We recently moved into a new home, and welcomed our second child. Making our son’s bedroom a comfortable, fun and safe free-for-all space was really important to me in a time when he was feeling displaced both literally and figuratively. Since our daughter co-sleeps, we didn’t have to worry about a shared room and this enabled us to give him a “big boy” space that held all (or most!) of the choking hazards, containing him in an empowering way rather than relegating his favorite stuff to less-trafficked areas of the house. We didn’t have much money to spend, so we re-purposed a lot, did some thrifting and careful curating.
We found the pull-down map and were thrilled to discover that it fit the dimensions of the large window perfectly. He loves to look at it, and it doubles as a black out shade behind Ikea curtains.
His play kitchen was a homemade thrift shop score that I fixed up and repainted. The art on the walls is mainly by friends (Tim Hubner, Steeb Russell, Saelee Oh, Roosevelvet on Etsy, Stacey Stansbury), and not “for kids” but still fun, upbeat, and meaningful to him in ways that seem to change as he grows. The letters are his and his sister’s initials: souvenirs from vacations. The play mat is pretty ubiquitous and also from Ikea. His clothes are stored in the magical built-in dresser, saving us floor space and giving him a mini-mantle.
Kicking it old school in Brewer’s vintage pad
Brewer's bedroom is a treasure trove of beautiful vintage furnishings, a vintage abacus and a playroom complete with a DIY'd chalkboard!
On his cube shelves is an assortment of favorite toys he chooses not to share with his sister, special books and a few knick-knacks. The traffic light lamp was another thrift store purchase, and it casts a nice soft light for bedtime stories.
His rocking chair is a knock-off — we couldn’t dream of owning the real thing — and the rainbow afghan yet another second-hand buy. His bed is a Montessori-style floor bed. Because it’s a relatively small room, we couldn’t make a separate reading/lounging nook, so we just hung clip-framed photos of his best friends and a homemade bunting in one corner and piled on pillows and stuffed animals. Voila! Double-duty cozy corner/big boy bed.
He relishes having his own space, and we had so much fun creating it for him!
We’d love to see MORE of your kid’s spaces — add photos to our Flickr pool or send them directly to us!
OMG, the built-in dresser! The logistics of that are confusing but it’s so genius.
I LOVE that he has a little kitchen. I know so many parents whose sons want things like a kitchen or a play vacuum but their parents think those are “girl” toys. And he has a stuffed Hello Kitty and a pink Rody. I love that. I love how gender-mixed it all is.
I had one of those built-in dressers in a college rental. It’s a pretty typical feature of older cape-style homes here in New England.
I noticed the play kitchen too and LOVED that they have it. I know so many men who cook (including my husband) and I imagine my hypothetical son would find it very confusing to not be allowed a play kitchen when his dad makes dinner most nights.
Thank you so much! Not pigeon-holing either of my kids, gender-wise, is something that’s super important to me, so I really appreciate your kind words.
What an awesome room! It’s really inspiring to see so much made of a small space. I’m looking forward to taking the changing table & glider out of Teo’s WTWTA room and re-imagining the space when he’s potty trained and ready for a toddler bed — this gave me so many good ideas!
Love it! This has totally inspired me to work on my toddler’s room, which is currently a mishmash of old clothes storage and toys she has outgrown.
Wow this came just at the right time, as my son is solidly in the “childhood” phase, since he sleeps in a toddler bed, is potty trained, etc, so next year we were going to redo his room in a bigger kid style once all the baby crap is out of the way. Great inspiration!
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LOVE this room and everything about it. except the brown sheet, but i don’t like brown 😉 BUT I LOVE THE KITCHEN!
i love that play kitchen! and i think my son has the same cube unit, lol.
They’re so prevalent because they’re sooooo useful. They actually line up really well with Montessori philosophy, too, which is one reason we like em. Also, RECORD STORAGE!
Built in dresser is so genius! And love the world map! Very cool room. My son has also just transitioned into a “big boy” room since he used to co-sleep with us. Recently just up sized to a three bedroom house so we could make room for our new baby. We decked out his room in ghostbusters and superheroes.
Sam Cook!
I looooove this room! I’ll have to keep it in mind for when i have to turn my due any day now bubba’s room into a big kids room. I’m just wondering, with the floor bed, do you have any problems with it going mouldy underneath it? Years ago i had a futon mattress on the floor & it ended up going mouldy.
what a fantastic room! i love the floor-bed idea. we’ve got a double bed in the baby’s room at the moment because it used to be our guest room, so rather than getting rid of the whole thing, i think we’ll use the mattress as a bed/couch for him!
Thanks, everybody! Yes, a crisp white sheet would be on that bed were it mine, but the boy likes brown.
We don’t have mold trouble, though I can see how it might be different with a tightly-stuffed futon mattress.
Thanks for the love! 🙂
This is cooler than my own room… I love it!