Nursery to Big Boy/Guest Room: Inspiration

Eli’s about to turn three in a couple of weeks. We figure it’s about to time to stop using his room as a furniture dumping ground (see this post for more pictures) and give him a respectable place to sleep. This is what he’s living with now. I’ve since moved out the file cabinet and wing back chair, but the mattress is still hanging out.

Plus, he has almost outgrown his toddler bed (which used to be his crib). He always wants us to cuddle with him when he’s going to bed. That toddler bed isn’t meant to hold a full size adult!

Add the fact we don’t have a guest room. Since moving to CA, we’ve had a lot of visitors, which we love! They either end up sleeping on an air mattress in the living room or taking Wade’s bottom bunk. Both options work out fine, but we’d like to be a little more hospitable than that.

So, we decided since we’re going to be getting rid of the crib anyway, we might as well set the room up to work as a guest room when we need it to. We’ll get a full size bed (not a queen, since the room is tiny – 10×10). Eli will love having a big boy bed, quests will have some privacy, and the boys will be more than happy to share a room when visitors show up. It’s a win-win-win.

I’ve pinned a bunch of inspiration over the past couple months. I’m going for a laid back, relaxing modern farm house-ish look in there. Rooms with blues, whites, greys, warm wood tones, and black accents have really been drawing my eye.

But, I wonder if it’s not fun enough for a little boy’s room? I mean, I don’t need super heroes on the wall or anything, but the room is for a three year old…

Than I saw the picture below that convinced me I need to add mustard yellow to liven the place up. I hope adding color can make the room look fun, but also relaxed and sophisticated. Just like Eli. (LOL).

Actually, the picture below inspired me to do something similar in our master bedroom. I bought a mustard yellow duvet and everything. But, it just didn’t feel right in our room. A muted color palette with whites, greys, and slate blues feels the best in our room. When I considered adding mustard yellow to Eli’s room, it immediately just felt right. I’m learning as I go with designing our house, but I’ve found that going with my gut generally works out the best. I can plan things out on paper (or the computer!) as much as a want, but the real test comes when you sit with it in real life.  Styling a home has much more to do with emotions than I realized.

Happily, the only piece of furniture we have to purchase is the bed, since we’ve got some great pieces in place already. So, I’m on the hunt for a good full size bed that won’t take up too much visual space in the small room.

He already has a bunch of art we can work with. I made a large canvas painting when he was super little, his grandmother made him a beautiful watercolor painting with all kinds of sea creatures (his favorite), and I just picked up an oceanscape at a yard sale. Hopefully, all those pieces can work together somehow.

I’m excited to see how it all comes together! I’m sure Eli’s excited to have his room not be a dumping ground for furniture we don’t know what to do with…