My Little Guy's New Room Reveal!

Oh, I'm sooo excited!  I never got to put together a nursery just for my youngest since he lived in the bassinet for the first several months of his life and then slept between the crib and the playpen in our apartment from when he was a year old until we moved into the house last fall.  Soooo I've been dreaming of what to do for his room for a long time.  Last fall, I found a print from Peony and Thistle on etsy.com and had to have it. 

Here's some of the specs... 

Vintage item from the 1960s

Materials: vintage bookplate, vintage book plate, hot air balloon drawings

And here's a photo of it...

I KNOW   - COOL RIGHT?!  So this is where the theme came from; or maybe I had considered a hot air balloon theme and then found this and so the theme was set in stone. 

First, I started on his room by finding a $10 giant 20" x 30" frame at Goodwill and promptly disposing of the worn print and matboard.  Then I ordered a matboard with the help of a professional framer at Hobby Lobby who helped me find a color and finish that complemented the orange balloon(I just like the orange for a boy's room). 

Ok, also a month or more ago, the crib came down in my baby's room and he started sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor to prepare him for the big boy bed.  I did this at the advice of a friend of mine.  It proved effective in training them to stay on the mattress because while they are learning they are going to roll off generally.  It's not as far to fall which makes mommy feel better about the training time.  

So here's what his room started off looking like...

Not much going on there!  The rug was also sold on craigslist and everything was removed from the room before starting the painting.  Oh, and painting.  I forgot how much time it can take to paint a room even just a solid color!  The original paint was flat so of course it soaked up the semi gloss I had picked out so that made it take a little longer; still it was worth it!  I used a sky blue color to go with the balloons and air-y theme.

Also I've been collecting things since last summer for his room.  I've picked up paper lanterns on clearance to use as balloons and napkin holders to use as little baskets.  Also I got a hot air balloon mobile from amazon to hang from the ceiling, wooden prepainted white letters to use as a art feature with his name, and a bulletine board.  Oh, the bulletine board was painted with the oil rubbed bronze spray paint which was also used on his dresser and on his bookshelf and the iron bed I picked up from... can you guess?  Craigslist!  :)  I'll be posting later about the redo for that.

So where'd all this other furniture come from?  The bookshelf was left in the house in Louisville we bought 12-13 years ago and it has been used in my other two kids rooms at one time or another.  The dresser was bought just after we bought the house in Louisville at an auction for $5.  It was just wood finished and had a hole in the top.  My husband used bondo and fixed the top and then we painted it white.  And now for my little guy's new room, it's bronze. :)

Now all the furniture is matchy matchy and that makes me happy.  Aunt CB gave me an idea of how to hang the "hot air balloon's" with the big one over his bed and the other three at an angle over the dresser.(thanks!  it looks great!)  The mobile is hanging in the corner near the closet and a return air vent.  So each time the air kicks on they start moving around which is so neat!  Let's see I also got his name board designed and painted and I think it looks fun and mimics the orange in the mat board for the print and the little "baskets" for the hot air balloons.  I'm hoping to eventually find an orange round rug to go in the room.(I've been searching online for a while so if you see anything I'd really appreciate if you'd put something in the comment line below.)  I also have a old school prop engine type airplane décor item for on top of his dresser. 

My little guy seems to like all the decorations and it's been fun watching how much fun he has been playing in his room lately.  Tonight for bedtime, he was laying on his pillow looking up watching the big balloon floating around.  So fun!

Ok, so without further adieu...  Here's the big reveal!  [PS My little girl helped with the photography. :)]