A Shared Boys’ Bedroom: Some Updates {and FREE printables!}

A little over a year ago, I worked with the *amazing* people at my local IKEA store here in Pittsburgh to give the Cs a brand new, beautiful bedroom space. I absolutely loved how it turned out, and it has been such a fun room for the Cs to share together. Occasionally we’ll ask them if they ever wish they had their own rooms, and they always say “No way!” and that they love sharing. (They really do!)

As much as we all loved how their room came out, though, as we’ve lived with it a little longer, there were a few things I wanted to tweak and change, so I thought I’d give you a little updated tour. As a reminder, here is what the room used to look like:

Pretty similar to the first photo, right? Like I said, I really did like the room, but my biggest pet peeve was that the walls were so dark and heavy-feeling. We painted almost every room in our house that dark-ish tan color when we moved in six years ago (which was actually a big improvement over the previous pink…seriously), and one by one we have been lightening and brightening every room of the house.

For the new color, we went with Behr Marquee’s Granite Dust, which I had leftover in my stash of paint that Behr had sent to me. It is a much lighter tan and has brightened up the room SO much!

I’ve actually gotten several emails since the original reveal asking me how the IKEA SVARTA bunk beds are holding up– they have been fantastic! My boys are rough, and these beds have definitely stood every test the Cs have given them! 🙂

If you have an eye for details, you may have noticed another change from the old photo to the new one… see it? The art! The original art I made for the frames was a knockoff of a piece from The Land of Nod, but it was looking a smidge too homemade for me, so I whipped up some simple transportation prints and matted them in the frames I was already using for a cleaner, simpler look.

And since art for little boys’ rooms isn’t always the easiest thing to find, I thought I’d share! You can download the 6 x 8 prints (which is what I used for IKEA’s mats) here or the 5 x 7 prints (which is a more standard size in the US) here. I just printed mine on white card stock, used my paper trimmer to cut them out, and slid them into the frames.

While I was putting this post together, I also realized that I never shared the free printable for the “Brothers” subway art that I used in the original room and still love (so it stayed)! Boy mamas, you can snag this 8 x 10 print below…

{Click here to download FREE printable Brothers art!}

Along with lighter, brighter walls, I also wanted to add lighter, brighter curtains. (See the old pair here.) I simply took an inexpensive pair of IKEA VIVAN curtains and sewed {Yes, sewed. With a sewing machine. I’m as shocked as you are. 😉 } a length of grosgrain ribbon to the edge to help them fit into the rest of the room…

We are still using the ladder shelf that my hubby made to hold the boys’ toys and *amazingly* they haven’t caught on that they could probably climb up it if they tried… 😉

Our 1-2-3 bins from IKEA are still going strong over a year later, but our plastic dollar store bins not so much. I’ve replaced most of them with sturdier plastic bins.

And what would bins be without labels?! The mesh bins have similar labels to the ones I shared last year, and I used my Silhouette machine to create adhesive vinyl labels for the plastic bins.

Connor’s racing striped dresser is still one of my favorite furniture transformations I’ve ever done. (And it was so easy too!) This corner of the room is pretty much the same other than the lighter wall color…

…but I did add some sweet pictures of my favorite little guys…

And the final little nook in the room is the Cs’ craft corner, which also hasn’t sustained many changes since the original reveal over a year ago. It has been working wonderfully, so I’ve just left it alone! (The Cs still love to measure themselves on their magnetic racecar growth chart!)

The painted table and chairs are a little more “loved” than they were when I first painted them, but with my two crazy boys running around, I’m just impressed that everything is still in one piece! 🙂

So that’s the tour! We mostly made small changes, but I think they’ve significantly improved the room, and I’m glad that the Cs still have a cozy bedroom that they love.

This room was also my Operation: Declutteration project this week, {What, you thought we kept it this clean for over a year?! 😉 } so be sure to come back on Friday to check out some befores and afters and see what we did to tame the clutter! Thanks so much for visiting the Cs’ shared boys’ bedroom! Have a wonderful week!