. So choose a general theme to start with, then filter all of your purchasing decisions through that! Word of caution: I usually don’t go full-out with my kid’s latest obsession. Her Barbie obsession this month will turn into Shopkins next month. So if your son loves his football team…not every item needs to be related. Try adding one piece of artwork, or a pillow with his favorite player’s number on it. Go neutral with some of the other pieces so the whole bedroom doesn’t SCREAM out the theme. Then, you can swap out a few pieces without starting from scratch…which leads me to Tip No. 2.
Bedroom Makeover Tip No. 2: Take an Inventory of What You Have
You might be surprised by what you can re-use. Look for pieces that can also be made-over by a coat of paint, re-staining, new hardware, etc. Can that lamp be saved with a new shade? Do you have any frames you could re-use with new art? In my One Room Challenge I am reusing his existing dresser and bed. It works with the theme and it’s going to save a ton of money by using what I already have. I’m also re-using his sheets, frames, and even swapping out a couple of items to a different room in the house.
Bedroom Makeover Tip No. 3: Start with the Furniture & Bedding
Artwork and accessories are usually pretty easy to find. If you already have a piece you KNOW you want to incorporate, that is wonderful. Otherwise, I usually find those pieces last. I start with the biggie pieces (bed, table, dresser, etc.). Personally, I don’t love getting a matching set-bedrooms are a lot more interesting when you mix it up. Feel free to mix up painted and stained furniture as well. In my little boy’s Bedroom Makeover, I’m pairing a wood bed/dresser set with a more industrial looking painted side table with a pop of green into it. If you don’t even know where to start, you might love my Designer’s Cheat Sheet to My Favorite Stores (find it in my Free Resource Library). It is all of my go-to stores where I probably find 80% of my items for any room makeover I do. This Adventure Bedroom Makeover is no exception-I think I only went off that list once. And once you find your major furniture pieces, I always go next to the bedding.
Where do you find the Best Bedding Combos?
If you look at the very best bedroom makeovers, you will notice something about the bedding. The designer never uses just a bed-in-a-bag (sorry, it’s not that easy…but I’m here to help!). They usually pair up a duvet/comforter with some sort of blanket at the end of the bed. They mix up some different throw pillows-in different sizes and patterns. Here are some of my favorite Adventure Themed Boys Bedrooms that I grabbed from my Pinterest board (I have several boards dedicated to just kid’s bedrooms-so take a gander at all of the eye candy over there!)
Mint Interior Design via Instagram
I’ll admit it. It can be really overwhelming. What patterns work together? How many pillows do you really need? And I’m not one for wasting money-I don’t want to spend on items that I don’t need. So since I had to come up with a bedding combo for my Adventure Bedroom Makeover anyways, I wanted this week’s freebie to be all about the bedding combos.
Week’s Freebie: Kid’s Bedding Combos in 4 Different Styles
You can find this Free Kid’s Bedding Combo Guide + Shopping List (with of all of the sources and prices) along with last week’s Freebie Mood Board. Just click on the link (or the image below!):
I created a bedding + quilt + accent pillow combo for a “Whimsical”, “Preppy”, “Girly” and “Adventure” themed kid’s bedrooms. But feel free to swap items in and out-especially depending on your kiddo’s gender. For example, you can change up the feminine “Whimsical” combo by keeping the sheets and quilt but adding a more masculine pillow.
Bedroom Makeover Tip No. 4: Add in the Artwork, Accessories & Decor
Now that you have the biggies out the of the way, you are free to style it up with all of the accessories. Let’s be honest…this is the fun part! But remember….less is usually more. I’m also a HUGE fan of using Etsy instant downloads for bedroom wall decor. You can get amazing, unique pieces that you won’t find at the big box stores. Plus, you can usually snap up a great piece for a few dollars and then you have the flexibility to turn it into different sizes. I’m obsessed with going large these days, so I blow mine up into 24″x36″s. To buy a piece of art that size is going to cost significantly more than printing it off yourself with your digital file.
I’m going to go much further into how to shop for the perfect kid’s bedroom accessories for Week #3, so stay tuned (hint: there is another freebie involved!)
Week #3 is going to be all about how I found my accessories, art, and wall decor (and how you can too), plus some more behind-the-scenes looks. You can also check in on how all of the other uber-talented designers are doing right HERE as they work on their One Room Challenge projects!
And don’t forget to check out all of the One Room Challenge Freebies right here:
My favorite way to hang out is over at Instagram…stop by and say Hello. I would love to chat and hear about who you love to follow too.
See you next week!
Kristin
Melissa says
I love how this room is shaping up! The pieces you have for it are amazing. Can’t wait to see more progress next week!
PostboxDesigns says
Thanks so much! I also just checked out your site-that pumpkin muffin photo is GORGEOUS, you made me hungry 🙂 I’ll have to try it out!
Brandi says
Hi Kristin! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, which in turn led me to yours! I am so in love with your ideas for your boys’ bedroom makeover. You seriously have great taste. I cannot wait to click back and see it all come together!!