I feel like we have been trying to finish Dane and Aidan's room FOREVER. By the time we get it just how we want it, the boys will be going off to college, and like my mother before me, I will be redecorating their room before they're even out of the driveway.
Another story for another time.
Back to the Boy Room.
Before: Twin beds from Uncle John's old room when he was a little boy.
Matching dresser with a broken drawer. Underbed drawers which held shoes. An antique chair from my grandfather that was super comfortable, but sat in the boys room because I had no where else to put it.
Stuffed animals everywhere. Posters in various stages of being torn down covering the walls. No toys, because they were taking up the upstairs playroom while the downstairs living room was overrun with little girl/toddler toys.
The plan? Bunk beds. Storage and room for all of their toys, away from the destructive hands of their little sister and away from the non-discriminating mouth of their littlest sister. Get rid of the posters, and find something else for the walls. I wanted them to have plenty of room to actually play with their toys IN THEIR ROOM instead of in the upstairs playroom, so I could transition the upstairs playroom into a girl playroom, moving all of the dress up clothes, dolls, books, Legos, etc. out of the downstairs living room.
The solution? Twin-over-double bunk beds (the boys sleep in the same bed anyway). I was looking for something very specific for the beds, I wanted a rail at the top, a ladder that went all the way to the ground, and I did not want to take up additional floor space with a "loft style" bed. And I wanted someone to come and put it together in the room. Me no likey furniture assembly.
We got rid of the shorter dresser with the broken drawers, and moved a dresser that had been in my closet, into the boys' closet for some of their clothes. We moved one of the short bookshelves into the girls' room to accomodate their ever growing collection of books and stuffed animals. These three pictures occupy the remaining bookshelf:
Brandon with each of the boys as a newborn in the hospital, and a cute shot of the boys sharing a snack after a soccer practice.
This little mat sits at the foot of their bed, Brandon bought it from a villager in Kenya.
I got a bunch of baskets for their growing collection of Legos, toys, Beyblades, etc, that fit nicely under their bed. I'm still not completely satisfied with the toy storage, and I am on the lookout for some sort of bench with storage space underneath. Maybe a space that can be used as a bench, or as a play table if needed.
After a little (actually, not enough) sanding, primer, and at least 3 coats of paint, it was finished. Not perfect, but finished.
The boys LOVE having the little cubbies and drawers for their treasures, and they've already found a bunch of pictures to tack to the little cork board. We moved the trophies out of the way of little hands (it's a little embarrassing how many trophies have been broken in our house) and moved the "Rock Bros" picture above the desk.
We still need to get a chair for the desk, and move some of their writing and drawing supplies up here. This room will never be all the way finished. Never.
And for the walls? Well. I wanted to put a couple of their favorite verses on the walls. Brandon and the boys liked that idea, but wanted to somehow incorporate Pokemon characters. Of course. We thought about painting something directly on the walls, but ultimately realized that the boys would want something different in a few years and that a canvas would be easier to switch out.
Brandon and I spent untold hours on the canvases, then shoved them into the garage when they were about 95% done. We just didn't know how to polish them up and make them look better, so Brandon's mom finished them up for us when they came to town a few weekends ago. Be forwarned: If you come visit us for the weekend, we're likely to give you a project to do.
Dane's verse:
Aidan's verse:
The spears and shield are from Brandon's trip to Kenya earlier this year.
I can assure you, their next verses will be much, much shorter than these.
The boys LOVE their new room, and spend hours and hours there, playing with stuffed animals, building Lego towns, and reading. I just hope they don't outgrow Pokemon characters any time soon.
