black and white and fun all over

This summer I set about the fun job of finally giving our (then) 6-year-old a big boy room. I knew I wanted the foundations to be neutral and high contrast – dark wood for the bunk beds and dresser, natural pine wood floors, a very light color on the walls.

Once I had my foundation in place, I picked several other high-contrast, achromatic pieces to give it a very hip, “I can grow into this” vibe. I used a black and white zebra head, two chalkboard wall poster decals, and black and white polkadot sheets with white duvets.

So, hip and edgy it was. But he’s six, not sixteen – it was time to layer in the fun! I never actually set out to do this (I detest “themed” children’s bedrooms), but somehow a definite travel element made its way in with the cool captain’s mirror, the map pendant (which is supposed to be a light, but I love it just hanging over his desk!), the dressed up animal prints (hands down, Oliver’s favorites), the canvas map, and the motorsport hat.

Of course, this room existed in my head and on a pinterest board far before it existed in real life. I even sort of pre-created the room in Photoshop because I’m such a visual person and I wanted to see it come together before I pulled the trigger and made final decisions.

Now that it’s finished, it is absolutely my favorite room in our house to date. Oliver loves the desk area and he and Hazel will perch up on the stools by the window for hours drawing or sneaking my washii tape when I’m not lookingThe curtain rod came from the woods behind our house. I liked bringing in natural elements like that, the wood floors and the twine hanging the map pendant. We even have one giant branch in the corner by the closet just leaning there looking serious. 

I think that bubble clock might be my favorite thing in the room. It hangs over the top bunk, and since Oliver is getting good at telling time, it actually serves as a useful tool for him.Hazel sleeps on the bottom bunk almost every night. I honestly thought the novelty of bunk beds would wear off after a while, but they really just love to be together. That beautiful pink room down the hall doesn’t get a lot of action these day.
I wrote a bit about the honeycomb shelves a few weeks ago. Adding chalkboard decals to the back of some created a nice repetition in the room, and I loved the fun of filling the shelves with some of Oliver’s favorite things.

Desk Area: rug / curtains / finials / stools / desk / art caddy / finials / map shade / “beware of ninjas” print / “I’ll eat you up” print / mirror / “i heart michigan” art / teal waste bin

Honeycomb Shelf wall: honeycomb shelves / chalkboard decals / knuffle bunny / Science Alphabet Decal / bocce balls / hippo / giraffes / Q&A for Kids / monster pillow / silver chair /  globe ball / ice bat/ Under the Stars poster / log pillow

Bedding: white duvets / polka dot sheets / grey sweatshirt blankets / grey pendant light / monster pillow / log pillow / “M” pillow / wire wall bins / alligator pillow / bunk beds / rug / canvas map / bubble clock

Dresser wall: tiger art / zebra head / teal garland / rhino bookends / accordion / black lamp / dresser / green hamper / striped blanket / wood floors tutorial / curtains / finials / motorsport hat / rug

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