the boys room - before photos

The paint swatches are out and rooms are being prepped for the painters who are arriving tomorrow.

With the baby arriving in six weeks, we needed to get our bedrooms ready. Our home has three bedrooms - two upstairs and one downstairs. Currently, all three boys are sharing the bedroom upstairs and using the downstairs bedroom (this one in the photos) as their playroom. Surprisingly, this has worked out perfectly for the past few years. Though I have to admit, they are all good sleepers, which helps. However, trying to add a newborn (eventually) into the same room is just too cramped.

So we've decided that the two older boys will move downstairs, and the two littles will stay upstairs. I feel like the two oldest boys are big enough for this move now, which I wasn't comfortable with when we first moved in. The bedrooms upstairs are in the original house, and the playroom is in the furthest addition, as far away from the other bedrooms as you can get. 

So here is the room, exactly as it was when we moved in. We haven't done anything with it in the 3 years we've been here. It's their playroom and it does take a beating.

We also don't plan to do anything major in this room except freshen it up with some paint, add window treatments, new light fixtures, maybe some built ins and make it a functional bedroom and playroom for the older boys.

I've branched out from my usual Simply White by Benjamin Moore, and decided on a pretty neutral Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore. It's part of their Historical Collection of colours, so I feel like it still fits the age and character of the house.

The floors are already painted, so I need to figure out what I'm going to do with them. I'm thinking I will give them a fresh coat of paint to freshen them up.

Once I draw up a design layout for this room I will share it, as well as my inspirations for the decor. For now, I'm just happy to not have to be painting.

Hudson's Bedroom

The next room that I have been busy working through is Hudson's room. Originally, this was a guest room. It then became our nursery when Willen was born. When Hudson came along, Willen was moved into the second upstairs bedroom, formerly our office.

Half a year ago, on Hudson's second birthday, I purchased a pair of the beautiful four poster single beds. I wanted them to match because I loved the look of matching beds in a shared room.

When Hudson graduated out of our crib, we moved the boys into the same room. This allowed for a smooth transition into a proper bed, and it also freed up the second room for a play room for toys.

Now that Hudson is settled in his "big boy bed" though, we felt it was time to move him back. Willen has many little toys that are a little small for Hudson to play gently with. And at times, Willen would prefer to read a bit before bed and that doesn't make for the smoothest of bedtimes for Hudson.

So, this week the rooms were once again rearranged, and this is the result.

This trunk is a family heirloom that's quite special to us, if one can be more special than another. This was the boys' great grandfather's trunk (Ryan's Papa). It's stamped with his address on it because it was what his entire life travelled in as he toured around during the second World War. I can't imagine the places this trunk and been and how precious all of it's contents must have been at that time.

This old buffet has been used as a change table for both boys and now houses baskets with toys. It's very worn, but I have a hard time parting with it. I found it before we were married and kept it in my parent's garage. It was the first piece of furniture that I hauled home, abandoned at the side of the road by a neighbor.

Not much changed with the room other than some rearranging and cleaning, but here is what the room looked like the first time we did it.

It was a chartreuse green colour and it had carpet. After countless times of trying to carpet clean these carpets (we actually have one!), and seeing how disgusting the water was every time, we ripped it all out.

Next Project

[Serena and Lily]

Can you guess which room I'm about to tackle as my next project?

.....

I figured that since my baby boy is now 2, it's time for him to have a big boy room. I'm actually excited to get started on it, as I've been collecting bits of decor for quite some time now!

Have a lovely weekend! I just came in from the garden as it's the perfect day - sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze that makes it gorgeous in the shade.