Creating a Boy’s room … for a real boy.

When we moved into our house and first decorated the boys’ rooms, Kyle was 4. Now he’s almost 11! How did that happen? Last fall we decided to move him over to our Guest Room, which has it’s own bathroom, so that my husband could have his own home office. (The first floor office works well for me, but he needs something a little more secluded … and sound-proof!) It seemed like a good time to give Kyle an update. Time to say good-bye to the bunk beds and hello to a Queen-size bed.

If you don’t have boys … you may think that a 10 year old boy wouldn’t care very much about what his room looks like. Sure, he wants his … STUFF … but he may not care how his STUFF looks. Well, this 10 year old boy DID care … and I know there are other boys out there who do too.

So how do you put together a room that satisfies the Mom AND the Boy? Now, I’ll be honest … if I was given that blank slate of a room to create a Boy’s Room all by myself – I could make it totally magazine-worthy … and it probably would not look exactly like this. But really, I’d be designing for a fake boy, wouldn’t I? Sometimes when I see Boy rooms on Pinterest or in a magazine, I feel kind of sorry for the kid. Where’s all his stuff? His trophies? His rock collection? His blue ribbons and his sports logos?

If you want a good chuckle, read this post Warped Childhood, Restoration Hardware Style.

As Kyle and I started to make plans for his room, he had several requirements.

1. He wanted to have a lot of “basketball stuff.” Like many boys his age, he is a huge Sports-buff. But specifically – Basketball is his sport. He wanted me to see if I could find any Chicago Bulls bedding. Hmmm – I’ll admit, I cringed a little. Thank goodness for Pottery Barn Teen that created a cute line of bedding with NBA, NHL, and NFL logos on it that is not too garish and actually kind of cute. Now, truth be told – I suggested getting either the logo quilt OR the logo sheets … but nope … “They are so cool, Mom! I want both!” Okay, Okay … but what about getting some different pillow shams to break it up a bit? “No, no – I like the ones that match the quilt!” Ok – I guess I should just be happy that he’s willing to have pillow shams. 🙂

We were able to incorporate other “basketball stuff” in his room too – I found the Home & Visitors sign with a net to hold all his basketballs at Pottery Barn Teen as well. We added the little vintage chalkboards on either side.

I found some basketball-inspired art at Art.com and let him pick his favorite.

I kind of love the one he picked.

(Please excuse the frog tank that needs to be cleaned!)

2. Another requirement … “a relaxing color.” He liked the pale blue he had in his last room …Serena & Lily’s Chambray Blue , but wanted something a little different. I suggested we go with more of a Blue-Gray. You should have seen all the color swatches we painted on the wall! (I forgot to snap a picture.) He was VERY interested in finding the perfect color. Finally, a choice was made … Benjamin Moore’s Harbor Gray.

3. Lights that he could easily turn off from his bed. This guy is an avid reader and often reads late into the night. Rather than putting a lamp on his nightstand, I suggested we hang two sconces right next to his bed. I had been swooning over these industrial looking ones at Ikea for awhile and knew they would be perfect for him. “They’re awesome!” he said.

I even love how the little cord has a neat black and white rope detail.

4. Finally … a desk. With the impending doom of Middle-School-Homework coming next year, he wanted to have a good desk in his room. We looked at lots and lots of desks … and this boy had expensive taste! One weekend I suggested we might find a cool vintage desk at the Randolph Antiques Market. “I don’t want somebody’s old desk!” he said.

Ha! It was a beautiful weekend and we dragged the boys into the city anyway. Voila! Within 5 minutes of walking into the Market, we bumped into this.

He loved it! It is from the 1930’s, so we had fun imagining the many places it’s lived.

It is sturdy and already has some cool nicks, scratches and markings on it –

so a few more won’t hurt.

Okay … back to the fifth requirement.

5. A place to display all his “stuff.” If we back up and look at this desk photo again you will see one of my solutions.

A magnetic bulletin board. Yes, I could have taken a bunch of things off (like the No Farting sign, for example) and styled it for this photo – but this is real life … and this is a real boy! Instead of taping random things all over the wall, he just sticks them on his bulletin board. (Makes me happy.) We also included some artwork that is personal to him … A caricature we had done on vacation … the Pluto sketch he loved learning to draw at Hollywood Studios in Florida, his favorite “masterpiece” from Art class at school and an aerial shot of NYC he bought this summer on his trip there with Dad.

Does this wall look like something you’d see on Pinterest or a Restoration Hardware catalog? Nope. But it looks very Kyle. (And I am just realizing that I need to straighten some of those frames — must be all of the Nerf-basketball-playing.)

My second solution for all the “stuff” is a big ol’ bookshelf.

Again, I could have removed 2/3rds of the stuff and styled this really cute … but this is how it really looks. Trophies, baseballs, little figurines and Bobbleheads … and books, books, books that he does not want to give away. I smile when I look at this shelf because I know it’s all the stuff he loves.

So what were my additions … the things he didn’t care about?

The shaggy rug … my way of adding a little style and pattern on the floor. (Although he does admit it’s nice and soft to step on when he gets out of bed.)

Drapes. (I mean, what male really does care about drapes?)

His only stipulation was that he wanted “no light to come in when they are closed.”

So I picked out the mix of creamy white and gray linen I liked. I had them installed while he was at school and his reaction upon seeing them was “Wow, they are better than I expected.” (Not sure what he was expecting.)

I also found this cute little nightstand on One Kings Lane.

He’s typically got 2 or 3 books going at once, so I wanted to find something where he could keep them all beside his bed.

Finally, I found this on Etsy.

And I know he will …

Comments

LisaInTheNW says

February 6, 2015 at 3:37 pm

Love this! I was able to show my son this post right before he left to school this morning because today I'm rearranging his room and your sons room is so similar to what I envision. In fact 2 days ago I bought an Army field desk off Craigslist and it is so similar to the one in your post. Can you tell me where you bought the bed? Beautifully done! Thanks for the inspiration!

Creating a Boy’s room … for a real boy.

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