Money Saving Ideas and Helpful Hints for a Boy’s Room Makeover

When it comes to making over a kids bedroom, my inclination is to style modestly. Children’s taste change so quickly and each phase of their childhood brings new desires.

Keep It Simple

Let’s face it, changing out our children’s bedrooms can be expensive. First comes the nursery stage, then the toddler stage, then tween and then the teen years! Most kids will want to change their room as their tastes change, so for that reason I don’t believe in doing themed rooms. My son’s Batman stage came and went fairly quickly. If I had invested time, money and effort into doing a Batman themed room, I’d be pretty upset when he wanted to change it.

Choose a Classic Style for a Child’s Bedroom

Instead, I prefer to choose a style that can transition through the years and only requires changing out certain pieces of furniture or items in the room.

Let’s look at the sad state of affairs of my son’s bedroom. We have lived in our home three years, and we are finally getting around to renovating the upstairs. My son’s bedroom was first on the list. Of course it doesn’t normally look THIS bad, but it was pretty bare bones – just a bed, nightstand, play table, kid’s bookshelf and some toys.

We bought a Pottery Barn bed once we transitioned from a nursery to a “big boy’s room” around the age of three. I chose a full size bed instead of a twin. A full or queen sized bed is more versatile such as being able to use for guests. We have owned this bed a good 8 years.

I made the mistake of buying a mattress and box spring that were very thick and made the bed too high. I should have opted for a thinner boxspring to go along with a thick mattress. The duvet cover never fully covered the boxspring and it just didn’t look right.

Notice the spackle on the wall? Yea that’s been there for a couple years. When we moved into our home, there was a huge hole in the wall that needed repair, and the spackle has been there ever since.

First decision for this room – the brown walls had to go! My son never complained about them, I think they bothered me more than him. When I asked what color he wanted to paint his walls, he chose blue.

Stick with Painted Walls

When it comes to children’s bedrooms, I choose painted walls. It’s easy to change wall color over the years as kids taste changes…pulling trim off a wall or cute girlie wood molding is a lot harder and can get expensive.

For those of you who have been following along, you know most of our home is painted in Restoration Hardware colors. They have a beautiful color palette and the range of colors make my decision easy. My son chose “Atmosphere Blue” and we used Benjamin Moore paint.

Choose Furniture than Can Easily Convert

The biggest change we made to the room, was to add a bunk bed. Our son just turned 11 and has become interested in having friends sleep over. We chose a twin over full bunk bed to add to his room. We found ours at Costco, but the prices on Amazon are a lot better! The beds easily convert to stand alone if we ever decide in the future to change the configuration.

We kept the dresser we owned and placed it to the side of the bed. This was also a Pottery Barn purchase years ago.

Choose Accessories Wisely

I’m on the look out for a larger bookcase to replace the toddler one in the corner. I will most likely order this one, it looks like the perfect size and a great price.

When I replace the bookcase, I will also replace the toy chest. Looking for something a bit sturdier, I really like this toy chest.

The dresser isn’t huge but it will do for now, since we have a large closet attached to the room. But I really like the dressers on Amazon and the prices are spectacular.

Don’t Forget about Lighting

For added style and function, we added an overhead light to the room. A semi-flush mount drum light was the perfect choice for the space.

New Bedding? Comforter Over Duvet

We needed new bedding, now that we added a twin sleeper. I’m over duvet covers for kids rooms, the insert just doesn’t stay in place and I find myself constantly pulling the duvet off the bed and fluffing it to get it back in shape. Going old school and opting for a twin and queen sized comforter. My son loves this new comforter, it keeps him warm and it’s so cozy and soft.

Shop Your Home Before Buying New

You have heard me talking about shopping your home before going out and buying anything new right? That’s what I did for this desk. Again, a Pottery Barn desk I purchased ages ago which has made it’s way around the house for years looking for the perfect spot. I think we found it in our son’s room. Moving the dresser behind the bunk bed freed up space along this wall to add a desk – similar HERE.

While I was shopping my home, I remembered purchasing floating shelf ledges from Pottery Barn years ago that I never used. I bought them for our previous home but we decided to move before getting them hung on the wall. Another perfect find for the room.

We created a LEGO table many years back by cutting and gluing Lego boards onto a kids table. My son still uses the table today, we aren’t ready to part with it just yet.

An old coffee table storage ottoman houses thousands of Lego pieces and it keeps the room looking neat and tidy.

Add One Fun Element Your Child Really Wants

The one addition my son really wanted for his room, was to own a gaming chair. At first I resisted the idea, as I’m not trying to encourage hours of gaming in front of a computer. But the more I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that we can find common ground. The chair is here to stay, the laptop? It won’t be a permanent fixture in the room..if you know what I mean 😉

I wanted my son to feel like he had a say in the styling of his room. But I have to balance price, style, and function…what is worth buying and what is worth keeping?

I have to say that I’m impressed with the quality of this chair. It’s loaded with features like being fully adjustable, lumbar support, arm rests, a high back, a pull-out flip over foot rest and comes in a variety of colors.

Overall, I am happy with the reno of our son’s room, total cost – less than a thousand dollars. It will also transition well into his teen years by making a couple tweaks such as removing the upper bunk.

Follow along on Instagram stories HERE for daily updates and happenings at Happy Haute Home. This week, I will be working on my daughter’s bathroom. I showed you a sneak peek of the space in a prior post, it’s covered in pink marble! Also coming to the blog this month “Helpful hints for Hosting a Fall Inspired Birthday Party” and a BIG Outdoor Project coming up. The “One Room Challenge” also starts in October so get subscribed so you won’t miss any details!

Denise

XO

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