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Cowboy Bedroom REVEAL!

Today’s a big day y’all, a big big day. Why? Because I finished the boy’s room!

This room makeover has been dragging on for many, many years. It’s kinda embarrassing how long it has taken, but I have to remember that this isn’t a TV show where room makeover take 30 minutes, or some awesome professional blog where things get done in a timely manner. This is Domestic Imperfection. This is real life, where things get messy, I get distracted, and room makeovers take for-freakin-ever.

So let’s take a little journey, shall we? Let’s start in 2008, when my husband and I bought our house. Here are the official “before” pictures of the room.

638W
guest room before

That is actually the guest room, but the boy’s room looked the exact same….beige carpet, pink walls, pink ceiling, pink closet. The actual name of the paint color was “avid apricot”, which I know because the previous owners left us a five-gallon bucket in case we wanted to paint MORE things pink. Ummm, no.

So instead I painted it a very similar shade of brown.

boys room before

That previous photo was taken right after we moved in and had one bouncing baby boy. Then shortly after boy number two came along and we threw him in there with boy number one.

boys room

Then in 2013 I decided that the room needed to be completely redone, and I started by ripping up the old carpet and paper bagging the floor (read more about that HERE).

Brown paper floor

Things started to brighten up when my husband and I planked 3/4 of the wall. Also, the boys got older and things got messier.

boys bedroom

Ahhh, progress.

boys room before

Then boy number two got too big for his mini crib, so both cribs were swapped out for a mattress on the floor.

boys room, for now

Not long after Adam and I decided the boys needed their own beds (so they would actually sleep at night and not just fight (and sometimes play) till midnight and drive us crazy), so along came the bunk beds.

twin over full bunk beds

And that brings us to now. Bouncing baby boy number one is now five, boy number two is three and a half, and baby boy number three has just arrived…and finally the room is finished.

Kids western theme bedroom
cowboy bedroom
colorful cowboy bedroom

The colors in the room are red, blue, green, brown and white, which I pulled from the Cath Kidston fabric used in the curtains and throw pillows.

Cath Kidston Cowboy Fabric
cowboys bedroom

My main challenge in this room is the fact that is isn’t very big, about 10ft x 11ft. I needed it, first and foremost, to be functional. It needed to fit the beds, toys, loads of books and everything else in here, while still leaving plenty of room to play.

activities
(Anytime you can work a Step Brothers meme into a blog post, you should)

I also wanted it to maintainable (by them, not me), which meant it needed to be really well-organized. Not to brag or anything, but that part was a complete success. I’m pretty much the best. Isn’t it weird how easy it is to clean when everything has a place? Now if only the rest of the house would follow suit.

childrens book storage

The book slings  are a huge help in this area, they take up no space at all and hold a ton of books. Plus the boys can see the front covers, which means they’re not flinging all the books off a bookshelf to find the one they want. 

organize toys and keep them that way

The toy shelf is also amazing and so much better than the previous toy box abyss. Every toy has a place, so they are easy for the boys to find and easy to put away.

small kids bedroom

The chalkboard gets used all the time too, mostly for practicing letters, drawing dinosaurs, and tic-tac-toe tournaments.

large DIY chalkboard for kids room

Perhaps the most important item is the lamp, which is left on every night as a nightlight. No nightlight = no sleeping, hence its VIP status.

DIY lampshade

And no reveal post is complete without some side by side before and after pics….

closet and book sling before and after
cowboy room makeover - before and after
shared kids bedroom makeover - before and after

The boys love their new room, which I know because they tell random strangers at HEB/Home Depot/the library/park “excuse me…guess what! My name is Elijah and I have a cowboy room!” You can always tell what they are excited about by what they tell the cashier at HEB. (Levi currently tells them “look at my new baby!” So sweet.)

I have to admit, I love the room too. It’s fun and colorful like a kids room should be, but not overbearing. It’s usable, it’s clean, and it’s FINISHED. It feels good. I should finish things more often.

decorative stars in a kids cowboy bedroom

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18 Comments

  1. I love it!!! I can totally relate on the time line. I have been trying to do my son’s room for 3 years now (He is now 6…almost 6 1/2 if you ask him). In the process the theme and color have changed. I’m new to your blog and I already adore you. We definitely have similar personalities. Wait… Did we just become best friends??? YEPP!!! LOL! I couldn’t resist another Step Brothers mention!

  2. It’s so cute!!!! I did a cowboy room for my little guy, but now we’ve added his brother and the room is a hot mess again! Your room has given me lots of ideas!

  3. Looks great! I LOVE that fabric! I’ve always wanted to do a cowboy room; my window of opportunity is rapidly passing me by, so I might need to get on it :)

  4. Wow! It looks fantastic and definitely worth the wait! Well done sticking to the theme the whole time… It’s possible I would’ve deviated! Congratulations… it’s wonderful.

  5. Did you keep the measuring sticks somewhere? I’m trying to decide if that’s something I want to do or if it’s something I don’t want to keep up with :)

  6. Ashley – the room looks awesome – love the drapes you made with the fabric and I love the saloon doors too – wow!!! Congratulations on baby Judah too :-)

  7. What a great room! I’m not surprised they love it. I’m so impressed that you’ve finished it, especially now with a new baby. Yay! :D

  8. I have 5 horses and my whole house has a horse and western theme so I absolutely love this! I have a vintage cowboy print quilt that is very similar to the fabric you chose so thumbs up on that find that I recall was a bit of a challenge for you to find. I have an oddball sized closet that 11 yrs later still does not have a closet door and Giddy Up I love your saloon doors! I hope you can tell me or include in your tutorial how to tell if you are too old to have a Cowgirl bdrm with Saloon closet Doors! Like is there a self test I can do for that sort of thing? lol Can’t wait for that tut!

  9. Looks great! What a fun idea rather than cars or trains (which my boys currently have). I think I first found your website because of the book slings tutorial. That link is actually going to the paper bag floor page, just fyi. :)

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