Shut the Front Door!

I am completely in shock! The boys room is currently being featured on ohdeedoh.

OHDEEDOH!!!!!!

Can you believe it? I am thrilled!

I've made a couple of changes from the original post already. In fact despite a couple of little projects I'd like to do, I'm officially declaring the room "done".

Let's take a tour.

The boys love cars and trucks, so of course the starting point was a large monster truck mural.



It's based on the Tonka truck illustrations. It actually was a birthday card to Zack for his 4th birthday from my brother. When I saw it's simple shapes, I was pretty sure I could duplicate it. And that the the boys would LOVE IT.

Most of the changes I've made since the original post are on the mural wall.



I added the boys' names, which I had planned to do all along. I also added a couple kid-sized folding chairs (antique store find), hung on the wall with hooks. It makes a darling kid-sized reading nook, don't you think?



And the folding chairs can be put away for more playing room.

Here are their beds, a $50 craigslist find.




Topped with sheets from Tarjay and navy and red comforters from Penney's.




The wooden dump truck (antique store find) is still there. To preserve the crackle-y paint, I sprayed it with matte sealer.





The train (second hand store find) got the same treatment.

Above the train, in the window nook area, I added a couple sprayed clipboards in place of frames.

Find the original clipboard post (and how-to) here.

Just for fun, I did find a "before" picture. This is a picture of the nursery completed, but before we had children. I took the picture for our homestudy to adopt Zack.



Who knew just a year and a half later we'd have TWO energetic, monster truck-loving boys?

Clipboard Change-A-Roo

Hello boring clipboards. Let me introduce you to one of my favorite design philosophies.

Interesting shape (ornate, simple, classic or familiar) + unexpected color = new fun accessory.

Was, a boring clipboard. Now, frames in the boys' room.

A little red spray paint was all I needed to give them some "wow". And to hang them sideways, I used Command strips.

Ah, who am I kidding. Is anyone looking at the clipboards? The boys are too dang cute.

I took these pictures of the boys this fall. We went apple picking at an orchard, and I brought along two children's chairs for a quick photo shoot. They turned out so cute, and I'm so proud of myself because this was my first "real" photo shoot of the boys.

Look at Zack the ham. And he's usually the QUIET one! ha!

Linking to some of these parties.

This project was featured on Simply Jenna, Under the Table and Dreaming and A Little Lovely.

No Matchy-matchy!

Part of what I love about decorating right now is that collected look. A piece from here, another from there. It's what gives a room personality.

Three years ago I was in process of adopting a son and was pregnant with another son, and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to adopt from a daughter from Korea. I hadn't really even talked to my husband about it yet. Although I had an inkling he'd be open to it.

So there I was. Pregnant. Adopting. And at an auction I saw this baby quilt and I snapped it up.

I paid $35 for this Pottery Barn Kids quilt and matching bumper (there was also a random twin bed skirt thrown in the bag. Who knows why). The people I was with assumed it was for one of my sons. Nope. I was vague in my answer, but I really knew it'd be for my daughter.

And now she's on her way. We don't know when exactly (January?), but we know who she is, we have seen her picture, we know her birthday. It's just so amazing it gives me goosebumps.

Don't give in to those urges (like I did the first time around) to purchase a big "set" of stuff that all, well, matches. It's boring, isn't it? Every single thing with the same motif? Don't be afraid to get one thing from over here, another from over there. Half the stuff in the "set" you probably won't even use anyway and you'll probably save money. And don't be afraid to buy used. That's another big money saver. But don't forget to "shop what you got"! I used this comforter in my one of my son's rooms, on the blue side.

Flip that baby over, and it looks right at home in this girly room.

And how cool is it that my actual kids aren't matchy-matchy either. ha! A Guatemalan, a caucasian, and a Korean. That's why when I saw this artwork at a garage sale last summer I had to snap it up.

It may not "go" with the monster truck theme, but it's what being non matchy-matchy is all about!

To Share or Not to Share

Someone asked me about the boys' sheets. They are the Circo Hit the Road collection from T@rget. Aren't they so cute? I looked for car/transportation theme sheets several places online and I thought these were the best quality for the price. Pottery Barn Kids had some cute ones for way more expensive and less thread count. It was no contest.

In other news I have yet to hang the boys' names on the wall. And there's a reason.

Procrastination, Mr. RBR would say.

No. There's a really a reason! Really! The boys sharing a room is, um, wow. It's an adjustment. They are fooling around A LOT at night. It can take over an hour for them to settle down and get to bed. And that's a bit annoying.

For me.

Fun for them I am sure.

So I put off putting the boys names on the wall, thinking maybe we'd move Clayton--again--into his own room. We have a pretty small fourth bedroom. Presently it's storage. We'd have to do some moving around and purging (something we should do, and plan to do, anyway), but it'd be very doable. And it'd be a perfect size for him. I almost convinced myself to do it until I talked to a couple different people.

In both their cases their sons are a bit older than mine, and they each have their own rooms. BUT. Both sets of boys decided on their own to share rooms. They're so close and love each other so much that they want to be together, even at night. And in one case the brothers are preteens!

And really when I thought about that--that is exactly what I want for my sons. I want them to be close and have inside jokes and giggle at night. Um, gee, Lisa. Just like they're doing now. Hello?

Sometimes I'm a little slow.

When Mr. RBR and I found out we were going to have two sons, it was sort of a new concept for both of us. We both have siblings, but neither of us have a same sex sibling. So when I found out we were going to have two boys only 18 months apart in age, this is exactly what I wanted for them.

So I will suck it up and let them share the room. And when they giggle and fool around--and even argue-- instead of sleep, I will smile instead of stew. And I'll hang both of their names on the wall.

Maybe tomorrow.

If I get around to it.

Hey Mom!

"Hey Mom! Take a picture of me jumping into my bed!"

"Ok, my sweets."

One.

Two.

Three.

No one was hurt in the making of this photo sequence. Luckily he's very limber.

Boys Room

Too bad I didn't think to start this blog before I started the first room. Ah well, we'll play a little catch up.

I'm kind of excited about my first after shots! I know that "theme rooms" are sort of out. But my boys really love cars and trucks. And not just any trucks. MONSTER TRUCKS.

I have two boys (ages 2 and 4) that just started sharing a room, and I wanted it to be really special for them. A room they'd always remember.

Heh, heh.

How will they ever forget this?

This is the wall mural I painted in their new big boy room. It was based on the Tonka Monster Truck illustrations. I freehanded it (well, I used some tools like a straight edge, but no stencils). The boys just love their "cool monster truck" room.

The best part is I used all left over paints. 100% free, baby! Stay tuned for a tutorial to make your own. The shelf was a flea market find from years ago. I painted it red to match the room. Blue, green and orange frames I bought years ago from Hobby Lobby. Artwork was a gift from a friend at my baby shower.

Close up.

Here they are climbing all over their big boy beds.

Bunk beds were a $50 craigsl!st find. Navy and red comforters from JC P*nney.

Another view.

Sewed the valances myself. I love that old wooden dump truck. Found it at an old run down antique shop while on a drive with a friend (same friend that bought the artwork, Hi Livvy!). A great memory.

Another view.

Got this wooden train at a second hand store. Plaid, navy and truck pillows from T@rget.

Like most rooms in the house, there's some final touches left to do. The boys' names will be hung in the sky on the left. A picture or two and I think that's it.

And just in case you were wondering, this is the cleanest this room has ever been. And it is already dirty.

The end.

Linking to some of these parties.

This project was featured on ohdeedoh.