With the upcoming arrival of our new baby, we knew we had to do some work to get a bedroom ready. Our house has three bedrooms on the main floor. We also have an upstairs loft with a full bathroom but no actual door. You walk upstairs and the room is very large, just no door. There is a closet though. We used to have a bedroom with a full bathroom in the basement but we took the wall down of the bedroom to create an office space to share with the play area. So we definitely have the room for our new baby.
However, we have decided to put the two boys in the same room! I grew up sharing a room and always loved it so I'm hoping they will too. We also are hoping that it may help Parker develop some better sleeping habits. He has been going to bed pretty well the last month or so but he has always woken up sometime in the middle of the night (between 12-2 usually). So my dream hope is that with me being in their room to feed the baby, he will have comfort of someone being in there and maybe even having his brother in there will help with that feeling too! But I also am a realist and know that this could be very hard for a while. But we will persevere!! I am also taking next year off, so I should hopefully have more patience because I won't need the sleep to go to work the next day; I'll just need sleep to function ;)
So on to the plans!
We wanted to put both boys in our other bedroom because it is a little bigger and it is at the end of the hallway and not opposite the front door. Both were issues with Parker's first room. So the first thing we had to do was sell the pool table. We were able to sell it the first day we listed it on Craigslist! They had a company come disassemble & move it the Saturday before spring break started. As soon as they moved it out, we moved the extra bedroom furniture upstairs! Then I got started painting. We used the same color that we have in our bedroom and kitchen, revere pewter from Benjamin Moore.
We both like this color because it can be seen as light gray or light beige or 'greige'. It all depends on the light mostly. The complimenting colors around it kind of change it too. Our kitchen looks very gray but our bedroom tends to take on a beige color because we have a wood plank wall.
I was really hoping the boys' new bedroom would take on more of a beige color but with the large window, it seems more gray. I bought beige herringbone curtains that I really love! We made a curtain rod using 1/2" conduit. I hung the curtains with gray clips so they would slide easily.
We redid the closet organizer because I wanted more shelves for baskets rather than hangers. So one wall has five shelves and the other wall has two shelves with 2 rods to hang clothes. With Parker's clothes I found that I preferred to fold instead of hang clothes. So I bought several wire baskets to set on the wood shelves. The wooden shelves are held up by 3/4" conduit. I love the closet!
I had an old pegboard that I had planned to use in the basement in my office area, but never hung it up. So I spray painted it navy blue and added some white trim around it. I'll use it to hang miscellaneous things like hats, belts, etc.
Before we had Parker we bought a vintagey dresser and had wanted to paint it. Well, we ended up not feeling like it, so we bought a new dresser/crib set. The crib was one that would later convert to a toddler bed and then a full sized bed. After Parker had been in the toddler bed, we realized that he was too small to put in a full sized bed, so we ended up buying a cheap twin sized bed. With the boys sharing a room (and my slight obsession with matching things) I wanted a crib & twin bed that matched. We looked for a crib that would match Parker's current metal frame bed but alas, we found nothing. So instead, I found plans to build a crib that was exactly what I we wanted! And Clint may or may not have said that he will be sure to make the mattress go down far enough so this baby won't crawl out before 18 months ;)
Once Clint makes the crib, he will use the plans to make a matching twin bed. We plan to stain them the same walnut color as the wood shelves in the closet.
As for that old dresser we bought three years ago, I finally decided to paint it! I bought a quart of navy blue and had a few ideas of how to paint it...all navy, navy dresser and white drawers, white dresser with navy drawers, etc. I started with the idea of a navy dresser and white drawers. We bought a really good primer:
I covered the dresser in two coats of primer since it was black to begin with. Don't worry! I painted in the open garage with plenty of ventilation!
I had a read a blog post about how to best paint furniture and they recommended using a foam roller but let me say that was a bad idea! It made the paint really thin! So after 2 or 3 coats of navy blue paint, I ditched the roller for a brush! Once I had a decent blue coat on the dresser, I placed the drawers with primer in it to see what it would kind of looked like, and I did not like it. So I decided to go all navy and make the top bright white. I didn't want all navy because I wanted to keep the room light and bright. So after painting all day this past Sunday it is mostly done! We put the dresser out in the driveway and with all the wind we had, it dried super fast! And obviously it was a beautiful day! I need to touch up a couple spots and then do a few coats of polyurethane. I am really happy with how it has turned out! I also need to add some kind of contact paper/liner for inside the drawers.
As for the decorating part, I decided to actually put together a collection of items that I really liked! Decorating can be really expensive but I found some good deals and was able to re-purpose many things from around the house. I had my eye on all four walls for adding decorations, but I didn't want to overdo it and I haven't totally decided on bed placement yet. So for now, we worked on two walls!
I brought everything out into the family room and started laying things out. Once I decided on placement, I drew a map so Clint could quickly place anchors and drill the screws. It saved a lot of time!
Here is the wall with the dresser.
I made the "Brothers make the best friends" print and used an old white frame. I bought the clock at Wal-Mart. The white shelf was a garage sale find from a couple years ago that has been collecting dust in the garage. I bought the moose head, wooden arrows, and arrow frame at Hobby Lobby for half off! I bought the "Wild and Free" print from Etsy and put it in an old frame we already had.
I may rearrange the moose head and arrow frame because the spacing didn't come out right. We'll see!
I may rearrange the moose head and arrow frame because the spacing didn't come out right. We'll see!
This wall is directly opposite the dresser.
I bought the tan cork board from Target. I bought the "Be Brave" block and steel organizer at Hobby Lobby for half off! I bought the "I am looking for Someone to Share in an Adventure" print off Etsy and used an old frame. I made the "Double Trouble" print and used an old frame. I made the Indiana mini pallet using scrap wood and the same walnut stain we have throughout the house. I made the two boards with the boys' names. The 4 foot board was leftover from some other project and was already stained! I cut it in half to make it just over 2 feet. I found a font that I liked both boys' names printed in. I used a free watercolor font. I printed the names poster sized, taped the three pages together, and colored the back side with white chalk. Then I place the papers on the board and traced the name in a sharp pencil. It transferred the chalk onto the wood to make it easy to paint! I bought a nice firm, angled brush to be sure the lines were as straight as possible. It took for freaking ever and three coats of acrylic paint but I love how they turned out!! The empty frame will hold a picture of the two boys once the baby makes his arrival :)
Well that is it for the boys' shared room for now! Once we get the beds done, I'll show those off too :)
I will do a separate post on Parker's old bedroom because this sucker is way too long!!
