Big Boy Bedroom: Progress Report

Over the weekend we got quite a bit more of LP's Big Boy Bedroom done- enough done, in fact, that he was able to sleep in his new bed last night (and yes, there is a side rail on the bed so that he doesn't fall out- it just hadn't arrived in the mail yet when I took these photos!).

There are still a few more things to do but here's where we are:

On Saturday Paul and I put the bed together.  Actually, he put the bed together while LP and I peeled the blue paint off of the headboard.  Paul had painted the headboard while LP and I were in Pennsylvania.  When I got home I saw the coloring of the wood and told him we could have just left the bed unpainted- I'd been expecting the bed to be a lighter color and more fake looking when I asked him to paint it.  Fortunately, Paul had been lazy about painting it and hadn't done any sanding first and so the blue paint literally peeled right off!

Saturday evening on our way out for sushi to celebrate our anniversary we stopped at a mattress store where we were lucky enough to come across a mattress that was on clearance, marked down from $600 to $130!  We snatched it up and now LP has a nicer mattress than we do.  I grabbed the bedding for $40 at Home Goods a few weeks ago (and have since seen the same exact set selling online for upwards of $100!).

I spent Sunday getting started on the decorations and moving some of LP's books and toys into the room. 

I'd originally planned for this corner to be a reading nook but his toy box fit perfectly there instead.  I love the alphabet decals but am not quite sure about their placement yet.

I decorated the knobs on the built-in drawers using stencils and this red paint I'd picked up on clearance some years ago- it's actually almost a spackle consistency so you can make raised looks with it.  I have another post planned with details of how I did this.  I was inspired by these knobs I saw at Pottery Barn Kids:

I would have loved to use the actual knobs but I am super cheap and thought I could make something myself for free.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and LP loves counting them!

This dresser used to be part of a bedroom set that Paul owned when I met him- we had it in our bedroom until we bought ourselves a new set last year.  So we painted it blue and changed out the drawer pulls to something a little more contemporary.  Unfortunately, the drawers came with those lovely decorative medallions on front.  We thought about removing them but would have had to fill in tons of little screw holes so instead we just spray painted them to blend.  And no matter how hard I looked online we couldn't find replacements that might look better.

I thought about using some sort of bookplate/label to hide them and then came up with the idea below:

I made these labels during my lunch hour at work, using old office supplies that we no longer have any use for.  They're just pictures of each type of clothing with the word superimposed, printed out on cardstock.  I then "laminated" them using some extra-wide packing tape.  I used little adhesive stickers to stick them on the medallions. 

So that's where the room is right now!  LP and I made a trip to Ikea yesterday where we picked up a 2-pack of looong curtains that I'm going to use to make curtains for both windows.  We also grabbed a cute little play rug with roads/houses/etc. on it but are looking for a nice area rug to put down underneath.  I have to do something with the light fixture (there are no overhead lights in our bedrooms and so we've gone with one of those Ikea deals where you run the cord up the wall and across the ceiling.  I stripped the fabric off the old one and have to replace it with something cuter.  And I have to bring in some more artwork and accessories and finish off the chalkboard we have planned for the wall above the built-in drawers.

I have to say that as much fun as I had planning LP's nursery I think I'm having even more fun with this room.  Seeing him get excited about it and being able to decorate the room with the things he loves makes it so exciting and satisfying!