My son made a simple request– a desk for his room. It was such a sweet ask that I couldn’t say no. Plus, it sounded easy, but as we started planning, the to-do list started to grow and a simple shuffling of furniture turned into a full fledged re-fresh. We first decorated the room three years ago after we moved into this house.
At the time, he loved dinosaurs so we installed a wallpaper dinosaur mural and my husband built him a bed that looks like a jeep (from these plans). It had a total Jurassic Park feel, which he loved.
All the furniture was pushed against the walls to create as much floor space as possible for playing. The walls were painted SW Vogue Green (still one of my favorite paint colors) and we used the the same dresser he had since birth (Ikea Tarva 6 drawer) and a side table his dad built. The room had a multi-color fan from the previous owner. B really loved it, so it became a low priority to switch out.
I eventually painted the bed an army-green and black (see above) and hung some dinosaur posters, but besides that the room stayed unchanged until he requested a desk. The room is small and the jeep bed is big, which made fitting a desk into the room a challenge. I started to play around with the floor plan and sometimes I would just go stare at the room (you know normal stuff). We decided to move the dresser into the closet, as it wasn’t used for much besides blanket storage. That opened up the room for a lot more possibilities. We actually had a place for a desk now! Yay!!
My son requested that we remove the dinosaur mural. We had attached the mural using liquid starch (I followed this tutorial), so it was very easy to remove. We just spray it with water and gave it a minute or so to absorb and pulled it away in pieces (each section needs to be saturated with water). Come prepared with towel to clean up the access water and to wipe down the walls.
With the dresser in his closet, all that remained was his jeep bed and a small side table. This was close enough to a blank slate (as we planned on keeping the bed and table).
We measured all the furniture and laid out an initial floor plan. It became clear that we needed a desk that was rather shallow to work best in this room. There were several variations of the floor plan and desk size before we landed on one that work best for us. We decided to center the bed on the wall that previously had the mural. This created a secluded little corner (closest to the window) and we decided a bean bag for reading would be a fun addition. His new desk would be on the wall opposite the bed.
With the floor plan pretty much decided, I put together a mood board for the room.
- Wood Shelves – Poplar Wood Boards ($20.48/each) : I wanted a wood shelf to bring warmth and a natural element into the room. Ideally it would be a medium brown wood.
- Shelves Brackets ($14.98/each): These bronze brackets feel boy-ish and were available at our local Home Depot (sometimes convenience matters!).
- Little Seeds Kids Desk ($189.99): This little desk was the right depth for the room. However, we wanted to make it a special by painting it a custom color. My son had initially picked out a different blue desk, but when we laid out the floor plan it didn’t fit. It seemed like a fair compromise to just paint whichever desk we ended up purchasing.
- Wood & Leather Chair ($115.00): I knew I wanted an easy-to-clean material for the chair. Leather, wood or plastic seemed the most reasonable. I saw this modern number online and was intrigued. It plays off the wood shelves and the other black elements in the room.
- White Ceiling Fan ($99.00): I wanted a white ceiling fan that felt more modern but could also blend into the white ceiling.
- Green Striped Roman Shades ($108): The room needed some pattern and a striped shade feels classic. I toyed with making a custom shade or ordering one from Etsy, but I struggled to find a pattern I really liked. Maybe one day we’ll change it out for something new. For now, it works well and bring visual interest to the room.
- CB2 Plug in Light Fixture ($149, sold out ): I knew I wanted a fun swing light to go above my son’s bed. Since his jeep bed is elevated, a standard night stand with lamp situation wouldn’t work. I showed my son a couple of options and this is the one he picked.
- Euro Pillow Sham ($29.99): I wanted the bedding to correspond to the roman shade but not be matchy-matchy. I searched a long time for a good euro pillow sham and this one ultimately won. It has a similar vibe as the shade but does not replicate the patterns or colors.
- Green Target Quilted Bedding (Quilt – $49.99, Sham – $15 ): I love this quilted bedding and the green easily goes with the overall tone of his room (tone-on-tone, baby!).
- SW Vogue Green: We decided to keep his walls Vogue Green…and even paint the baseboards Vogue green. I.LOVE.IT.
- Cork Board ($75.00): All kids need a place to display their work. I have the perfect wall for this extra large cork board.
- Bean Bag Chair ($61.00): Of course, I needed a bean bag chair for that little nook on the other side of the bed. Again, I showed my son several options and this is the one he wanted.
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