Phoenix's Room- Before, Progress, and The Plan
I feel like I've been introducing a lot of projects lately- the living room, the backyard, and next week I'll be introducing the dining room, but the truth is I'm kind of hopping all over the house right now. I'm still on the hunt for some special pieces for the living room, I'm waiting for things I ordered for the backyard to arrive, and the One Room Challenge starts next week so I'll be starting the dining room whether I'm ready or not (I'm like 90% for that one)!!
So with all of that in the works why on earth am I diving into my eight year old son Phoenix's room right now? Well, his room was the first room that got any attention when we moved in here almost two years ago. I wanted him to feel settled, he had been dreaming of a bunk bed, and I thought that getting him one would quickly solve two things: 1) him needing a bed and 2) being able to let Lincoln sleep in there and postpone creating a room for him. It all worked out and the boys basically shared a room in the year leading up to me making over Lincoln's room (his room is finished now, you can see it right here). But while Phoenix's room has been totally livable there was quite a bit more I had planned in here that has been pushed to the back burner. So while part of me wants to continue to postpone it (because it's fine) another part of me is like- Jenn, you could easily do like four projects and have another entirely finished room! So I'm getting into it with the thought that I'll just tackle small projects here and there when I'm between larger (probably more expensive) projects.
So let's go back to the very beginning, to what this room looked like when we first moved in. Blue walls, a mattress on the floor, and these side built-ins.
Here's his closet- these photos are terrible, but he has a great closet! Lots of hanging space and a pretty large shelf. We both envisioned turning it into a cool reading nook space since it's large enough to be more than just a closet!
I put together this mood board after Phoenix asked for a pirate theme. He was particularly obsessed with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World at the time. I was down- very subtle and understated pirate mind you.
We searched for a bunk bed for awhile and he really liked the ones that incorporated desks, so when I found this one on Pottery Barn kids I knew it was the one (at the time). We also purchased the matching dresser, which totally isn't like me, and I have come to regret both of these purchases. They were expensive, overpower the room, and just aren't as special or as custom as I would like. I was still working full time running my wedding planning business and my home wasn't my full time focus yet. So I can't really blame myself for buying something that was nice, durable, and I knew would hold up well. Here's how it's looking right now.
Phoenix still loves it, but I do dream of building something in someday, more like this.
Or this...
But we're going to work with what we have in here and just tweak a few things for now. It still has the potential to be a really beautiful and stunning room as is. I've tweaked the mood board slightly and here's what the plan is:
- Paint the walls, we all like the blue, but just want a slightly different shade (I would also love to paint the built-ins the same color as the walls, but Phoenix isn't so sure about that).
- I bought this flag last year and I always envisioned it looking kind of worn and tattered like this one Emily Henderson used to have in her old house, so I have a fun DIY in mind for that!
- We have several big empty walls (over his dresser and toy chest) to fill and Phoenix actually had the idea to do a collage wall of his art to fill one of them, so I'm going to have him pick out a bunch of his favorite pieces and we'll be using Framebridge to print and frame those for us!
- The pirate ship wallpaper in his closet did actually already happen last year so that's done, but I always envisioned adding a sailcloth to that space and turning it into a fun and cozy reading nook.
- I bought this light for him that was in the original mood board, but he hates it and so do I, it's not bright enough, so I'll plan to replace it with something like this, it does need to be a flush mount since the top bunk bed is pretty tall and close to the ceiling.
- He had some dark navy curtains in here and we took those down since they blocked almost all the light in here, I would like to replace the mini blinds with something else, maybe a roman shade?
- We currently have this rug in here and there's nothing wrong with it...but I don't LOVE it. I would love to replace it with something a bit more special and maybe a tad larger as well like this.
- The ceiling is the most neglected plane in every space so I would love to do something with his ceiling, maybe add some wallpaper that coordinates (not matches) with the pirate ship paper in the closet?
That's all I have in mind for right now. I also need to organize and purge a bit in there which will absolutely be happening soon before I start painting.
Let me know what you think- would you work with an expensive purchase you regret or sell it and move on?
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