My Plans for The Boys Room

One of my “loose goals” for this year is to give my boys room a complete makeover. I worked on it a little when I was pregnant with Levi, but I just did a few things (book slings and nursery chair) and now I want to completely overhaul it. A few days ago I took y’all window shopping with me to Kirklands and today I’m doing the second part of that series, the room reveal.

Except that this is in no way a room reveal. Sorry Kirklands, don’t be mad. There is just no way this was going to be a room reveal post because it’s – you know – January…and I am just not that awesome. So instead of a room reveal I’m am going to do the opposite and show you what I PLAN to do to my boys room. Here is what it looks like right now (well, three days ago)…

boy nursery
boys room
diaper changing station

It’s cringeworthy, I know. So let’s start with the basics…the floors and the walls.

When we bought the house, the bedroom all had wall to wall carpet. It was old and gross, so we ripped it all out and have been living on the concrete that was underneath. I don’t want to put in more carpet, Adam doesn’t want to pay for hardwood, and neither of us wants tile. Soooo…I’m going install some paper bag flooring.

Some of you may have heard of it, but most of you probably think I’m a little crazy. Yes, it is literally paper bags glued to the floor, stained, and sealed. Here are a few examples of it done in other people’s homes…

paper bag floor inspiration

via 6826 Freeman Ridge

more paper bag floor inspiration

 via Stop Staring and Start Sewing

paper bag stairs

via Lovely Crafty Home

I’m really excited about getting to work on this…but I’m also kinda dreading it. I’m only dreading it because I’m going to have to displace both cribs (and everything else in the room) and try to get the boys to sleep somewhere else for probably a week or so. Also, I have no idea what I’m going to do with them while I’m working on the floor. They’re going to want to be all up in my business, which is usually fine but this project isn’t really toddler friendly.  Anyway, if I can figure out those two things then I’m thinking this will be kinda fun.

Next comes the walls…currently they are just brown and boring. The room only has one window in the corner and stays fairly dark, so I want to brighten it up a little. The plan is to plank it, just like my kitchen, except that I want it to be vertical and only go about 3/4 of the way up the wall. The planks will be white and the wall above it will either stay brown, go lighter beige, or maybe light aqua/blue/turquoise color. Just imagine something like this with solid white vertical planks…

plank wall inspiration

via Owen’s Olivia

Also, along with the walls comes all new trim…baseboards,  door frames, etc. Fun stuff :)

For the boys closet I’m thinking of sweet talking Adam into building some saloon doors.

saloon doors for closet

I have no idea about the design, I just know that I want them to look like old wood.

After that is all done we will have a good jumping-off point to do the fun decor type stuff!

So all I knew was that I wanted it to be western/cowboy, but done tastefully and not cheesy. So when I went into Kirklands last week to do my window shopping post & spend my gift card I had no idea what room I was going to choose to do my “reveal” post about. But as I was looking around I started to see my cowboy room form. Here is what I ended up buying!

kirklands

Thats the Hadley Floor Lamp, Jackson Paisley Rug, Distressed Wood Red Square Clock, Metal Riding Cowboy Plaque and a glass jar with reins that I couldn’t find the link too.

(Also, if you have a smartphone be sure and download the Kirklands Spin to Win app, it gives you coupons right on your phone. I gor a 10% off your entire purchase coupon, but I also saw a 30% off one and a $40 off of $100 one. $40 off $100!)

This rug is what started the whole thing.

cowboy room paisley rug

We all know I love paisley, and this rug was the right size, the right price, and I loved the colors. This is when I decided to make the rooms two main colors (besides lots of white and brown) be turquoise and red. I know I’ve said many times before that I really dislike the color red, but in a cowboy room it just felt right…plus I think turquoise and red will look great together. My moms jaw is hitting the floor right now, lol.

Next I went and snatched up this turquoise lamp, it was the last one they had and I got the floor display. It’s a little nicer than my old one, eh?

floor lamps

Then I found this giant red clock on clearance…it was originally $99 (though it says $79 online) and I snagged it for $26!

rustic boys room decor

I think I’ll add a chunky wood frame to country it up a bit, I think it will look great when the walls are done. I also plan to redo that dresser…I want it to have a wood top and painted bottom. I painted it with thick oil-based paint a few years ago though, so I’m not exactly sure how that is going to work. I’m also not feeling the symmetry of the growth charts, so those are going to move. And I’m thinking I’ll make a curtain and some throw pillows out of red bandanas. I’ll have to change up my book slings and big fat chair too. Whew…so many ideas, so little time!

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26 Comments

  1. LOVE the rug!!! My son’s nursery / toddler room was a cowboy theme and we paper bagged the walls! I picked up lots of cowboy themed stuff on eBay. I used fruit crate labels (cowboy / horse themed) for artwork! I can’t wait to see your finished project! My only hesitation would be the saloon doors on the closet. Although I love the doors, my kids’ closets are not organized enough to make me want to see them above and below saloon doors! LOL

    1. I keep getting comments that people have paper bagged their walls…I’ve never heard of that. Was it easy to do? Any tips? Right now my boys closet doesn’t have any covering at all (that dang cutain never stays up for more than 10 seconds), so saloon doors will cover it more. Though your right, when my boys get old enough to dress themselves it could be a disaster. We will see…the door is still in the attic just in case!

      1. Bagging the walls was easy. I actually used bags along with that brown postal paper and a roll of painting paper from Lowes, so I would have some differences in color (can’t remember whether I liked that or not – LOL). I tore pieces off, wadded them up and dipped them into wallpaper paste. Then, slapped them onto the wall and smoothed them out. The paste on the side of the paper which faced away from the wall made it have a little sheen to it. Good luck! Can’t wait for the updates!

  2. Wow, those plans sound great! I LOOOOVE that rug!! I went to Kirklands online and I can’t believe the price. Holy.
    I like the idea of the turquoise above the planks, but then I’m a huge fan of turquoise, aqua etc. I think it’s going to be gorgeous!! And so much fun to do. :) I’m looking forward to seeing the progress.
    We sold our house on Friday!! What a relief. Now to find a new place. I think we’ll have to rent for awhile, so I might have to put my designer urges on hold, but there are still lots of projects to do in a rental. I can’t wait!
    Cheers!

  3. I totally see your vision for the the boys’ room. It’s going to be so nice and cozy. We used to have to go all the way to visit my husband’s Aunt in Vegas to go to Kirklands, but now they opened one super close by. I love that place. That reminds me… I need to go again!

  4. Love that lamp…and the clock…and your plans etc.! Actually red is a very cozy, comfortable color – if you choose the right shade. We got tired of our flowered wallpaper but loved the background color so our whole living room is painted red three quarters of the way up with white trim and white paint above the trim. It would have been too much to have the walls totally red, but with the color break it’s really great. I just took a swatch of the wallpaper to the paint shop and they color matched it. We did this quite a few years ago and we still love it. My husband and I love color (different for a man, huh?) Everyone loves it and no one is “angry” in that room lol! I also have browns to go with it. I was kind of thinking of purple as my new accent color but I’m really liking your idea of the turquoise/aqua colors! That rug would look good in my living room!
    Can hardly wait to see the finishd room!

  5. I LOVE that rug! I have never seen anything like it and it is one that I would love to find. I live in Australia, what is it called, who makes it and are there any other details you could give that might help me to track it down?
    I am looking forward to seeing how the room comes together.

  6. Love the paperbag floors – my niece and I did that in her bathroom on the walls and it turned out beautiful. You might try it on your lampshade too….

  7. I love your color inspiration – I think it will be fabulous! I’ve got two boys rooms on-tap for spring/summer, along with painting the entire house, ripping out carpet in the dining room, and doing something to the wall behind the sink in the powder room. Nevermind my furniture builds that the man is convinced are never gonna happen.

    I can’t wait to see what you show us next!

  8. It’s such an adventure to read your blog now and I don’t know why I didn’t discover it months and months ago, because as you reference old projects – like the book slings – I’m always thinking: “Oh COOL. I saw that on pinterest and loved it, but never knew it was you!” I’m pretty pumped to see how this paper bag thing works out!

    1. Lol, well at least I know my stuff is out there in the world if you kept running across it :) I’m excited about the floors, though we are doing our onto polished concrete and I can’t find a single other person that has successfully done it on that. I guess I’ll just have to be a cheap flooring pioneer like you and Andy!

  9. I can’t wait to see the room finished. I love the inspiration pictures of the papered floors, especially the stairs. And you beat me to that turquoise lamp. I have to redo the one I have to add turquoise to it as the color is exactly what I love.

  10. I love the inspiration for the boys’ new room! I am going crazy over the brown bag flooring. I’m thinking that would be awesome in my house, both up and down stairs and the actual stairs. What a cool look, so modern but not trendy. Thanks again, for inspiring me to make my home beautiful.

  11. Love the rug! Wish I lived closer, just getting rid of my boys cowboy theme room. They are now 8 and 10, so it’s time for a change. :) I have some old actual used horse bridles that my brother gave me when he worked on a horse farm. I hung them on the wall with a cute hook…would love to mail them to you if you want them. It’d be nice to pass them on, instead of throw them out. They’re really neat. :))
    Blessings,
    Krisante@ourthriftynestof7

    1. That is so sweet of you too offer! When you say bridles do you mean the whole set up, with bits and reins and everything? I’m trying to think of where I would hang them, there isn’t much wall space left in there but they sound really neat.

      1. No, it’s just two small straps, but they are really cool. :). I can try and email you a pic.?
        They wouldn’t take up much space.
        :)
        Kris@ourthriftynestof7

  12. the paper bag look could be cool. I’m anxious to hear how it turns out when you finally do it. As for the saloon doors that could be so fun. We had some when I was growing up to separate the dining room and kitchen. Just be sure to leave some gap between the door so little fingers don’t get pinched. We had that happen more than once and it does really hurt. Thanks for sharing.
    p

  13. I see your vision .. loved your blog.. Stop by The Rusty Pearl if you ever get a chance would love to have ya.. I will be your newest follower >>> HUGS

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