Boys Bedroom Makeover

We’ve been promising Caterpillar a new bedroom for a while now and with the imminent arrival of his little sister our timescale became a little tighter.  Since he’s now six years old we wanted to find a good balance between keeping the decor mature enough that it would last him for many years but without being too grown up for his age.

We couldn’t be happier with how the room has turned out and I wanted to share it with you today (full list of suppliers & links at the bottom of this post).

The colour scheme

I knew from day one that I didn’t want either a traditional blue or an overtly childish theme.  Instead we chose a really modern alternative of dark teal and grey with contrasting accents of mustard yellow.  There is something so gorgeous about how much this shade of blue and mustard complement each other.

We used Valspar paint for the first time and are really pleased with the results – two coats only and the colour is rich enough that you want to dive into it.  

The space

We’re lucky that our second bedroom is a really great size, almost identical, in fact, to our master bedroom.  However, since we don’t have a playroom downstairs we desperately needed all that space for storage.  Caterpillar’s toys have been taking over the lower level of our house for the last six years and with all the baby paraphernalia we’re about to be surrounded by we needed this bedroom to double up as a playroom too.  We didn’t want to lose the illusion of space though so had to be smart about storage.

Storage

We wanted to maximise storage without making the room look cluttered or crowded.  In the end we’ve used a combination of a large wooden trunk, under-the-bed storage and modern cube storage (all from Ikea).  In addition, we’re using both the built-in wardrobe and bottom of the freestanding wardrobe for additional space.  The wooden trunks were an unexpected find but we love how they’ve turned out and the contrast of wood with the gloss furniture.  We’re using the smaller of the two as an alternative to a laundry basket.

Furniture

We’re so pleased with the dark grey gloss wardrobe & chest of drawers set we found in B&Q.  It’s sturdy, slick and a really great size.  We chose a simple bed from Ikea primarily for the storage drawers, and have doubled an Ikea storage cube as a bedside table area.  We considered adding a desk also but decided that would crowd the room so will instead add that in the future when Caterpillar has less toys and therefore requires less storage.

Lighting

We wanted to create options for both bright & cozy.  We chose this copper ceiling light as it reminded Caterpillar of a planet or star constellation which is the loose theme of the room.  But we also added two mustard coloured lamps for softer light when required.

Soft Furnishings

The bedding shown here is from Argos and we’ve also sourced several other mustard sets plus an awesome space themed set from Wilko.  We added a mustard throw and shaggy rug to finish the look.

Decoration

We still have plenty of artwork to add – including a space themed feature wall opposite the bed (to follow) but we love the four pieces we have already hung, including a dog canvas from B&Q that all three of us fell in love with at once and the three animal mosaics which I made myself from this Animetrics mosaic sticker book and framed.

It was so exciting to watch the room come together (thanks primarily to Hubs’ hard work) and we love seeing how much Caterpillar enjoys his new space.  Plus – I can’t lie – it’s wonderful having so much more space downstairs again (albeit only for a few weeks!).

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Suppliers & Links

B&Q: Paint – Chest Of Drawers – Wardrobe – Dog Canvas

Art Blinds: White Shutters

Argos: Yellow Bedding Set – Touch Lamp – Yellow Storage Cube

Ebay: Rug

Ikea: Bed – Storage Unit – Grey Patterned Cube – Basket Box – Blue Cube – Large Wooden Storage Chest – Small Wooden Storage Chest (laundry basket) – Mustard Lamp

Wilko: Space Bedding Set – Mustard Throw