AHHH!!!! I’m so so excited to share this with everyone today! Around Feb/March when we were finishing up Honey’s big girl room, we started talking about revamping the boys’ room for them. If you’re new, we have two boys: Conner (8) and Cole (6). They’ve been sharing a room for the last 4 years and while I absolutely loved their room (I’ve had the best time decorating it over the years and adding little touches here and there), it was definitely time to give it a refresh and incorporate what they’re wanting/needing since they are getting older. It was Conner’s room first, when we bought our home in 2014 and the little car decals were one of the first things we put up to make it a ‘big boy room’ for HIM. He was almost 2 and had started jumping out of his crib so we knew it wouldn’t be long before he was in a bed and transitioning away from a ‘nursery’.
It wasn’t their choice to share (they were so young and Honey would be needing Cole’s nursery) but they’ve never once complained. Sure, they argue, but they are the best little buds and truly enjoy sharing their space for now. I’m pretty sure if they were in separate rooms they would sneak into each others to be together because that’s just how they are.
The photo below is what their room was previously – they had a bunk bed which was a great space saver since it’s not a huge room, and then my husband DIY’d a fort around it with pvc piping, dowels, and store bought curtains. It was something they’ve enjoyed and had fun in until the day we took it down, but as they’re growing their interests are shifting and they had been asking for, “separate beds, right next to each other”. I found these frames on a steal of a deal back in March and scooped two of them up. We let them pick the theme (they agreed to Star Wars) and some of the decor accents I had been shopping for at Hobby Lobby…they have a great selection of SW stuff in store! I created a vision board with other things I had found on Amazon and went with that and slowly it all started coming together. Their previous room was black, white, and gray and I wanted to keep some of that for them since we wouldn’t be changing their bedspreads (from my fave shop, Beddy’s – you can use the code ANGDISNEY to save 20% off sitewide! We’ve been using Beddy’s since Conner was 3.5) but Conner had also requested blue so I knew I’d be incorporating that as an accent color.
I got lucky and found this Star Wars peel and stick wallpaper which just so happened to be white + gray with pops of light blue! We purchased 4 rolls to do their accent wall and then bought the letters for their names separately at Hobby Lobby. We spray painted them a royal blue color and added them above their bed. C also grabbed these strip lights and attached them to the backside of the frame and with the remote control (that they come with) they can switch them on and off and change through a variety of colors. It has definitely made one of the most exciting updates for them in this new space!!!
Let me back up for a minute though. We had shown them their bed frames and wallpaper online to get their approval, and as I mentioned they had a hand in picking a few of the decor items at Hobby Lobby, but other than that, the entire thing was a SURPRISE! My husband had the idea of asking my mom to have them over on a Friday night after school and stay until Sunday early evening so that we could cram in almost 2 full days of refreshing while they were gone. We picked out a date in May that would work for Gammy and finalized our plans. The video below is their reaction to coming home finding their room was entirely revamped and changed – it’s something I know I’ll rewatch each year because their excitement about it fills me up so much. It was better than Christmas morning! Honey also got really excited too and was thrilled to be hanging out with her bros in their new room.
They LOVE their Big Joes – this was an item my husband picked out and was definitely part of the surprise. The boys love gaming so we figured it’d be fun for them to sit here (next to each other!) in their chairs and play. We also made the executive decision to gift them a TV for this space – their previous room did not have one, but they have shown us how responsible they are the last 15 mo+, we decided to try it out for them. They do have restrictions and limits, and since installing it back in May, they have respected those boundaries.
Their old shared dresser from IKEA was replaced with two tall standing chests. We got these tall dresser chests as an alternative for them, and I love that they’re a little lighter in color with the dark pull accents. They are super sturdy/well made. I was hesitant to get rid of their dresser because it was divided equal between them and served them really well, but we knew to free up space we’d need to ditch it (it’s also been with us since before Conner turned 2, so it was falling apart and had seen better days). The tall chests allow more freed up space, and since we purchased 2 of them they still each have their own drawers for uniform pants, underwear, socks, etc.
Another item we parted ways with was their 6 cube bookshelf that we’ve also had since Conner’s nursery days (8 years ago!). We wanted something for books and more storage and opted for this shelf on the opposite side of their beds. It definitely isn’t a great space saver, but we figured the wall that it is on is more for entertainment and just housed their Big Joes, it wouldn’t be a huge issue. As they get older, they’ll need more storage space for their needs and interests so we went for it. They’re able to keep their soccer gear, extra smaller toys, headphones, their entire book collection and some knick-knacks on it. We bought them this fan and C installed it. I looooved their old light which was really inexpensive and cool looking, but as they’re getting older we figured they could use more air circulation 😉 I wanted something unique and not the standard, traditional fan. This one has the blades inside, and it also goes with the SW theme again with the constellation looking decorations on the outside. It has a remote and they think it’s pretty neat too. Definitely cools the room down as well!
We kept their floating shelves, some of the wall art/frames, and curtains. The frames we kept I printed art from one of my favorite small shops, Neverland Crew. If you’ve been following me, you know we are HUGE NCC fans and my kiddos have worn their their awesome pop culture inspired tees for years. What you may not know, is they also have an entire ‘home’ collection, which is where I grabbed this Vadar + Storm Trooper canvases from as well as the boys ‘dark side’ engraved. nightlight’. Check them out and support an amazing small, family owned and operated business!
I hope you enjoyed the refresh/makeover we gave the boys’ room and it inspires you to change up a space in your home! We definitely took our time planning and purchasing things which made it so much easier when it was time (months later) to put our plan into action! Now…to tackle the next room! 😉
