When I presented this idea to him, he was ok with it, but just ok. The thought of him losing the fish theme and cute little nursery quote saddened him a little, but the idea of a personalized super hero on his wall, was way more exciting! Thank goodness-- we didn't need both of us upset that he is growing up! So, out went the décor of a NEW baby an in came the décor of an OLD growing boy.
His room before was very brightly painted, with a fish theme. The bottom half of the each wall was a bluish purple with a wave motif, and the top was a limey green, which pulled great colors from his bedding. It was a PBK fish-themed bedding set I found on clearance at the local store, which fit perfectly for our family seeing we live very close to the lake and are a boating family. The bright colors were so fun to me and I loved how it wasn't a "cliché" theme. I clearly remember being pregnant and taking afternoon naps in his rocking recliner after I came home from teaching, only to be awaken by my sweet hubby. Warms my heart and makes me a little teary just thinking about it.
Now, here's what we have now! So much more "big boy"! I love how it turned out and so does he, which is the point, right?! Although I hope he loves it as much as I loved doing it. I really find relaxation at the handle of a paintbrush. Zennnn...
The wall color was a $5 can of oops paint from Lowes. When I first began and the room's color was finished, it kinda looked like a huge bandaid. Soooo ick. But, it ended up working out just fine.
This is definitely the feature wall of the room! My cousin, Tim McCabe so graciously drew Monkey as "Super Nick". I'm sure if you contact him at the above link, he'd do the same for you for a very reasonable cost.
I used an old school overhead projector to put him up on the wall and used craft paint to paint it. Tip: draw the lines with chalk before you paint. If you make a mistake, it is super easy to correct it, without messing with the finish of your wallpaint.
Total cost of Super Nick: $0
Below him is a imaginary cityscape made with a level, some painters' tape, and some chalkboard paint. Big hit, I tell ya.
Total cost of chalkboard: $15
This picture is the wall you see that is perpendicular to the door. I made the bricks using the side of a tiling sponge, which ended up being the perfect size for a brick. I drew a level chalk line to start me off and went to town on it from there! The colors I chose were a brick red, an orange, and grey. Total cost of paint (bricks and wall color): $27.
The wooden crates came from Michaels. Monkey loves having a space for his treasures that his sister can reach. Gotta love siblings.
Total cost of crates: $24
The magnetic board is a oil drip pan from Walmart spray painted and hung with nails.
Total cost of magnetic board: $10
The biggest change to me was losing the baby blue bedspreads we had originally and upgrading to these bedspread sets from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They are designed for a dorm room, which really messes with my I-wish-my-kids-would-never-grow-up brain! The Spiderman pillow (and the Superman pillow on the other bed) were purchased from Walmart.
Total cost of bedding for 2 beds (decorative pillow, sham, sheet set, bedspread, skirt) $150
This is a wooden cut out that was Yogi bear in MY nursery (ooooollllldddd) and then Yogi bear in Monkey's nursery. I turned it around and used my cousin's creativity to turn it into Super Chance {our very over-active dog}, Super Nick's sidekick. His cape is a scrap piece of felt that I stapled to the wall. It is hung above the toy shelf. {I'll tell you about the 4 art pieces further down!}
Here is Monkey's book display. Each shelf was painted with leftover oops paint to add a little pop of color to the wall. Above it, he painted his own picture for his room.
These pictures as well as the ones below, were inspired by this little boy's super hero room from I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar. They were super easy to do on canvases that were used in Monkey's nursery. Recycling rocks!
Well, that's it! I hope you this little boy's room is as "super" as he does!!!
