You’re the Inspiration…
…."No one needs you more than I need you”.
And I need your humble opinion(s)…
Be My Inspiration!
So if you’ve been reading 4tunate for a while, you know that we moved just a little over a year ago. We LOVE it here. Love our location. Love our neighbors. Love our fenced-in backyard. Love that if God allows this will be our home for many years.
However, it’s taken us quite some time to make it our own. You know, decorate, personalize, add your own touches, etc. We’ve "completed" 3 rooms total (completed meaning mostly just painted) and after a long hiatus we are starting the boys’ new room. It’s not going to be an all out make-over by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m going for a fresh look.
Brad’s been working on sanding and priming the walls, so next comes MY important job of picking a paint color.
Goodness gracious! Have you been to a home improvement store lately? What happened to Crayola discovering 64 colors and leaving it at that?
So I’m currently leaning towards an aqua color. Not too bold, but yet cheery and bright. Suggestions?
Since the boys are still in cribs (and will be until they reach age 14, *Snicker, Snicker*) I don’t have any bedding to go along with the paint color. (We just use random crib sheets.) And once you cram 4 cribs into an already tight space, you don’t have room for a lot of decorating.
I did have a cute valance at one time, but it seems to be MIA since the move. So my only other decoration for the room is the frames we put together before the boys were born. They are matted prints of some of my all time favorite children’s books: Curious George, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Hungry Caterpillar, Green Eggs and Ham, and the Kissing Hand to name a few.
Here’s 6 out of the dozen or so of them:
Here’s a better look, so you can get the idea….
I haven’t decided for certain whether to keep these in the boys’ bedroom or to create a little reading corner on our landing and display them there, so again, HELP!
I enjoy a classic look, but I like FUN colors too. If the boys would happen to graduate out of cribs before the age of 14, here are some room decor/bedding looks that I’m fond of…(Although in 12 years who knows what will be in style! *Giggle*)
Most of these selections would not meet the “quad budget”, but it’s fun to look and steal ideas. And just in case your not on a quad budget, I’ll sight the source for the sake of your own pocketbook. You’re welcome very much.
Pottery Barn Kids Twin Quilt $124.00 Overstock.com Twin Quilt Set 82.99
Ebay (by Ikea) Sheet and Duvet Set 14.99 Amazon (Eric Carle) (Currently Out of Stock)
So there’s a little taste of my taste.
Now it’s your turn. Where do you find your inspiration? What are some of your favorite color combinations? What’s your taste? Do you have any favorite kid decorating sites? Please share. “Now Don’t Get Caught Watching the Paint (Primer) Dry!” (Bonus Points for naming that movie.)
I’ll be anxiously awaiting your wealth of information!
I am also currently re-doing the triplets room! Their big brother (6) will be joining them and we are swapping rooms all over the place, so I have three bedrooms to redo. Yippee! For the triplets and Aidan, I am doing a slate-blue color and brown and doing vertical stripes all around (it's a big room). We ARE moving ours out of the cribs and into bunk beds…but will only have one set left as an actual bunk bed (Aidan on top) and the other two will be used as twin beds right now. No little guys off high off the ground just yet! The bed sets I got off JCPenney and mixed and matched different themes so they each had their "own." I loved the mis-matched sets but those are very girly. I thought they would be awesome in a room with more than one child.
Hannah's room will be the same as it is now, just in a different location…pink with brown polka dots.
Austin (almost 14) wants bright orange and lime green. I'm thinking horizontal stripes in his room – or two big green stripes with one big orange or something.
It's fun to look and dream – then comes the budget part that isn't so fun! But I am excited to see how ours turn out…can't wait to see yours and what you decide on either!
I've been looking at paint and such for when my little guy turns 2this winter and we change from the "baby room" to the "toddler room." I've found a nice light blue called Disney Blue that's bright and cheery and goes really well with the blue and red of the car and truck themed sheets and quit I like. Not sure how much inspiration this has been, but good luck, can't wait to see what you pick. BTW, when/why did you stop signing of as Jen and the Crew? Just curious….?
Since you guys have 4 bedrooms + master, is each boy having their own room? Bunkbeds could also work! But always remember they grow fast which means they will also change what their into. Nothing too babyish! I think blue is a good choice for color. I also like the reading area idea- they can use that for a while
When I see those aqua colors, I think of an aquarium – if that helps. If you move your pictures to a reading area, you could try a fishy theme.
Well, here's what I'm thinking for when my twin girls get a bigger and better room:
I would like to paint a wall in one nice colour (I like sea green as it combines well with pink but also is sort of neutral). And then I'd like to add a horizontal line of the kids' hand prints in bright, lovely colours. Blue, yellow, red for instance.
I know it's not much, but I'm convinced it will look great. Plus, I find children's rooms to be cluttered and patternd enough, normally, with no need for loud walls as well 🙂
Good luck with your choice! I'm sure it will be great!
Glidden’s Gentle Tide
Go to younghouselove.com to see a lot of rooms in this color. Not to bright, but really looks good in all types of rooms!
I don't have much advice, but I did read on another blog somewhere that the IKEA number bedding is on clearance for $2.99!! So if you are near an IKEA you might check that out. I have one tucked away for a future project and wish I was closer to a store to stock up on more!
Can't wait to see the finished room, good luck!
Land of Nod has great ideas, kind of pricey, but a great site to steal ideas. West Elm always has fun color combos, and IKEA is always a fav!
I am a fan of the accent wall. Just painted a purple one in my guest room. Then you can have a fun color, but it's not too obnoxious.
… and if you need a buddy for an IKEA trip, sign me up!
Okay, couple plugs–check out Michael's and you can get the canvas to wrap around the wood frames for CHEAP–you can use for handprints, "original" artwork, etc. I also used Mr. Poster in the ripple to blow up some of my fav. pics, convert to B & W and wrap canvas on wood frames. Did a series of 3 in our playroom and LOVE them. Ikea also sells fabric, so sometimes its cheaper to buy from them and have someone make curtains, pillows, blankets for cheap. A lot of tailors will do this for you now since their alteration business is down. Just a few thoughts. Good luck! Post progress!
There is a duvet cover that looks somewhat like the Eric Carle one on Ikeas website! They have it in red and blue. I love it and I am probably going to use it in my twin's room! I will try to get the link!
Red:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00112875
Blue:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60107734
I acutally saw it first on Mckmama's sister's blog! Look how cute!http://h-r-ourfamily.blogspot.com/2009/07/isaacs-bedroom-make-over-big-reveal.html
Oh my, those bedding sets are CUTE! That said, we're on the budget plan, too. When we redo Alex's room we're thinking about Thomas designs for the walls (will probably borrow an overhead for help with painting those), and sticking with a solid color for the bedding. While I love the "full coordination" look, it's more a dream than reality.
Blue would be very adaptable as the boys grow. Love the book images!
I saw you numerous times at BlogHer but didn't introduce myself and just saw the video from BlogHer where you were talking about your blog. I like the 3 choices that are clearly based on kids books for your bedding…since it's not reasonable to buy it you could see if anyone you know (like a quilting or crafts group) or some older women you know would be willing to sew them for you if you buy the material. I think the Eric Carle would be hardest to do but the top two would be relatively easy if you find the fabric 🙂 Good luck decorating!
Gavin's room is Purple and Gold because we are HUGE LSU fans down here in Louisiana. However, Kami and Luke's (b/g twins) room is Winnie the Pooh. Their room is a beautiful shade of green. I love it. I wish I had a picture to show you, unless you wanna happen over to my blog and search for it LOL. Just kidding.
I love the idea for aqua and would suggest a brighter color to make the room seem bigger. If you paint the ceiling a little lighter it'll make the room look even bigger.
Sherwin Williams and Home Depot both have fun "pick your color" things on their websites and Home Depot will even let you try it on your own picture! (The internet is amazing.)
LOVE LOVE LOVE Mo Willems & the Pigeon! Have you read the Piggie & Elephant books?
I don't have any design tips, but Hoosiers is the bonus question. Love that movie.
Good call on the movie Anonymous! That movie is an absolute classic at the Murray house.
I'm there with you – it was a whirlwind when we moved into our house. Now that things have settled down, we're finally taking our time and repainting our rooms. It's tough deciding on colors, though!
My only big suggestion is to remember that colors almost ALWAYS look darker/bolder once you paint! Unfortunately, my son's blue room is WAAAAY too bold and bright. 🙂
Good luck!
I also like company kids
http://www.thecompanystore.com/dept/Kids+Home+Bedding/5000/dept.asp?dept_id=5002
I love the book prints idea! I think that is a great idea.
I have seen this neat book holder that would be great for a reading corner
http://www.target.com/G6427-Canvas-Book-Display-Single/dp/B000FI6ZO2/sr=1-3/qid=1249521205/ref=sr_1_3/176-1717898-7203627?ie=UTF8&search-alias;=tgt-index&frombrowse;=0&index;=target&field-browse;=1038576&rh;=k%3Abook%20toy%20storage&page;=1
Target also has one in the store with toy bins underneath.
Also, I got great solid quilts at Target and had the children's names monogrammed on the shams for cheap.
Since you don't have bedding yet or decoration, I would go to a fabric shop and find a cute fabric you like and have a friend help you sew easy valances for the windows and match the paint to a color in the fabric.
I am also a big fan of going to Michaels and getting hte boys names in woodent letters and spray painting. You can add accents with paint pens.
Also, I am about to do this in thek ids room… get 4 blank white canvases (craft stores–whatever size you want). Get 4 of them and spray paint them 2 different colors. Then get craft paint and in a coordinating color have the boys each put their handprints on a canvas. Then you have a 4 canvas collage to hange on a wall. Modern art!
So much fun decorating kids spaces!
As soon as I saw your framed book pictures, my thought went immediately to the PBK Dr. Seuss bedding and then I saw that you already had that thought….but yeah, definitely NOT a quad budget project. Maybe you could get them to "sponsor" your room and feature it in a magazine! Ha!
On the Ikea note….you could pack up and take a Quadyssey to Cincinnati to the store there. Just going to the store is an adventure in itself. I just bought new curtains for my son's room at Ikea for 1/3 of the price at PBK and like them almost just as well. They have great bedding options too.
I get my inspiration from Pottery Barn, my bedding from Target, and my furniture from IKEA!
Love it all!! Even if you just stuck with plain colors to keep the cost down, just added a few decorations with a theme! I love the frames!! So adorable!
So here is my two cents: Since they are boys and you can use many wall hangings and bedding to make the room bright and cheery, I say use a neutral paint color. My son has a quilt from pottery barn kids that is sports. I LOVE it! I chose a tan color because the quilt speaks for itself. And if you use any of the bedding from the pics you have a bright wall color will take away from them!!! Good luck on your journey! Can't wait to see pics of the finished product!!! Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I have painted and remodeled MANY rooms in my day!!!
Oh yeah, another great way to get "color" with out having to go ALL out is to paint on wall the color and leave the others white! That is what I did in my girls room and it is awesome! Just a thought!
I am not an expert at home decor…. however, I have definitely found the Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore sites to be very, very helpful when picking colors. You can't get the EXACT color match (definitely, still pick up a color swatch!) but it gives you a good idea about the hue of the color (and Lowes or Home Depot can both match their colors if you want some less expensive paint!) It's not aqua, but I just painted our three year old's room "Breezy" from Sherwin Williams and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! It's a softer, smokey blue color. Awesome! (just posted pics on my blog yesterday…. it looks a little more grey in the pics, but it gives you some idea!) Good luck! Have fun!
Blue can be a hard color to pick. My master bedroom has been two different shades of blue and I finally like this last one we picked. At this point since your boys really don't use quilts/comforters, I think painting some stripes on their wall would add some fun color & decoration for super cheap. My son's room is baby blue with green, red and navy stripes around the middle. I have to say it was not the easiest to do esp if you are anal like my husband and I, but it looks great! Horizontal stripes might be a little easier. I just read a decorating post w/ instructions on how to do it. I will see if I can find it for you. Can't wait to see what you end up doing! I love the canvas handprint idea. I might have to try that one out!
Here are some instructions on painting stripes if you decide to go that route. Sealing the tape w/glaze (or your room's "base" color) is key in keeping the paint from leaking under the tape. Good luck with your project!
Oops forgot to paste them 🙂
http://allthingsgd.blogspot.com/2008/04/ive-never-met-stripe-i-didnt-like.html
I was delighted to see you getting your inspiration from books–establishing that value for your children very early in their lives! I have three children, and when my last was born, I decided to decorate his room in "Guess How Much I Love You" decor. The book was new, so none of the linens or decor existed. I began searching on eBay and most of what I found was in the UK, but I slowing collected a variety of rabbit toys.
I put a green-and-white gingham duvet cover on an old quilt for the bed, and for the crib quilt, I traced his hand and stitched over his hand shape to personalize the quilt. I also used iron-on pictures that I printed and ironed onto squares on the baby quilt. I bought a large copy of the book and had custom frames made at Michael's to hand the art I wanted to hang. The swag and pillows on the bed were of simple cotton ($3/yd at JoAnn's) that matched the colors in the book.
Turquoise walls sound great, and you can find an Eric Carle Book to use as your inspiration. Then use blue, green, red, and yellow bed quilts for the boys: so you can give them each a color.
(On that note, have you heard of StuckOnYou? Great for mutliples! Give them each an icon on their cups, bags, etc. and they can, at an early age, identify what is theirs.) 🙂
I LOVE all of the blue color samples you have. My favorite color is a valspar brand paint…I think it is called Dolphin cove and it's a blue/gray color. It's so calming. Good luck decorating! My husband and I moved into our house a year ago and im still fixing things up. I am currently stripping the fruit themed wallpaper in the kitchen and it's taking forever!
for children's (boys) rooms, i like primary colors–very similar to the pottery barn kids rooms. and for little girl's rooms, i like it to be girly, but not toooo much pink. but also–something they can grow into, that you aren't having to re-do every couple of years.
I love the pictures! Those are books that will be with them through their childhood years. Since you would like an aqua color, the Hungry Caterpillar picture seems to have a lot of the colors you are interested in. Make that pic your inspiration piece and use the colors in the pic to find a matching shade for the walls. You could always make one wall the focus wall with the aqua and use a lighter shade for the other 3 walls if that much aqua seems overbearing. Good luck!
I decorated my first child's room with a Dr. Seuss theme. Well before Pottery Barn came out with their Dr. Seuss bedding, thankyouverymuch. It was simple and cheap and adorable. I painted the walls a bright yellow and in Aqua Blue Paint stenciled the phrase "Oh the Places You'll go!" I got some Cat in the Hat Wallies online and placed a few throughout the room to pull it together. I stacked different Dr. Seuss books on the shelves in the room as well. For bedding, I simple used yellow crib sheets and a red quilt. Bada Bing Bada Boom, it was bright, cheerful and really cute. And cost me about $100. Can't beat that! Good luck!
Check out Ebay for kids bedding. You can find new Pottery Barn Kids bedding sometimes for less than half the price from the store/catalog.
I have to say go with the light blue. The back ground of the Curios George print is a good color and the home improvement stores can match it. The nice thing is that you have boys and most everything for boys will have some blue in it. Aqua – not so much. Also, the light blue will be easy to paint over if you decide to change it when they get older.
As for decor – with a color like the light blue – you can give each of them their own decor choice as (again) most choices for boys will have some blue it in. You can add pictures above their beds/cribs that coincide with their bedding choice – which also gives them a sense of having their own space.
I moved a year ago last July and I am still decorating, too, so don't feel bad. It takes time.
Krista
If you'd like to build on the children's book cover idea, but want to do it on the cheap, my sister decorated her playroom walls by nailing some string to the walls in little half loops, and then taking the covers off some of her favorite books and pinning them to the string with clothes pins (like the book covers were "drying on the line.") Super cheap and super cute. Plus, I love the idea of instilling a love of books so early! Could be cute for your reading corner!
I just finished our twins room and my oldest daughter's room. You can go on my facebook page to see pics. The paint in the twin's room is a great idea for a kid's room. It adds good texture and you can still hang things easily without fighting with lines. You paint the whole room in a flat type finish (I used eggshell) then you tape off the stripes and paint every other one with a sheen (I used satin) in the exact same color. My friend did the same technique with a dark blue and it looked good too. Just an idea to think about.
I love children's books too…so we did both rooms in story book themes.
The twins' room is done with the Very Hungry Caterpillar. We did 3 colors on the walls…top 2/3 in a bright sunny yellow, bottom 1/3 in a bright apple red then a aqua green chair rail to separate them. I found some Eric Carle VHC pieces on Ebay to add a special touch (book ends, framed art), used VHC stickers on their closet door like a story board…and then made my own valances in colorful fabric and my mom made quilts that 'tell the story.' I still love it now!
For our 3rd lil guy, we did The Rainbow Fish. We did a faux effect on the walls in blue and purple – looks like you're under water in the room, did dark blue polka dot fabric for curtains, diaper stacker and quilt (again, made my grandma) then just had 2 framed wall art pieces from Target.
We are currently painting our own bedroom! We've been in our house 9 years and have done something in just about every other room in the house – except OUR bedroom (or the kitchen).
good luck!
It's so hard to pick out paint colors! My dad gave us an awesome photograph of a train as a gift and I bought bedding (on clearance at companykids.com) that coordinated. Everything I picked was based off the one photo—had to have a place to start though! It seems that you like that cheery, blue that is in most of those beddings. Kind of a grayish blue, but still definitely blue. It's a great wall color and you could always go back and add another color or shade of stripes later if you guys decide to get fancy.
I just went through this EXACT SAME THING! I wanted AQUA, a fun, bright aqua that wasn't baby boy blue but also wasn't too green.
I had at least 75 swatches taped to the wall. I was a wreck. I googled and googled and googled.
I'll save you the trouble that I went through. It's Sherwin Williams CAY. Trust me on this.
How exciting! 2 thoughts: First, I would vote for a soft blue paint color (rather than aqua). So many boys bedding sets (including the samples that you like) feature the primary colors (especially red and blue) and these look great with a soft blue paint. It might be harder to find boys bedding that matches aqua. Just a thought 🙂
We painted our 2 year old's room last summer and faced a similar decorating dilemma. We lucked out and found a cute PB quilt for 50% off because it was being discontinued. I bought the quilt and sham (it has a white background with trains in red/navy/light blue). We then accessorized on the cheap from Target (red bedskirt/curtains and navy boxes and bins for toys). It looks pulled together and "decorated" but was very affordable!
One other idea that a friend used recently…she bought the Dr. Seuss pillow shams from PB and matched them with solid red/blue reversible comforters from JCPenney's. Cute PB look for a whole lot less $!
Good luck- Can't wait to see the "after" pictures!
I love designdazzle.blogspot.com. They have some quite elaborate children's bedroom ideas, but you could use them for ideas at least.
I have an overhead projector that you can borrow if you want to do a mural! 🙂 LOVE the children's books for the room (OF COURSE)!! You are so crafty you will come up with something wonderful. Thanks for sharing with us. Carter's room has a mural of monkeys that Natalie Dickinson did for us, and I see him at least making it into elementary school before it becomes "uncool". One wall has the mural and the other 3 are a neutral tan color. I love it. It's my favorite room in the house because it's so happy. I also have his name spelled above his bed with wooden letters that I spray painted a dark brown. He's started noticing it more and more lately, and I think it will actually learn how to spell his name. Anyway, can't wait to see what you come up with!! Sure it will be adorable!
Mandy
Oh my gosh your story and your site are too cute! Good luck with the boys- and the bedroom makeover! We'll be sure to stop in and see how it all turns out and we love that you dropped in on us over at Young House Love!
xoxo,
Sherry (& John)
I didn't have time to read through all the comments, so I apologize if I'm repeating what someone has already said.
We always stick with basic colors for walls and bedding. No characters, themes, etc. Then we can change the look of the bedroom whenever the kids' favorite thing changes (i.e. trains, movie characters, etc.) My 5-year-old's room started out with a basic wood wall, his name in red letters, and red & navy bedding. When he got into the Disney Cars movie, we "decorated" with a throw blanket from the Disney store (a gift from his Uncle at Christmas), a $5 pillowcase from K-Mart, a nightlight I found at Once Upon a Child for $1.50, and leftover decorations from his birthday party that I bought in a package on ebay for $10! We also embellished a 50-cent plastic lightswitch cover with a scrap of Cars fabric we got at Wal-Mart for less than a buck. When he's over the Cars thing, I'll be out less than 20 bucks and we can move on to "The Next Big Thing".
Just happened up on you through a friend. As a mother, educator and LOVER of great books….I LOVE the matted lit/art work! I think a reading "corner" would be GREAT! Enjoy those cute boys, what a blessing! 🙂
Interesting post.!! I always prefer to shop at Overstock for kids bedding and home decor stuff. Its a reliable store for everything we need for out home.
We went to target and got their Room Essentials brand comforter in a twin for my son. They had many designs and plain colors for under $20. I think we got them when it was on sale under $15, but right now they are on clearance…at least in FL. 🙂