A "Big Boy's" Room

I have fallen a bit behind in my room makeover posts.

Today I'd like to share with you the "Before and After" photos of my boys' bedroom. 

As it currently stands, this is what their room looks like from the hallway looking in:

And what it looks like from the opposite direction; standing at the window:

This room was the first bedroom we made over when we were new in our renovation journey. I chose this room to do first because Roman was a toddler then, and I wanted him to have a nice bedroom. 

But since then I've redecorated to give him and Soren more of a "big boy" room. So really, this room has seen two makeovers. 

I'd like to record it here....

Upon buying the house, the room looked like this:

I suppose you could say that this is the original "before".

The picture above and the one below are the same two views from the pictures I showed you at the start of this post.

I went through a decorating phase when I was younger, of painting the rooms in my house dark or bright colors. Thankfully, I've come out of that. Phew! But for Roman's room back then, I chose a vibrant blue and dark tan.

(I realized that painting a room a bright color is distracting from the art and furniture in the room, and painting a room a dark color will make you feel like you've lost square footage. Ya live and ya learn!)

Here's a "during" shot:

Micah put in new windows, and built this narrow shelf that goes around the perimeter of the room:

He also refinishes the hardwood floors of each room we re-do. This is what the floors look like before:

And after he refinishes them:

This always makes such a big difference in brightening up the rooms we make over!

This was the first "after" of Roman's bedroom about six years ago:

I remember feeling so proud, haha! 

I painted his closet door with chalkboard paint, which is something I would not do again if I had it to do over. I am much more protective of our woodwork now than I was years ago. But I loved it then, and welcomed Roman into his new room with a little chalkboard love:

Over the next couple of years we had another baby boy, our Soren Jack, and the room became his and Roman's to share:

It was a cute little boys' room while they were babies, but about two years ago I got inspired to redecorate the room. I wanted to give them more of a "big boy" room. Micah had returned home from a safari hunt in Africa, and brought with him this Impala skull:

               

It became the starting point of my inspiration for their "big boy" room. My vision was to clear away anything that was "baby-ish" and give them a room that they could grow into and potentially still feel proud of in their older years.

So... This is what it looks like today:

They each have their own corner of the room:

They also have a little reading area by the window that they share. This is what it looked like before:

And after:

                

I found this leather chair with ottoman at an antique store for $100. I happened to have some cash on me, though, and asked the shop owner if he'd take $75 for it. I used what my grandma taught me is the "magic word" when negotiating with antique dealers... Cash! He was happy to see it go for $75 cash, and I've always felt like it was a steal! 

Here's another shot of it:

This picture was taken this past winter when I noticed the beautiful sunlight that was streaming in...

                 

You'll notice that I used to have a tall plant by the foot of Soren's bed last winter. The poor thing died a slow death and despite my efforts to help it recover, I had to pitch it this spring. I couldn't figure out why it seemed like every time I entered their room, this plant was looking worse and worse...

                

I was watering it!...?... It was receiving plenty of early morning sunlight!...?... I couldn't figure it out. Until one day I walked in on my then, 3-year old Soren, who had his entire dinosaur collection all spread out and he was giving each of them turns feasting on the plant. 

I said, "Soren! What are you doing? Stop being so rough with that plant!"

He said, "But they're plant-eaters, mom. They're having their lunch."

Thanks to PBS Kids, he knows his Herbivores from his Carnivores, and was only trying to take care of his toy dinosaurs, haha! But I learned the lesson that perhaps he is too young to have live plants in his room. 

How could I be mad, though? Look at how cute he is!!!

                

Love that boy!!! :)

Here are some other shots of the room:

                

I'm not a photographer, (clearly, ha!) so I couldn't decide which was best for these pictures; having their bedside lamps on or off...?

               

I love these lights! I bought them on Etsy. They just plug in so we didn't have to worry about hard-wiring them like a typical wall sconce! Brilliant!

               

Here are a few close-ups of some of my vignettes for this room:

               

               

               

               

I want to talk a little about how to decorate a room when you're on a budget. I did a few things in this room that helped cut down on cost. One example I can share is these curtain panels:

             

They were $25 per panel. I needed four for the two windows, which would have come to $100 just for curtains. I didn't want to spend that much, so I only purchased two panels for $50. When I got them home I cut them in half, lengthwise, and sewed up the edge with matching grey thread. It's not as full of a look as they would have been had I bought all four, but it cut my curtain cost in half!

Another example I can give you are the plaid pillows on each bed:

              

I purchased two men's flannel shirts for a few bucks each at a thrift store. After I washed the shirts, I cut the backs off and made pillow covers. What I'm showing in the photo above is the back of the pillow cover which was made from extra drop cloth that I had in my fabric stash. 

Which leads me nicely to the last example that I'll share, and that is whenever I'm decorating a room, I try to make work whatever I already have on hand before going out and buying something new. Like this red and cream ticking "sheet" that is actually an old shower curtain that I had stuffed in storage:

             

Of course, there were other budget-friendly things that I did in this room, but as it's important for me to cut back on cost, it's also important for me to cut back on blog content so that I don't bore my readers! Haha! Please know, however, that you are more than welcome to leave in the comments any questions you may have and I'll respond!

I hope you enjoyed the tour and the story of the evolution of this "Big Boy" room.....

I will end today's post with my favorite picture of the boys' bedroom... It's actually a sight I get to enjoy every night. The tradition of the "Bedtime Story" with dad:

              

It is a JOY to me to see the rooms in my home that I have poured my heart into to make beautiful being used and enjoyed by the people I love! This is why I not only just decorate, but strive to decorate well. 

What a blessing we can be to our families, mama's! And it's up to us! No one else will do it! 

What will you make beautiful in your home today?

~ Courtney