Wednesday, April 20, 2011

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

15 comments:

Nita Stacy said...

I'd say pretty sophisticated for a boys room yet I bet he loves it. I love love those crazy chairs in the adjacent room Never seen anything like them! Great job as usual!

Tracy said...

Neat room. Just wondering about the sexy femme fatale with the cigarette in her mouth on a 10 year old's bedding.

Visual Vamp said...

Ha Tracy!
We didn't see it until we looked at the photos!!! But after all it is in New Orleans LOL
xo xo

Stonewhite Cottage said...

yeah, what's up with the naked female with the cigarette? Doesn't seem very "appropriate" for a 10 year old. Maybe something with a good old fashioned stripe.

Alcira Molina-Ali said...

Love this redo!

It's fun, edgy, sophisticated -- kids are pretty wise to the world these days, so I think their rooms should reflect that.
Well done, Valorie.
Cheers, Alcira

nerochronicles.com

pve design said...

I bet he will be a hit with the ladies...I mean the girls....
love it.
pve

Anonymous said...

Valerie, I am speechless. If only I had known you when my now 20 year old was ten. What a splendid room for a young boy to grow up in and to you, once again, a high five.

Renae Moore said...

I love the room but wondered about the 'nekked lady' too! :)
xo

Unknown said...

As the mom of a 9 yr old boy, I especially appreciate this. My son is asking for some changes to his room - he's getting older. His interests are changing.

Great job on making this room little boy cool!

xo Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

this kid needs a lava lamp.

Anonymous said...

I had not noticed the bed linen until I went back to look after the comments. I think I would find another more suitable one. That said, however, the room looks great for a boy.

Sabina said...

I love the orange chairs, any chance of them being sent back to California? They would look fab in my living room ;-> How about a 45 of Fats Domino's "Walking to New Orleans" for his collection?

Mar gar et said...

Very cool to see the vintage desk in the room, which is an incredible find.

Didn't even notice the bedspread until the comments.

"VV" does it again...this room is interesting & a nice mix of eye candy design.

cotedetexas said...

yikes! i missed this! wow. i love this = esp. the playroom. love that you brought the orange upstairs too. you are so great - Sally Wheat and I were talking about this house the other day - and how great it looked. were your ears burning?

Ruth Amada said...

I love the room - not the bedspread design - but yes to the bedspread colors. I showed my 12 year old son and asked him what he thought... 'uh disgusting - gross man'.... haha - gotta love this stage of his life!