Aquamarine Inspiration
We finally found time to paint Brooks and Clarks’ room… make that Brad painted and I admired. I’m better at the color picking than the actual grunt work of painting. My mom and dad took Henry and Clark, in order for us to get the task completed. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with “twins” when you are used to double the load.
We settled on this blue-green color, Spearmint by Sherwin Williams. Both Brooks and Clark requested a green room. So funny how they are little people with distinct opinions these days.
I love the way it turned out. It’s fresh, calming, bright, and cheery.
However, my greatest dilemma has been finding bedding and decor to go with this great aquamarine color! You all were such a help when we redecorated Isaac and Henry’s room, I thought you might have some swell suggestions for this room as well.
My biggest obstacle so far has been bedding, our toddler beds take regular crib sheets, and most crib bedding is unfortunately too baby for the little dudes. The best I’ve come up with is this adorable numbers quilted duvet set from IKEA. It’s twin size, so I’m thinking it might work? It’s super cute and the price is right at $15 for the set! What do ya think?
(Update: Looks like this pattern is no longer available at Ikea. Strike out #7!)
Any suggestions for accent colors, window treatments, decor, or inspirational ideas (on a tight budget) are WELCOME!
QuatroMama
Have you tried looking online at jcpenny? Thats where I found my son’s infant bedding, and it seems they have a selection of some toddler bedding as well as a large amount of crib bedding. Their online selection is much larger than the in-store selection.
It’s from the UK (like me :o)) but what about something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Choo-Choo-Train-Toddler-Bed-Cotbed-Quilt-Pillowcase-/120574720048?pt=UK_Baby_NurseryBedding_RL&hash=item1c12d03830#ht_2092wt_1137
Or this http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Bob-Builder-Toddler-bedding-sheet-comforter-set-twins-/150492158338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230a081982#ht_500wt_1154 super cute and cheap!
Saw this online at Kohl’s. You could use this blanket a their comforter. It also has a valance you can purchase. I think each item is $15 each. Can’t beat that! I just think that the orange would be a nice color to go with their walls.
Search for the Jumping Beans Dino-Roar.
(I would have put the link, but my phone is not cooperating at 4 am. Must mean I should be sleeping.)
Kohl’s also has a really cute Dr. Seuss themed toddler bed set, but it is $85 each.
The first big savings would be to make the transition from toddler bed to twin beds. As quick as the boys are growing, this time next year you will be redecorating again because they will have outgrown the toddler beds. Sell the toddler beds and use that money to ‘upgrade’ them to full twin size beds and that too will make your task of finding bedding so much easier and they won’t outgrow it for several years.
I love the color! This is the kid bedding that matches the crib bedding we bought for baby boy–it’s on clearance at Target and I think it would be cute with that green.
http://www.target.com/DwellStudio-Target-Circle-Comforter-Set/dp/B001LFYRDY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=dwell%20circle&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-4&qid=1284728223&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=DwellStudio%20Target%20Circle%20Comforter%20Set&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0
Jessie
My three year old has walls of a similar color, and I sewed his bedding with this fabric. LOVE it! http://www.etsy.com/listing/56158892/michael-miller-groovy-guitar-lime-fabric The background is chocolate brown, so I made him a pillowcase and curtain with the guitar fabric and use chocolate brown crib sheets, which are easy to find (he’s in a toddler bed, too). He uses the quilt that Grandma made him for his blanket, although it doesn’t match. But he’s attached to it, so that’s that. You could do slipcovers for the Ikea duvets that fit cribs/toddler beds. Simple rectangles. Actually, I’d be happy to sew pillowcases and duvet covers for you, if you want. They’re really quick, simple projects. It’s a serious offer–just give me a shout!
Or, if you were liking the numbers theme, here are some other fabric options (same duvet cover idea):
http://www.etsy.com/listing/54927319/
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51771560/
So pretty!
I’m with Linda on the ditch the toddler beds. We went right from the crib to a twin when Charlie was 3 years old. Makes finding bedding much easier! The boys will outgrown those beds pretty soon so you will end up buying new beds and bedding within a year anyway.
Charlie’s room is a bright green. We went with just a plain denim look comforter and accented with various transportation themed accents until he turned 5. Then for his 5th birthday we changed the bedding and decor (such as it was) to a Lightening McQueen/NASCAR theme. He has a Jan. birthday so the bedding was a gift from Poppa. I made a black/white checkered flag banner to hang as a valance, bought posters and framed them inexpensively. For a night light I bought a small clear block w/light inside from Hobby Lobby & a racing flag decal from Etsy. Very easy to do. You can see the end result here –
http://texasebeth.blogspot.com/2010/01/kiddos-big-kid-room-redo-for-his-5th.html
Just last night we took all our girls outside and set them loose on a couple of canvases (which were old oil paintings I’d scored for free from an estate sale, spray painted over in a neutral color). You could get some cheap paints in co-ordinating colors and let the boys do some avant garde color scheming to hang on the wall. The girls loved it, and are so proud of their work. I’ve seen several people do variations of this type of project, and its always a cute outcome.
We painted their hands and let them stamp the end product. I will do a post about it eventually, but I have to wait until after their Grandma’s birthdays, because they are birthday presents :).
LOVE the color of the room!
For decorating ideas, I always head for scrapbook paper first. Take your paint sample with you to a scrapbook store and then I find paper that I like. This makes for cheap and adorable room decorations! And, because it’s cheap – you can change according to the kiddos’ likes/dislikes. I like to find some cute frames and put the paper in (hello Target). It adds a little texture to the room with the patterned paper, and can go from there with other coordination in the room.
Also, I LOVE to go to Michael’s and buy the canvas boards. My kids throw together a masterpiece and I hang them all over the walls. Of course, coordinate the colors of paint that you want them to use!! 😉
Bedding … I don’t know. That’s a tough one.
Good luck! Can’t wait to see the final masterpiece!
I think just a plain bright color would be cute! Maybe red or orange?
I got this set for my son’s aquatic room, but it’s for a twin size bed:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Crayola-Sea-Adventure-Twin-Comforter-Set/8812515?findingMethod=rr
I think navy goes great with that shade of green…not the least bit babyish for these growing boys. I also think the suggestion to sell the beds and get twin size is a good idea.
I wish I could help. I am horrible at decorating. Just ask my husband.
I think denim bedding would be cool.
I have this really neat idea that I am doing with my boy/girl twins. I have struggled to think of something cool to do that would represent the two of them without being too gender specific. You could use it to exemplify the differences between your boys. I am doing custom vinyl silhouettes. There will be 2 trees on the main wall. One with my daughter on a swing, the other with my son sitting on a branch on the tree. We just had to take a picture and send it in for them to use to get the silhouette. I can’t wait to get them! They have a lot of really neat ideas you can check out. VinylSilhouettes.com
Orange would be a wicked accent colour with that lovely green-blue. I know that this is not crib-sized, but these are just the coolest, and very ‘boy’, sheets: http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=7&f=4898
There are tons of coordinating decor pieces, and a bunch of different combinations and options for the sets.
Oh, and they’ve got some awesome wall stickers that coordinate with the bedding!
http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=9676&f=4857
The best thing about this colour scheme and theme is that it isn’t too ‘baby’, and will last a long time.
My advice is a little too late (Maybe in time for next time?), but…..Always buy the bedding first THEN paint the walls to match. It’s much much easier that way.
I think this is cute and not too babyish: http://www.overstock.com/Baby/Zoo-Baby-Quilt/4456994/product.html
Or this is cute and a pretty good price: http://walmart.scene7.com/walmart/flash_zoom.jsp?company=WalMart&sku=10980227&config=WalMart/zoom_config&default=0002588328167&title=Crayola%20Dinosaur%204-Piece%20Toddler%20Bedding%20Set&categoryid=4044
Sorry, just saw this and love it, but it’s a little pricey: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fisher-Price-Precious-Planet-4-Piece-Toddler-Set/12177966
Okay, a third comment was necessary when I found this: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80161310
Not sure if the colors are right or not, but here’s a cute set from Target!
http://www.target.com/Circo-Toddler-One-Size-Build/dp/B003AIMFGQ/ref=sc_qi_detaillink
I was actually looking for boots for my kids and got distracted by all the fun kids’ room furniture. We are also in toddler beds, and don’t have the money to change that any time soon. I suspect that our 3.5 year old will fit comfortably in his for at least another year. I hope so!