I’m not generally one of those people that creates a master design scheme for decorating a room. (I’m just not that fancy.) So, when we relocated the crib to Ellen’s room I slowly began my process of collecting and making things (as cheaply as possible) to turn Cooper’s room into a big boy room.  There are still things that will get upgraded as he gets older (like a bed frame), but I think I’ve created a base that will transition well as he grows.

We found this dresser on the side of the road. It was fairly beat up, but we cleaned it up, re-stapled the back, replaced the handles, and did some touch-up sanding and staining. It still isn’t the most high quality piece of furniture, but it works great for a kid’s room and saved something from the landfill. We put a picture of Jesus, the ever handy temporal thermometer, and some decorative pieces Cooper received when he was born on top of the dresser. The number hamper came from Ikea and I made the banner out of scraps to go over his crib.

The curtains are blackout curtains I made when we first moved in. (If only this simplified version tutorial had existed then, I could have made them a little less stiff.) The bed rail was given to us by one of Noel’s co-workers that was unloading his kid stuff. The framed cross-stitch was made by one of my grandmas, the stool is made from sustainable bamboo, and the comforter and blankets were made by me. All of the stuffed animals were gifts.

I’d read a green design article once that said you should pick age neutral patterns for big items so they can grow with your child, so I choose the fabric for the comforter with that in mind. I’d had my eye on this fabric for awhile and snatched it up when it was on closeout on fabric.com.

We picked up the little table and chairs at Ikea, the rug was on clearance at Home Depot, all of the toys were gifts (having the only grandchildren means we never have a shortage of toys), and most of the books were either gifts or purchased used. (I highly recommend Better World Books if you’re looking to purchase used books online.) The bins were purchase new and serendipitously matched the rug, the frame holds a family photo taken by my wonderful mom, and the plant is an orchid that despite all my care seems it will never grow flowers again.

Noel made the cube organizer with the help of an online tutorial and the use of a co-worker’s table saw. I think it turned out pretty good for his first woodworking project. (Side note: I took wood shop in high school, Noel took keyboarding 🙂 ) I sanded it and painted it to make it presentable.

Even though I didn’t necessarily start out with a vision, I’m pretty pleased with how everything came together and so cheaply at that.