Sarah's House Project: Boys' Bedroom Mood Board

Welcome to another installment of Sarah's House Project. I'll be your host for today... I'm practicing for my talk show, can you tell? (Ha!) If you read my post a few weeks back you may know I'm in the middle of re-decorating my new home, starting with my boys' bedroom. I've been using Holly Becker's book, Decorate Workshop, to guide my decorating project, and it offers a surprisingly therapeutic approach to decorating. Holly talks a lot about finding our personal style and personalizing our space so that it reflects who we want to be and what type of life we want to have. She suggests we get in touch with our personal style by recalling the things we loved as a child, focusing on our interests and hobbies, and identifying the colors we gravitate towards. It's a very inspirational approach to decorating, one that really  resonates with me. As a psychologist, I encourage optimal growth and well-being in others all the time, and personalizing a home definitely fits in with these ideals. The book also offers advise on the practical aspects of decorating such as assessing the structure of the space, drawing floor plans, and establishing a budget- something I could definitely use help with. Last time I featured a few images of  children's  bedrooms that  inspired me, and started a pinterest board  for all my inspirations. Since that time, I've thought long and hard about how I want to design my boys' bedroom, and finally came up with a theme. Here it goes....I'm going for "Traditional Modern Meets Classic Pop Culture with  Dash of Global Style." I know, it's a mouthful, but I think it pretty much captures what I'm going for in the room. I'm relishing in the idea that I still have full control over how I decorate my boys' room because my time is running out. It won't be long before they're going to want to decorate their room their own way. My 8-year-old son has already requested a Mario themed playroom (ugh!). So I better hurry up and get if finished before he really starts to push the issue. For now we agreed to compromise on a Mario poster.  See my mood board below.

 curtains ♦ stripes ♦ southwestern ikat pillow ♦ superman poster ♦ diamond stitch duvet cover ♦ ampersand carnival letter ♦ toy lamp ♦ zebra rug ♦ antique twin beds ♦ white navy trimmed Beverly dresser

I love all these elements, it's fun for the kids with an underlying sophistication that's fun for me. You may have noticed some similarities and differences between the images on this mood board, and the images in my first inspiration post. For one thing, my beloved zebra print headboard didn't make it. I wasn't able to find anything like it, and realized I would need to have  it custom made. So in the mean time, I've opted for traditional twin beds, and have included a zebra print rug to add that element of global inspired style. I really love the white navy trimmed Beverly dresser- it's very prim and proper, yet modern. It's also pretty pricey and frankly out of my budget. So I've decided to buy a wooden dresser, probably a mid-century modern Danish style ( you can find a bunch of them on Etsy or Ebay), paint it white, and add blue trim like.

This Navajo inspired bed spread is exactly what I wanted for the room, and I searched far and wide for it on the web, but was unable to find it. So I thought the Urban Outfitters diamond stitch duvet cover, which has a similar feel, would be a nice option. Surprisingly, it has sequins on it and doesn't quite read "boy" to me. But I figured if I turn the duvet cover over, it shouldn't show. I'm also considering African-inspired duvet covers with stitching. There's an African fabric store close by I plan to check out. It's a good idea to browse your local boutiques when you're looking for something unique. They usually have one-of-a-kind pieces.

What are some of the ways you've had to be creative when completing your home project? I agree with the sentiments in the Decorate Workshop book—the one good thing about having a budget is that it forces you to be creative. Now I'm off  to begin decorating the room. I'll be sure to show it to you when it's completed.