Shared Boys Bedroom Design to Build Final Reveal

It’s HERE!!!! Our final reveal of the boys shared bedroom with two queen size beds, oh yeah! If you are just finding us for the first time let me take a minute and introduce us to you. We are Danielle and Michael. Yes, we’re married, for 7 years, been together for 12 and have two little dudes Enzo (5.5) and Ziggy (3). We love creating spaces that feel like home. We like it so much that we run our own company here in Michigan that does just that. You can read more about the services we offer with Clark + Aldine here…in case you’re looking. Over the past 6 weeks we have been working hard to create a space that reflects the personalities of our dudes.

Which leads us to Week 6, otherwise known as our final reveal. I’m going to take you through each area we’ve worked so hard to create. Our number one focus when creating this space was to make it feel like Enzo and Ziggy’s space. I wanted anyone to be able to walk into the space and be able to tell who’s bed was who’s and see their big personalities shine throughout the entire room. We started with taking down the jungle wall. While I personally loved this wall treatment I felt it really didn’t vibe with our dudes. We replaced the jungle with a 3-dimensional wall treatment that I couldn’t be happier with. I love how it has added an extra layer of texture to the space. Plus the shadows that come off the wall are insane. If you’re wondering just how we created it go ahead and click here! We’ve got a full DIY tutorial on how to make a 3-d wall treatment of your own.

: Before

One all the walls we used Sherwin Williams Alabaster which I love. It is the perfect creamy white and goes so well with the Ikea pieces we have. This is something you’ve got to pay attention to because I swear some of the white pieces from Ikea seem to have a pink undertone and with the wrong white it makes the furniture look pink not white! This is the dresser we have. We also have this bookshelf.

This Ikea dresser has served our family well. It is actually the first piece of furniture I bought when I moved to Chicago fresh out of college! Which was only a minute ago?….or maybe a bit longer. Needless to say it’s served us well and it was time for a little update. We simply took off the hardware and replaced it with these wooden knobs from hickory hardware. We spray painted them the primary colors seen throughout the room! Gotta love a REAL simple DIY project and just like that old Ikea dresser is feeling new again! For styling, Enzo and I created a book box that he uses for school and his jar full of warm fuzzies that make their way home when he does something good in the classroom! I added a vintage van from when Michael was a little boy, and a vintage globe for another pop of color! The wall art behind them was made by the boys.

: Before

On the bookshelf I wanted to create a functional yet beautiful display of all my favorite children’s books. The rainbow has been serving this crew well! Both boys are able to find books and put them away. That whole putting them away part is really making my mama heart happy. Did I mention they are putting them away in the correct color section independently…oh yeah! All I did was simply organize the books by their binding colors. For the overwhelming amount of white colors I used the writing on the binding of the book to organize them. This helped to divide the amount of white books while adding some pops of white to break up the color on the shelves. Honestly this part hasn’t been that difficult for the boys to follow. Enzo totally gets the system and Ziggy can just remember where the book is from!

Above the bookshelf we created a fun photo gallery using all pictures of our boys together. We included everyday pictures and special memories from trips we’ve done. I love watching the boys comment about each photo and what they were doing in the photo or where we were. We had them printed in square size and gave you full DIY post about the colorful wall here. On the bookshelf I styled it with this AMAZING lucite mid-century globe I picked up from 28 Furniture Co. and vintage Minnie and Mickey banks that my parents bought their very first trip to Disney World!

The ceiling was a game changer. Having an angled ceiling really did effect the entire design on this room. No chance bunkbeds were coming into play. So I really wanted to provide a fun element drawing your eye up. With Ziggy’s love of blue, creating a dark ceiling seemed like an easy element to play off of. We went with Sherwin Williams Commodore. I actually had one reader tell me she thought it might help with sleep…and I’m totally loving that idea. We did a full post on how to paint your ceiling dark because there are a few simple tips we use to ensure it comes out just the way you planned.

The next brilliant idea I got was to put stars on the ceiling. Because didn’t everyone grow up with glow in the dark stars at some point in their life on their ceiling…hello fun! Michael wasn’t so game for sticking them all over our freshly painted ceiling. Not a problem. I came up with another perfect solution…glow in the dark paint and stenciled stars. I mean it’s a win win, right! But we just fell short on time for this project. We plan to use stencils from Royal Design Studio to create a fun layered look. We used both the starry night stencil and falling stars stencil together. So stay tuned for an update on that project in the next couple of weeks. We will use Martha Stewart Crafts Glow in the Dark Finish…so fingers crossed it turns out.

With the boys beds I really wanted them to look just like them.

The easiest way to do that was color. Enzo’s bed screams red and Ziggy’s bed is calling out blue. But I didn’t want the bedding to feel like it threw up red and blue, so I toned the bedding down with gray duvet covers. To help the space have a cohesive look I added these really rad vintage blankets! When I decided on pillows for the boys beds I wanted our kids to be able to make their own beds without too many pillows. Yet at the same time be aesthetically pleasing for me to love just as much. I went with four pillows per bed plus the two they sleep on in stacks. All each boy needs to do is add the decorative pillows in front of their already stacked sleeping pillows.

The rug in between the boys beds is perfect for this space in so many ways. But my favorite part about this versatile rug is it is WASHABLE! Yes, you read that right it is 100% washable and I am so in love. We have the Bereber Beige Runner by Lorena Canal. It is seriously so soft. We continue to find our dudes sitting in-between the two beds! They are made with 100% cotton so you know that could explain it all. And they fit perfectly into our lifestyle. Style and function a perfect blend!

Wall art is always important to me. I feel this is the perfect way to add more character into any space. Plus, I love how beautiful prints look when framed and matted. We love working with framed and matted for simple and easy online ordering with beautiful results. Kimberly from Small Moments designed some incredible prints for our dudes. What’s so fun is without telling the boys who the print was for they immediately knew…clearly we did something right with the design. We had the boys create their own art for this space, too, which has been added throughout their room.

Lighting in a space really creates the right vibe. With angled ceilings we hunted for the perfect ceiling fixture. This one from Sazerac Stitches is exactly what I have been dreaming of. I love how the colors add to the overall vibe and the light that the small pendant puts off is perfect. On the boys night stand I really wanted a reading light. We found this simple one that works out perfectly for the space. But what I love most about this fixture is the light bulb inside it! I mean come on, how rad is the painted light bulb by Relamp. What I love about these bulbs is not only are they cool to look but they reduce energy use, supporting worthy causes and making my heart extra happy because how I love seeing creativity at work! We’ve got the light marble bulb in our space.

This project has been fully rewarding every step of the way. Watching Enzo and Ziggy’s excitement for each new element added has such a joy. There is something so pure about childhood and we feel truly grateful to experience this stage of life with both our dudes. I hope this space brings you inspiration, passion and motivation to create a space you love.

We want to give a HUGE thank you to all our sponsors that helped make this room come together. If you haven’t checked out these rad companies you need to now!

Lorean Canal

Sazerac Stitches

Relamp

Imagine That Children’s Art Studio

28 Furniture Co

Small Moments

Framed and Matted

Hickory Hardware

Royal Design Stencils

Sherwin Williams

Looking for more design inspiration? Get over to the ORC page! They’ve got a running list of everyone who jumped into this challenge head first this year. So many beautiful and inspirational spaces for any project you’ve got on your list! We’ve linked the page in the picture below!