Case Study: A Ten Year Old Boy's Room

I have been working on a house since last September, room by room, and today I am showing you an update of the little boy's room. He is ten. This was not as easy as you think. Ten is too young for some things, and too old for others.

The boy's bedroom "before"

I started by repainting the room in Winterwood, the same greige color used throughout the house. This is an interior room without any windows. I also changed the carpet, not only to refresh, but also because when the huge bookshelf was moved out, there was a patch of even older carpet under it, and needless to say it did not match. The carpet came from perch.

The "Nook" bed from Modern Market in New Orleans
Ceiling fan was replaced with Nelson bubble light

It was time to get rid of the bunk bed, and I chose a bed that can grow with him into adulthood, the queen size "Nook" bed from Modern Market. The little boy loves color, and his two favorites are orange and green. The ceiling fan was replaced by the Nelson bubble pendant (the large size) from Design Within Reach ion New Orleans ((504) 891-6520).

The Playroom "before"

I also worked on an adjoining room, called the playroom. It is very small, but large enough for a TV and some furniture. I replaced bean bag chairs with a pair of vintage chairs, and a sofa from Urban Outfitters.

Vintage chair from Neophobia in New Orleans

The chairs were reupholstered in orange velvet from Fabricut from perch.

A large wall hanging from Urban Outfitters was hung on the wall behind the couch, and another Nelson pendant light (the medium size) was hung above.

A pair of theses chairs were redone in a velvet from Frabricut

The Playroom "after"

View from the bedroom into the playroom "before"

View into the playroom from the bedroom "after"

Shelves from Blu Dot purchased at Modern Market were put against the wall where the bunk bed was. The boy has tons of Legos, and requested shelf space where he could store them and see them.

"Before" - We needed to get the Legos off the floor
The pine dresser was replaced with a vintage one

Blu Dot shelving from Modern Market for the Legos

When you purchase new furniture for children it is very easy to fall into the trap of the matched room. I like to do the mix I do everywhere else: Vintage, modern, antique.
I found an adorable vintage desk, dresser, and chair on Etsy from Rhan Vintage Modern HERE, and had it shipped from Los Angeles for this room.

Vintage desk, dresser and chair from Rhan Vintage Modern

The little boy was thrilled with his new desk. I have also ordered a rolling table in orange from Rosenberry.

The desk is in very good vintage condition. It just needed to be cleaned up. The little boy discovered "treasure" in the drawers! There was a vintage costume jewelry pearl necklace and vintage hankie that he gave to his mother. He also found a bottle of dried up India Ink. There was another object, something the young boy had never seen. It was a 45 record!!!!

In honor of that, I asked his mother to get him a record player for his new room. I suggested a vintage style one. She plans to build a record collection for him too. What records would you choose for him? The one he found is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".

The new record player
Also a peek at the new carpet

"Before" - This bookcase was given away...
And the vintage dresser was moved to this spot

"After" - This book shelf unit replaced it...

Check out the duck taxidermy!

I am showing you the bare bones of the room. There is more art to come, and of course the little boy will make it his own.

I added bedding from CB2, and mom added the hourglass with lime green sand. A pair of Stilt lamps rest on a pair of nightstands from Blu Dot.

I did choose several Blu Dot pieces, but I mixed the various styles they have, rather then matching them.

Bedding from Cb2 called "Ink"

Hourglass with lime green sand

I always like to leave a little gift in each room I complete, and for this young man I found a box of vintage pool balls I placed in a wire basket. He called me to thank me, and was pretty excited that a pool table might be coming too.

Modu-licious nightstand and Stilt lamp from Modern Market

I loved doing this room. There were unexpected challenges. I felt a different kind of responsibility for creating a room for a young person on his way to adulthood. I hope he will remember this room with fondness when he is grown up, and perhaps take some of this furniture with him.

My gift of vintage pool balls

Case Study: A Ten Year Old Boy's Room - Interior Design: Valorie Hart