Oliver’s Big Boy Room

Oliver’s room isn’t totally finished, but the heavy lifting is over. Here’s what it currently looks like:

There are so many things I love about this space. I’m really happy about how it all came together, especially since we didn’t have to spend a lot to get it here - most of this room is done with things we already had in the house or were given to us. We’ve been in this house long enough now that we’ve been able to curate our furniture collection - almost everything is either dark wood or white, so no matter what room it’s in, it works.

The goal was to make the room feel happy, cozy and welcoming so that he would eventually sleep in here willingly. We moved over his books, his toys and some of his artwork. We added in some additional decorations that I had saved for him as well. This room gets great light so it’s bright and cheery all day long. I’m really into the dark ceiling (I want all our ceilings dark now!) and even the plastic stars are growing on me.

My office chalkboard and corkboard ended up staying at Oliver’s insistence. I had taken them down and he was upset and I realized there was no reason not to leave them up! I did move the mail file I used downstairs and pulled out a second corkboard down from the attic to fill it out (it’s all part of Pottery Barn’s daily system). Oliver loves sitting on his bed drawing pictures on the board. And I promised him we can cover the corkboard in any pictures he wants (which is Spiderman, Spiderman, Spiderman).

The kitchen being in here is a huge hit - he loves having it up here. He plays with it every morning when he wakes up, before he goes to bed, and a lot of times in between. The canvas boxes in the cube shelf hold a ton of toys and keep them out of sight. While the room isn’t large by modern standards, it’s HUGE for Oliver who is used to sleeping in an 11x7 space. He loves being able to spread out and play with his toys in here.

There are a few things that still need to be filled in. I don’t want to rush into it, just to be able to call this room “finished” instead of finding the right item (at the right price) for the space. Currently I’m on the lookout for:

• A little more artwork for the bare spots in the room
• A navy blue throw pillow for the bed
• A bedside lamp that Oliver will love that goes with the room
• A new nightlight that coordinates with the room (currently he’s using the one from the nursery)