And when we moved to the new house it has morphed. I haven't posted pictures of the boy's room in our new house because I had it painted in December and wanted to show off the new colors. If I were a dedicated blogger I would show you the actual stages. But I'm not that good. Or maybe I am in my head but it doesn't always get typed on a page.
I'll tell you how it all transpired...we converted them to toddler beds when we first moved in September. Then we realized that Cole was the only one who would sleep in them. Charlie preferred the soft mattress in the guest room. I kept the other bed in there just in case we needed it.
Then we had their room painted in December with stripes and it was starting to come together. I thought I might take a cute picture and post it then...until we got new mattresses given to us. Then it wasn't so pretty anymore. That's actually what motivated me to go ahead and get their new beds. I mean who turns down free twin mattresses? So that's when I started searching for bunk beds. I actually considered two twin beds but when I put down the twin mattresses where I thought beds could go - no bueno. There was NO room for the boys to play. So bunk beds it is.
With kids in tow, Anna M and I went to a HOLE IN THE WALL furniture place called Furniture Barn (for any locals). It was a little sketchy from the outside but actually had plenty to choose from at great prices. I opted for new and a shaker style, solid wood bunk bed. Of course I hated the color but that was easily fixed with this:
We (and by we I mean Anna M and I...Daniel prefers to stay out of all my home improvement shenanigans for the most part) painted it in her garage because of course Mother Nature refused to cooperate and I insisted it be blue.
You can see the original color was a honey oak type finish. Not unattractive but I'm not a fan of that color wood. Plus I thought navy would match their bedding much better and coordinate with the wall colors.
Note to all of you who decide to paint in a garage. Open the garage door more than a few inches. I *may* have sneezed blue for a while and had blue tinged hair. #lessonlearned
Probably not the smartest idea keeping the door barely open. I'm sure I inhaled a few carcinogens along the way.
Once I put the first and what I thought would be the only coat of spray paint on I realized there were a few spots I missed. We took the bright work light and glanced over the pieces we had already done. Wowzers. Apparently there were more than a few spots that needed touching up. Note to always use excellent lighting. It can save you some time and headache.
It finally dried and it was time to put it up in the boy's room. I consider this a massive accomplishment since it was just Anna M and myself...and 5 children who wanted to be Helpy Helpertons.
And they were loads of help let me tell you...especially the blonds. They were banished to the hallway to "work with their tools" but they managed to sneak in from time to time.
I'm not sure what Cole is chewing on but I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the bolts we were searching for at one point.
FINALLY! Several hours later, lunch fed, kids entertained and monitored, the bed was assembled and we were exhausted. It might have gone a little faster if we could have focused on the directions a little more intently (i.e. minus the blond distractions) and not had to take one entire side apart when we realized we put it together backwards.
So without further ado, here's the boy's room now. Oh, and it includes a new bookshelf I bought for $20 at an estate sale the following weekend. Not the right color but it works for now. Disregard the race track in front of it. I was too lazy to tear it down for a "perfect shot". Keeping it real over here in Schrallville.
I love that the stripes on the wall give it texture without competing for attention and distracting from the plaid Pottery Barn bedding. I love that on the Pottery Barn website they actually show the bedding on navy bunk beds.
There are of course things still to happen like painting their toy chest, which I've waited to do when I got a better idea of the final room, and getting a bigger rug. But all in all, it's now a room they can grow in to. The best thing about the beds is that they also can be used separate if we ever wanted to take them apart.
Charlie still prefers to sleep in the guest room (he's a little quirky like his dad) but Cole has claimed the bottom bunk (despite the picture). All in all, they love it and so do I.
Who else has boy's rooms they've recently re-done? Send me pics!
