Better Late Than Never

4

August 1, 2014 by Decorum DIYer

Good morning, friends,

How is your summer going?  For us, it has been hectic punctuated with bursts of activity and family vacations.  I’m not complaining, but there isn’t much room for DIY, nor blog posts. 

That said, I am finally moving towards completion of my son’s bedroom.  If you recall, I signed-up for Thrift Diving‘s June Room Challenge and failed miserably.  However, Serena of Thrift Diving is hosting another challenge for August and I am determined to get my act, and the room, together.

One of the main elements that has eluded me since February (I tell you more about that in another post) is a rug for Roman’s room.  I wanted something stylish, masculine, but still friendly to an 8 year old.  I want longevity with the rug and I think I found the perfect one.

It has a neutral, off-white background with a graphic, hexagonal pattern in orange bands lined with a navy blue.  Orange is the perfect accent color in my son’s navy and gray/green color scheme.  It is the sun in the sea of dark, space-like hues.  My son asked for a space themed room, but I am trying to give him what his 8 year-old mind wants, without precluding him from growing with the room.  This rug fits the bill, as I think Roman can use the patterned rug for playing with cars (yes, he still does that).  The large bands of orange and off-white mimic roads and he is enjoying that aspect now.  However, when he is older, it will be a more stylish element in his room, without looking too juvenile.

I am nowhere near done in this room, but it is slowly coming together.  I really love the colors used thus far and it is starting to feel more cohesive:

Hey, notice the LEGO table? Yeah, I never really got around to sharing that with you. One of the lovely pieces I found at the Catholic school closing sale that I transformed into a LEGO table for my little LEGO lover.

Still on the list of things to complete are:

1. Reorganizing the closet and finding a solution to creating doors.  The house originally had two by-pass doors, but they limit the access to the closet. I want bi-fold doors, but the closet opening is 46″ wide and most bi-fold doors are 36″ or 48″.   I could cut down the 48″ wide doors, but most those size come in four pieces, not two.  This would mean that the folded door portions would be housed on both the left and right of the closet.  The left behind the entrance door and the right precluded placement of furniture.  Currently, Roman’s desk is about an inch and one half past the closet molding.  I really need to be careful about how the closet doors intrude into the small room, so more than likely I will opt for a curtain. I have done the same in the two other children’s bedrooms.  It is more cost effective and less hassle to fit our odd closet openings.   
2. Reorganize the desk and attempt to restore it.  I had original plans to paint it a navy blue, but now I think adding navy to this furniture piece would be too heavy for the room.  Also, the room’s wall color really makes the wood on the desk look even better.  I’ll have to think on that.  A purging of some books is needed, though.  Roman could also do a better job of keeping things neat, but this room is messier than usual thanks to our constant work in the room.
3. Paint and install shelving around the room.  My husband is required for this portion.  He has  already cut the shelves to width, but now needs to cut them to fit the perimeter of the room and cut and install the brackets.  My job will be to paint the shelves, caulk the seams when installed, and then touch up any other paint.
4. Find or create small organization shelves to hang behind each headboard.  My son wears glasses and he needs a place to safely place his glasses at night.  Since I removed the night stand, he really doesn’t have a place to do so.
5. Finish the window treatments.  I have all of the supplies, but my husband will need to install the crown molding at the top of the window trim plate he already installed.  After that, I will be reinstalling the navy, roman shades just under the crown molding (not to the ceiling, but just below).  Since I have painted the ceiling and the top portion of the walls in the Cyberspace (Sherwin Williams) color, I am trying to keep the ceiling line undefined for both the illusion of a space-effect (think cosmos) and a larger room with taller ceilings.
6. Cut, paint, and install, trim and wall hooks for added storage.  This will be on both sides of the bunk wall. For now, it will house Roman’s extensive collection of old Halloween costumes and dress-ups (super heroes and the like).  In future, I suspect it will be used for jackets and hats.  {You can see where I left the blue on the wall.  That is where the coat hooks with a molding backplate will be.  Ignore the vinyl dots, we are contemplating using them in a different way.  They are just hanging there for now.}

I realize the room looks like a disaster, but it really has come a long way.  I can see the finished room in my mind’s eye.  I just can’t wait until it is finished and no longer an eyesore.

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