A record of Son’s Bedroom Update
Our little man’s room is looking a little distinct these days, thanks to at last being done with the crib (our kids enjoy a crib) and making a few other tweaks to the space while we were at it. He’ll be four this April, and he at last chose he was done with the crib earlier in January, which was bittersweet. We have had the same crib in our house for nearly 8 years (!!!) since our daughter used it before him for quite a while too. But it was also exciting because it meant his room was about to get some updates after in short being frozen in time for the past four years (you can read all about the process of creating his nursery here).
ceiling light / sconces / similar daybed / similar rug / blue bee pillows / art / duvet / sheets
I am not even exaggerating when I say it hadn’t changed since we put this room together in anticipation of his arrival (back in April of 2014). Same chair, same rug, same curtains, same crib sheets, same green closet door, same bike art, same play baskets, same stuff on the built-ins. Fairly much everything: THE SAME. In fact, whenever anyone asked for an update on his room we said “If you look at the reveal on the journal that is fairly much what it looks like right now! The only change is that we took out the changing pad after he stopped needing that. But literally nearly identical!”
A few months ago he did at last discover that the little “T” wall decals we brought in were peel-off-able… after more than 3 years of not touching them at all. Oh well, they had a good run. And now that we brought in some sconces and a large piece of art to that wall between the built-ins, it is feeling airy and light without them, so it is all good.
similar chair / pouf / similar side table / curtain rod / similar curtains / similar daybed / sconces
You might remember the daybed as the same one we used after our daughter was done with the crib when she was around 3.5 years old. She remained in the daybed until last year, when we upgraded her to a larger full-sized bed (more on that here). That conveniently freed up the daybed to be used by her brother… whenever he ended up being done with his crib (we did not know we still had nearly a year to go! Ha!). Have I mentioned our kids ENJOY A CRIB?!
similar drawer hardware / sconce / art / bee pillow / duvet / cloth bin
A daybed is a strong way to transition out of a crib since it is low to the ground, has two rails on the ends, and is in short simply sort of like a big crib without the front. This one is from West Elm (no longer sold, but here is something similar) and it fits a regular twin-sized mattress. We in fact designed these built-ins to eventually accommodate a twin or even a full sized bed, so it is like the space is at last fulfilling its bed destiny.
To read how we DIYed the built-ins in each corner of the room, here is a full write up. We simply used ready-made Ikea dressers and brought in the bookcase on top, using crown molding and baseboard to make them look built-in. This is a truly doable project, even for a beginner.
art / bee pillow / duvet / sconce / cloth bin / similar drawer hardware / “I’d Be Lost” print
The sconces might be my go-to part because I consistently dreamed of adding sconces to either side of the “interior nook” that the built-ins created. It did not make sense to shine lights down on a baby in a crib (simply picture that – a little “baby investigation” – ha!) so I showed unusual restraint and waited until we changed the crib out for a bed to add them. Then one day I discovered that Target sold these excellent brass and blue enamel sconces for simply $49.99 (you have the best luck finding two of them by ordering them online). They in short screamed “BUY ME” and I listened.
The best thing about them is that they are plug-in sconces (could not hardwire anything into the side of the built-ins anyway) and the on/off switch is right on the base of the sconce, so you do not have to hunt for it on the cord somewhere behind the bed, which is blissfully convenient.
We also picked up some 3M Command cord clips to secure the cords against the baseboard so they are not flapping around anywhere and we are glad to report that we have not had any issues with anyone messing with them (younger kids in a crib might yank on them, so I’d reserve them for an older kid in a bed). It is a pleasant clean look to have them turn and follow the baseboard too, so the cord clips have been truly helpful.
The art is another go-to find for the room, especially since the combo of rocks (what nearly-four-year-old does not enjoy rocks?!) and bright colors is in short our son’s sweet spot these days. It is a downloadable print from Jenny’s Print Shop that was simply $15 for the download and we got an 18 x 24″ print of it at FedEx Office for $22. If you folks have not check out Juniper Print Shop yet, I highly recommend it. You can get such affordable large scale prints this way (or truly prints of any size). We already had this frame, so all together it was under $37 for some excellent wall-filling art!
To cozy up his new bed, we brought in some blue & white pinstripe sheets, a couple of these bee pillows, and this long gray bolster (which has a zip off cover). The duvet is the same Ikea one we also use in our bedroom. That is a new pillow on the chair too (it is this one) simply to bring some more of the light colors from the bed over to that side of the room. The side table is a secondhand find (here is something similar), the rug was a HomeGoods discovery (here is something similar), the pouf is from here, and the chair is no longer sold (but here is something similar).
Although the room has moved away from a lot of the forest greens we originally decorated with, he still loves his cheerful closet door (it is Irish Moss by Benjamin Moore), which ties into the giant bike print that still hangs over his bookcase (that was a print that hung in The Gap and we asked if we could have it when they changed our their displays).
similar rug / similar chair / pillow / pouf / similar side table / woven baskets / fabric bins / similar curtains
His “changing table” (truly simply an Ikea bookcase that we wrapped in wood) has officially changed back to being a bookcase. The natural woven baskets in the cubbies were there before, but I did swap some light colored fabric bins in (to replace two larger and more baby-ish bins we used to have with a gorilla and a dragon on them). Since we are not storing bulky diapers or baby blankets, the smaller baskets have been easier for a three-year-old to pull in and out to assist clean up his own toys, which is consistently a plus.
Whenever I share a picture of this whale everyone asks where it is from. We got it at Pottery Barn Kids many years ago. Perhaps in 2012? Wish they’d bring it back, it is so cute. And that shelf with the books in it…. remember when John built that eight years ago?! It was the quite first thing he ever built. And now the man can make built-ins and even decks! Well, deck. He might only make one of those in his lifetime. Ha!
That round thing with the iPod in it is a sound machine we have had forever that we use to play an album of white noise on repeat while he sleeps (our daughter used to use this one). I joke that we might be the last household in the world who uses an iPod everyday.
Oh and a few people asked why we did not go right for a full sized bed in here since we mentioned how our daughter’s room felt so much more grounded and less like it had a big skating rink in the middle of it when we traded a full bed in for the daybed, but this room is a lot smaller – perhaps even half the size. So it would feel much more cramped with a bigger bed, and he still uses the floor a lot for spreading out cars and blocks, so the daybed is strong for this room.
I shot a swift video of the room for you too, so if you wanna see the room “in action” (and get a peek at the cord clips & check out the closet, etc) – simply click play below. NOTE: If you are reading in a reader, you may need to click through to our journal to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.
And because it is consistently lively to look back at where we began, this is the same room – complete with old carpeting and pink trim – back when we picked up this house in 2012! Note: you can see all of the before & afters from this house right here on our House Tour page.
It was not the worst room to start with, but it sure has come a long way. Even if it ends up getting frozen in time for a few more years…
And for anyone who’d like to “get the look” I made this little mood board full of actual things we own/picked up for the room (and some similar items if the original ones are no longer for sale):
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 /17 / 18 / 19 / 20
P.S. You can see how this room together as a nursery here, learn how we built the built-ins here, and see how we wrapped that Ikea bookcase in wood here. Also, for sources and paint colors throughout our whole house, we created this Shop Our House page for you folks with all of those details.
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