Shared Boy Room Updates

I’ve been sitting on this post for a couple of months having a hard time waiting for the right time to share it.  I hope you are in the mood for some home updates, because I have a bunch of them.

We moved into this house 4 years ago, not long after my husband killed the rats. The rats were just one of the many reasons the 5,000 square foot house was selling for $140,000.  I vowed not to come back into the house until they were gone and told him I had to see the bodies before I would believe it.  When the time came I was too chicken to look, but the kids verified their demise for me.

Living Room before 2

The house was such a disaster that Darren and I slept in the living room for the first few months.  The only light source was the original hanging lamp and there were no doors for privacy.  Most of the kids slept in the front bedroom upstairs.  Four twin beds fit in there with room left to turn cartwheels.  That sleeping arrangement gave us time to clean the other spaces more deeply and plan our remodel options while we sold our old house to raise the cash.  The original plan was to do the master bedroom first, then move into that  while we figured out what to do with the kitchen and living spaces.
Shared room before

By the time our old house sold (a year later) I was so frustrated with our kitchen that we started there.

Kitchen before

The cabinet doors had broken off and the layout made cooking and cleaning up afterwards a nightmare.  During the kitchen remodel, we discovered foundation problems that took the rest of our remodel cash. Without enough to even finish the kitchen space, we slapped it back together with some quick fixes (plywood countertops and folding table island) to get functional again.
Kitchen November 2014

We’ve done a few things to improve other spaces while we work on changing our income situation.  Most of the improvements are cheap temporary fixes that will need to be re-done further down the road.

Shared room before

If you can Imagine the bedroom without the two white beds and you’ll see how the boys lived for the next 4 years.  It was depressing for me to tuck them in at night.  The room felt dark and empty, but we needed to focus our energy on other spaces.

After taking the Cozy Minimalist Course and working a miracle in my own bedroom, I tried a new furniture arrangement.

Shared boy room before 2

It was so inspiring, I drew up some plans in powerpoint to cozy up the space.  The first plans used black buffalo check curtains from Ikea fabric, which I loved.  I was the only one.

Brandon and Grant's Room A

My facebook readers had suggestions to help develop the idea, including framing out the map to give it more definition.

Brandon and Grant's room wood frame

And changing the curtains so they weren’t such a strong pattern.

Brandon and Grant's Room Gray curtains

Another facebook reader suggested that the warm tans and cool grays didn’t belong together and wanted to see it all warm.  I tried that.

Brandon and Grant's room all warm tones

But it wasn’t for me.  I like the depth that mixing warm and cool colors brings.  Plus the actual carpet has a lot more cool blues and greens in it than this sample texture I found.  (Eventually I figured out how to include the actual carpet into the drawings.)

I also tried out lots of different colors of area rugs.

Brandon and Grant's Room Gray curtains

green

Brandon and Grant's Room sheepskin

lambswool

Brandon and Grant's Room Jute chenile rug gray boarder

sisal

Brandon and Grant's Room B

or gray (with a more colorful map.)  A kind reader suggested that instead of trying to hide the crazy striped carpet, I should embrace it and just let it be.  That worked best with our budget, and a rug could always be added later if I changed my mind :).

The Ikea bedding was more expensive than I hoped, so when I found duvet covers on clearance at Target, I tried out both color combinations.

Brandon and Grant's room green rugby stripe

or

Brandon and Grant's Room Gray rugby stripe

I went with the gray :).  This was the final design for the room, and except for being completely off with the scale of the map, the reveal is amazingly similar.

Shared boy room after 3

I’ll probably move the map closer to the couch later, add another piece of art (to cover the old intercom system on the right) and build a reading nook in the empty closet.  Brandon really wants my mom to embroider name pillows too.  For now we are resting and calling it a job well done. In the picture, I don’t love the color of the couch.  In real life it looks better in the space. We did a few surprising things in here to come in under budget.  I’ll share more of the details about those and the toy side of the room in the next post :).

 

 

 

 

 

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9 thoughts on “Shared Boy Room Updates

  1. Angela says:

    Via email: Have you ever looked at George Washinton’s house or bedroom. I’m pretty sure he had a carpet much like that. How fine for your young men’s bedroom!!! I absolutely LOVE that carpet. I’ve been looking for a rug like that. Have you tried googling “striped carpet in bedroom images” to see some ideas. You could do SOOO much with that!
    Suzanne

  2. Ann says:

    You did a great job, it looks really nice! I enjoyed following along with your process and it was neat how you tried it all out digitally first.

    • Angela says:

      Thanks, Ann! Redoing rooms in photoshop makes me ridiculously happy. I have more digital re-dos to show you this month :).

  3. Jessica says:

    Yay! I think it turned out great! I love watching your progress – I myself am no decorator. You sure do inspire me, though!

    • Angela says:

      Thanks, Jessica! I’m just learning along side all of you. It so much fun to play with different looks in photoshop before trying it in real life :).

  4. Debbie says:

    I love it! I love that you shared your process so how you worked out the move…and where you all slept and the logistics of the move. We’re looking ahead to a similar situation….and this just made me think that it IS possible

    • Angela says:

      Thank you, Debbie! We just had to think outside the box a little. I know you can do it and your farmhouse dream is so worth it.

  5. Liz Frederick says:

    Great Job!! Love everything!! Do you have a basket you could use to hang over to cover the intercom? I am looking for iron-on letters for another project, would that work for the boys names on the pillows?

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