Recently my husband and I decided to surprise the kids with makeovers to their bedrooms. Now that we have a teen and a tween, we wanted to give them a style that they could enjoy for years to come that also reflected their personalities. Today, I will be sharing my son’s room with you.
At the time of this project, I wasn’t blogging, so unfortunately, I didn’t take many before pictures. I wanted to introduce a masculine color in the room but was apprehensive about dark walls closing in the room. We decided to paint one accent wall and paint the remaining walls and trim in Benjamin Moore White Dove. Because we decided to only paint one wall, it didn’t close the room in or take away from the high ceilings. The accent wall color we chose is Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams. One of the things I love about this blackish charcoal color is it has a lot of depth that creates a richness on walls. All paint colors can really look different depending on the lighting and time of day, but I think this is even more true with Iron Ore specifically.
The next thing to address… the windows. The original windows were trimmed in a dark brown stain. Replacing the windows was not an option, so the next best thing was to paint the trim and the muntins. To emphasize the window muntins (the grids dividing the window) we painted the trim the same White Dove as the rest of the room. For the muntins, we used a paint color by SW called Tricorn Black. I am super pleased with how the windows turned out and feel like they really updated the room.
Disclaimer, colors always photograph differently than they look in person. That and the fact these pictures were taken with the lights on during the day, (not recommended) does contribute to the colors not being 100% accurately represented. My biggest piece of advice when painting is to paint a sample area on each wall of the room you’re considering painting. Especially when using grays. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve picked a gray paint that looks great on one side of a room but looks mauve on the other. If you don’t want to go slapping paint samples on all your walls, grab some poster boards, paint them and then tape them up so you can see the paint at different times of the day.
When it came time to adding furniture and accessories to the room, I wanted to try and keep it simple and really only incorporate pieces that meant something to him or served a purpose. I always take into consideration the way a space will be used. We knew our son would need a study space and we also wanted a comfy chair for gaming because he is a teenage boy and that’s the important stuff right? My husband found the perfect gaming chair and ottoman and trust me they were a huge hit! The lounge set is super comfy and easy for him to move around the room if he wants to. (Notice how different even white paint looks from different angles in the photos above and below.)
For his study area, we tried to keep it clean and simple so he had plenty of space to spread out when studying. A new desk, chair, a task light and some motivational art on the wall above and that area was good to go!
The large wall behind his low profile bed needed something and the framed jerseys he has been collecting were just enough to add some color and symmetry to the wall. I really love how they turned out.
To help absorb noise with the wood flooring and to soften the room with some texture, I chose a rug that complimented the blue in one of the jerseys above his bed.
One of the final changes was addressing the lighting. As you can see in the first photo of the post, the fixture was way too small for the room size and ceiling height. We decided to add two new Sputnik-style light fixtures. I was unsure about these lights when I ordered them but once they were hung, I loved the way they pulled everything together.
Sources:
- Lounger & Ottoman, 2. floating shelves, 3. ball holders, 4. bed, 5. nightstands, 6. wall art, 7. rug, 8. hamper, 9. chair 10. sputnik light, 11. desk light, 12. similar desk
This project was such a fun one and seeing his reaction made it all the worthwhile. Stay tuned to see what we cooked up for my daughter’s room!
Until next time,
Kelly