simon's bedroom makeover

For Simon's fourth birthday (Dec. 9) I decided that his big present should be a room makeover. When we moved to this house almost four years ago, Simon's room was a bit of an after thought. He was only six months old, still slept in our room, and there was too much going on to really put much thought into his play space. As he's gotten older and needed more room to play, I've felt slightly guilty that I never made his room special or suited to him. It's kind of been the "whatever-is-handed-down-or-leftover" room. And it wasn't inviting for play or imagination because it was crowded, disorganized and small.

When Ella got a bunk bed, Simon insisted on spending weekend nights in her room, and that underscored my feeling that he needed to feel excited about his own space. We conned my dad and step mom into lugging another IKEA loft/bunk bed when they visited us for Thanksgiving and I set to work on the makeover the week before Simon turned four. Here are the before and afters...

Bed, before: It was a platform bed and was awesome for transitioning from a crib to big boy bed. But with a small room, it was impractical since there was no way to store anything underneath.

Bed, after: IKEA Kura Reversible bed with canopy. Instant imagination tunnel and tons of space to play underneath. I imagine making some curtains that could enclose the play space below to create a hideout if he fancied. Someday, maybe.

You'll also notice that I (along with my amazing painting gal pals) painted the walls a deep navy blue. It was a risk in such a small room, but the large windows and coat of crisp white on all the trim make it pretty sharp. All the bright colors POP against this deep blue backdrop. I'm in love with the color! The star wall light stays on most of the time, especially at night, because the deep hue on the walls absorbs light and it gets super dark under the canopy.

Closet, before: It was nothing special. The doors are made of thick particle board and couldn't be any cheaper or more unimpressive. Simon used them for collecting random stickers.

Closet, after: I used an entire can of magnetic primer under a fresh coat of white. I wanted Simon to be able to spell words and use his magnetic letters and phonics system on the face of the doors. But even after ten coats, the primer is only strong enough to hold the thinnest, flattest magnets. The larger letter magnets barely stay on. It's still kind of neat though.

Ceiling/Light fixture, before: TERRIBLE! Ugh! Plaster textured ceiling with ancient, not so cool vintage flush mount light.

Ceiling/Light fixture, after: I hand drew some simple, cartoon clouds and used the remnants of an old can of blue paint I had leftover from Ella's room at our old house. I love the way it turned out! (Ignore the bit of white still left around the base of the new fixture...I'll have to touch that up!)

And the light fixture was such a fun shade of yellow, it was what gave me the inspiration to move forward with a dramatic shade of midnight blue. They complement each other, don't they?

Wall art, before: I kept the airplane decals that I had used in his room before because I thought he'd miss them.

 

  

Wall art, after:  Fortunately, the decals show up better on this new wall color. The same goes for the pinball glass that has always hung in his room. It is highlighted and more noticeable now.

He loves it, and I am thrilled to have done such a massive overhaul on his room! The amazing thing is, I was able to achieve pretty dramatic changes without spending much money since paint is the biggest alteration and the bed and lights were IKEA-mazingly affordable! It was fun to do and I hope it will bring him hours of imaginative play.