When I learned I was pregnant I knew immediately that my child’s room would include elements from my old favorite original Nintendo games. I started working on items for him right away, many of which are still in his room today.
When you first walk in, my favorite piece that I cross stitched for him over the period of a few months, some while pregnant, and some after he was born, hangs front and center. I got the pattern from Sprite Stitch. In the frame are my own original NES games, the same ones I started playing at the age he is now. He has started asking me to take them out so we can play them — not gonna happen. We can play those versions on the Wii now.
The dresser is a recent addition, a thrift store find that I painted in ombre. I posted more on this on my own website. It wasn’t too hard and the results are awesome. We have a mid century vibe in our home and I wanted something to reflect that in his room.
The Mushroom piggy bank is an eBay find. I painted the frame for him while I was pregnant and it has survived so far, though now it seems a bit babyish.
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I worked at a non-profit while I was pregnant and my boss gave me the best gift — a book called Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. I’ve added to the Fletcher series collection since then. Two Christmases ago my good friend, who is an art teacher and also runs a non-profit (Giving Diapers, Giving Hope), was tight on money so she made Fletcher a “Fletcher” the fox stuffie. I love it.
The bed is the twin Malm. I tried avoiding the character sheets as long as I could, but once he saw the Mario ones he had to have them. The star pillow was another Ebay find. Above the bed are three mosaics that I made while pregnant for his room. Mario, a Galaga ship, and Link from Zelda. Those are my favorite games from my youth (still are.) I cut individual squares and glued them down.
Underneath his bed is a secret trundle bed. His old bed was an Ikea bed given to us by my husband’s old boss, it was a strange one that would be shortened by folding the ends up. I left one end off and added felt to the bottom so it slides, and now it is where Fletcher’s younger brother sleeps when we need his bedroom for guests.
My husband’s parents kept everything from his childhood. We have all of his old Duplos, and Legos, and this little train hat hook was his also.
Fletcher turns 5 soon and he keeps asking for a “big kid room.” The sheets were part of that accommodation. Hopefully soon we find a way to make it feel more like “his” room without going too far into the dark side of branded merchandise.
Awesome room!
Super cute room– love the Mario theme, the dresser and the vintage/handmade touches.
Though I will say, if your plan was to avoid branded merchandise, you didn’t quite succeed on that front with a Nintendo-themed room.
I meant more mainstream products found at any local Target. I get what you mean though. I wanted to capture the theme without having tacky mass produced items in the home. I’m lucky that he has embraced it. I picked it when he was a baby without knowing if he would end up enjoying the characters but so far he is Mario obsessed like his mother.
Oh, I totally know what you mean! My son is going through a Cars/Planes/Thomas phase right now, and we’re trying to keep it to toys instead of decor. His room is robot-themed, and he fortunately loves those too.
I think she meant that she was making the Mario things herself (i.e. the paper mosaic and the cross stitch)
You’ve done a fantastic job. My son’s room hasn’t had a ‘theme’ in years, we’ve been moving too much. However, when we saw those Mario Kart sheets we just had to get them too!
I’m a sucker for all things retro-Nintendo. I think the little touches are nice in here.
As for theming things out, I tend to cave a little here and there, but with stuff that I know can be an easy switch. The boys like Angry Birds, baseball, and Ninja Turtles. Cheap solution? Posters from a store. Easy up, easy down. Fills the blank rental walls with color without me needing to buy every toy marketed to children. Once they change their minds, the posters become awesome craft paper since the backs are white.