It’s been a couple of weeks since I showed you how our son’s bedroom makeover was coming along.
We’d already hung (fake) shiplap paneling on the walls and installed new hardwood floors, but we still needed furniture and everything else. Well, we finally got it all put together, so I thought you’d like to see how it turned out!
Here’s how his room looked after we hung the wood paneling on the walls and got the new floors installed:
Now that he’s in college, we need this to double as a guest room when he’s not home, so a bigger bed was in order.
We used to have a Queen-size iron headboard in our bedroom that’s been sitting in the basement, so instead of buying a new one, we brought it upstairs and bought a new mattress for it.
It was dark green originally, and we spray-painted it black.
I think the bed looks much better in his room than it ever did in ours!
Because the room is so small (about 11′ x 12′), we left the footboard off the end of the bed.
I found this navy blue nightstand and the lamps at Target and love ’em. The giraffe and glass plate have special meaning to Jake, so I wanted to find a place to display them.
His favorite books are inside the cabinet, and I bought a small basket that he can use as a “drawer” to stash odds and ends:
I pretty much found all the new navy and white things I needed for the room at Target, bedding included, so it didn’t cost a lot.
The sheets have tiny navy dots all over them, and the quilt is reversible with stripes on the other side, which is fun.
You can’t see it, but I put another navy and white rug on the other side of the bed. I didn’t want to cover up too much of the new floor with a big rug (and didn’t have the budget to buy one anyway).
I’m still shopping for a small table and lamp to put beside this chair in the corner.
This is where he likes to work on his laptop, so he’ll need somewhere to set it:
Jake took that photo of a tall tree in our backyard.
I had it framed and matted for the room:
I bought curtains but ended up loving the new Craftsman-style trim that Dave hung around the windows so much that I couldn’t bring myself to cover it up!
I took these photos on a gloomy, rainy day, without a flash,
and the room still looks pretty sunny and cheerful!
When Jake came home for Spring Break and saw the room for the first time, he was so surprised.
He had no idea we were doing this much to it and couldn’t get over how much better it looks now.
It seemed to make him happy, which of course made me happy.
Totally worth all the work just to see the smile on his face!
The room looks great!
I am about to have my first child, a boy, and I have to say- reading a post like this makes me so excited for the future! I am thrilled for the “baby” years, but I love the relationship I have with my parents (I am 31) and I can’t wait to have that with my own child one day!
Hope he does visit more often! : ) (Also- it’s pretty cool that he shows his friends your blog!)
WOW! I’ve been waiting for this reveal, and it does not disappoint! 🙂 The room is fabulous. So grown up and “guest roomy” but still masculine enough for your college guy. Our two boys share a room … this gives me some good ideas for when they get a bit older. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Mandy! 🙂
…I am certain that all of those college boys will be impressed…I am!…blessings laney
Now he can finally show them pictures of his room on my blog! I hope they’re impressed. Although I’m wishing I’d thought to take some pics of how it looked after he spent his Spring Break week in there for a little more “reality.” Ha. Thanks, Laney. 🙂
It looks fantastic! So crisp, clean and modern.
I think someone’s been influenced by Fixer Upper. 🙂
Love that show! 🙂
Me too! Love her style.
Oh I LOVE it! It turned out so great! Love seeingyou work your magic in your home, Julia 🙂
the room looks amazing, a wonderful room to come home too. I like the mirror in the room a special gift in a special room. Thank you for sharing, love the site.
It looks fantastic, Julia! Great job!
It’s gorgeous! So crisp. Love it.
I love it! Shiplap, hardwood, beautiful decor = awesomeness!
Our children are growing up and out at an alarming rate. You took a transition time into a fantastic makeover oppertunity. I am inspired by your terrific design. Who says a bit of reno can’t dry the tears a little?
What a classic and classy makeover! If the bookcase is bugging you could use bead board wall paper on the back and paint it white.
That’s a great idea, Stacey!
That room looks fabulous, Julia! I love how you kept certain object and elements of Jake so he can still feel at home when he’s there ????
GORGEOUS!
Love the makeover! I’m sure Jake is proud too. I’d be perfectly happy being a guest in this room. Enough room for me as a guest but great things to look at that tell me “This room has seen a lot of love from the family –and the boy—who used to call it his own room.” Really, really nice! 🙂
Hey you can paint the Sauder furniture ya know….in case you’re thinking it may look better in white or navy (or even a little lighter shade of blue?). Easy peasy…just use a high adhesive prime (I like Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 in latex) then paint away 🙂 (Maybe just paint the side table?)
I think the mirror is perfect for the room because it plays so nicely with the shape of the headboard.
Really? I didn’t think that stuff was paintable. Thanks, Connie!
WOW…looks so great! I hope he will come home more often!
I do, too! He loves having the bigger bed, so that’s a good sign. 🙂
The room looks wonderful Julia. Very fresh and classic. Shiplap was a new term for me until I started watching Fixer Upper and seeing how much Joanna loves it. You did an amazing job!
Wow it turned out great! I absolutely love the fake shiplap. You did a fantastic job. What great finds at target. I took your advice and shopped there for some small art for my bathroom and found two great pieces. Your son’s room is so modern and very inviting for guests. Hope he comes home more often and stays longer 🙂
A great transformation – love that you did it all on a budget!
This room looks incredible! Your hard work has paid off in spades! 🙂 I agree with Connie….the mirror goes great with the headboard. More on the bookshelves….the other day on Houzz, I saw a pic of bookshelves that had been covered with pretty fabric, which I thought was cool.
Interesting idea. Did they glue it to the back, I guess? I’ll have to look for that!
I will send you the link, Julia.
Thanks, Alie!
Love how it’s all put together…worthy of a Pottery Barn photo shoot! I think that planking the walls absolutely made the room. You should be very proud of yourself. Way to go, Julia!
Thanks, Susan! 🙂
Nice job! As the mother of two sons, I had to laugh at the ‘before’ pics. Actually, they weren’t too bad! In our previous house of twenty-seven years, I had turned one of my boy’s rooms into a guest room (the larger one) but displayed some of his photos and mementos on shelves and a chest, even after he married and had his own children. It was always still his room. His younger brother’s, which had a mural on one wall from the time he was eight that his uncle painted, remained pretty much intact, though I did take down all the pictures, posters, cartoons, mementos and stuff he’d taped to a dormer wall. I did take photos of it first, and kept what pieces I could for him. It was a mess to get off, though, but at least it was a plaster wall. Though I painted the rest of the walls white, I didn’t paint over the mural when we put the house on the market – couldn’t bear to and figured any new owner could. And, yes, I too kept a cactus alive for him for years that he now has. He’s thirty-three now.
I love that you were in charge of a cactus, too! Jake bought his with his own money at a nursery when he was about 5, I think? It was tiny then but has kept on growing. We’ve had to re-pot it a couple of times and might have to again.
Well done!
It looks clean, modern and masculine!
I agree that it was nice that you left enough of his “stuff” in place for him to feel comfortable when he’s home.
I do love the room.Has a Nantucket feel . I know your son will enjoy it.Glad you’re pleased.It’s hard work but so satisfying to see final results . congratulations! !
I have this exact headboard. It was painted cream and I had DH spray paint it black. It’s now in a guestroom with black/cream toile curtains and walls painted Putnam Ivory (Benjamin Moore). Looks FABULOUS!!
Do you really, Linda? How fun! It was one of the first furniture purchases we made after we got married. I saved money from my paycheck for months so I could buy it. I’m so glad to have a use for it again! 🙂
What a difference you made in Jake’s room, good job!
A really refreshing room! I may have to try the shiplap in my guest room! I love the blue and white!
As you look for finishing touches, might I suggest a floor lamp behind the chair? It would free up the table you find for other things. And I would put up some window coverings. Our guest room faces east, and my daughter said the light woke her even though we had blinds there. I put up lined drapes, and still have light issues. Need to get block out lining and redo the drapes now. :-/
It is pretty bright in there in the mornings because those windows face East. I sometimes WISH the sun would wake him up — he could sleep all day when he’s home on break. Ha. Guests, on the other hand, might not appreciate all the early-morning sunshine.
I was thinking about getting roman shades that are lined — that’s what we have in our bedroom. I’m conflicted because it’s the front of the house and all the others “match,” and then those two windows wouldn’t. Hm. Decisions, decisions. Thanks, Marianne! 🙂
It looks fantastic! The headboard looks beautiful against the shiplap, but it still reads crisp and masculine with the navy bedding. It’s timeless.
Looks great. Love the bedhead, the detail is really interesting, and the colour sits well against the new wall treatment. All the hard work that went into updating this room has really paid off. Well done.
Beautifully done, Julia! I absolutely love everything about it and of course, I’m glad Jake does too. The bedspread with the lamps and the walls and window trim…it all looks wonderful!
Thanks, Kristen! 🙂
Kudos to Mom and Dad on the great job! The room looks comfortable and inviting. You can tell a lot of thought and hard work went into the project. Hope you had a nice celebration when it was finished!
Thanks, Julia! It was his 20th birthday gift, so we invited everyone who came over that day to celebrate upstairs to see his new room when they were here, which was fun.
It’s funny because I feel like I see shiplap paneling everywhere these days (on TV, magazines, online), but no one who has seen his room in person had seen that kind of wall treatment before. “Shiplap? Never heard of it!” I forget that not everyone spends as much time reading blogs and watching HGTV as I do. Ha.
Even the guy who installed the hardwood floors said, “I’ve been in hundreds of houses across the Tri-State area and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this!” He asked Dave to teach him how to do it because he wanted to try it at home! 🙂
I adore that ship lap, really want to do it in our stair well. But your room turned out great, love the wood furniture accents. Are you going to add any accent pieces over the bed? I adore your style!! Great job!
No plans for any artwork on the bed wall. I kind of like the simple look with just the headboard and planked backdrop. Thanks, Melissa! 🙂
Absolutely wonderful job!!
Hi Julia, it was worth the wait…you have done a wonderful job with lots of heart. My sons room is the same size I did not see the bigger picture when we built the house like there will be computers and game consoles in the future … This was after all the mid 80s. I love the bed and your choice of be linen. Who wouldn’t come home more often with a room like this beauty. Thank you for sharing your lovely home. Till next time regards Esther from a very wet Sydney.
Boy, I know what you mean about the computers and game consoles and all that, Esther. We moved all of it downstairs and created a work space for him in our finished basement for him so he no longer needed a desk in his room. Not enough room for it all in such a small bedroom!
You and your husband did a great job on this from start to finish. Looks fantastic. .. and I think the mirror looks appropriate in this room. The only thing I would add is what I mentioned before–french blinds (inside the frames), maybe in the same white, off-white, or navy (JMO). I’m amazed by the transformation–certainly doesn’t look like the same room!
I’d still like to do that someday! The blinds we already had were cheaper to use for now, tho. Kind of blew our budget with the floors. 😉
ooops! I meant roman blinds— where did I come up with “french”?
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this looks so fabulous!!!!! i love the walls and the floors and the blue and white – it’s just perfect!!!! now I want to do this.
Joni
Thanks, Joni!
Hello. How perfect that room looks now. Where did you get the navy/white pillow on top of the bed. Cant find it at Target. Thank you for your reply. Thank you for the continuous inspiration!
Target! Maybe they still have it online if it’s not in your store? It came in red and yellow, too.
I have the exact same giraffe! My Mum gave it to me at Easter when she was clearing out an old cupboard. I remeber it always used to sit by the TV in the lounge when i was a child. It now has pride of place in my dinning room but my travel momentos.
Do you know where it came from?
Do you really? My dad brought it back from a trip to Africa years ago.
Well done, Julia – it’s stunning! Let’s hope Jake loves it as much as we all do and takes good care of it! 😉
Beautiful! Is the paisley pillow in the chair actually black and white? ‘Cuz I have one just like it that is. Navy and black can sometimes masquerade as each other. Unless it’s socks. 🙂 Let’s face it, decorating is never done. But you can enjoy the parts that are.
Hi Becky! It really is navy and white, but black probably would’ve worked, too. And you’re so right that decorating is never done!
It looks fantastic! So inviting and crisp, too!
AMAZING room transformation!!! Everything from the new shiplap walls and floor, to the accessories look great!! Well Done 🙂
You’re a sweet mom – I hope he does come home to visit more often.
Beautiful transformation, and a comprehensive change! The “fake” shiplap is very convincing, I am impressed! We had lap siding put on an interior wall in our basement renovation and I really love the look, but had no idea the same effect could be achieved so reasonably. (Of course no one volunteered that option!) I have been seeing lots of blue and white ceramic garden stools that might be a fun and space saving option as a table for the chair in that room.
Congratulations on a job well done!
I love the real “before” picture. I agree with the other person who mentioned it looks pretty tame. 😉 My oldest will be graduating next month and will be heading of to Peru for the next two years. I’ve been teasing him that I’m going to re-do his room, but first I might need a bulldozer to clear it out! I love that you left things that were important to your son while still making it comfortable for his visits and for company! It looks fantastic!
Nice job! I like that even though your son is at school, there’s a bit of RHIT there on the bookcase! My husband is a grad.
Wow, it turned out so nice…I love the shiplap and the navy and white looks awesome…good job. I would never have thought of the shiplap but I love it in there!
Hi Julia, the room looks so great! I love the shiplap! What about a cute little garden stool from Target for the table next to the chair!
That would work! 🙂
Wow Julia! You and your hubby truly did an amazing job. No wonder Jake likes it 🙂
xo,
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