Landon’s Big Boy Room Plan

With Dolphin’s arrival coming WAY TOO FAST, we have to make Landon’s room into a big boy room (see Dolphin’s nursery here). Out with the baby and in with big boy stuff. So here is our starting palette:

Landon's Nursery

Go here for a run down of this room’s make up

Yes, this means the crib has to come out. And YES I am getting a teeny bit emotional about it. I got lucky with a kid that LOVES his crib. Just tonight, he tried to climb INTO it. He has never even attempted to get out. I am really just making this completely selfish though. I like him confined. On a Saturday morning, he may wake at 6:30 but just play in his crib for another 30 minutes. He isn’t roaming around looking for trouble. But this move is inevitable I know. We are also lucky that this is coinciding with potty training. Soon he will be sleeping in big boy underpants and going to potty at night without us (oh heavens the Clorox imma need). But I am still bumming but gonna mask it with the need to nest and decorate.

Catalina Toddler Bed

Catalina Toddler Bed by Pottery Barn Kids

Fortunately, my woman Laura gave us a sweet ass toddler bed to transition with. Our rooms aren’t huge and I like the smaller furniture for now when we can get away with it. More floor space for him to play. DISCLAIMER: The Catalina Bed in white is not white. It is like an antique white. Just heads up. We just slapped 2 coats of white zero VOC paint on that bad boy and called it a day.

Circo Chloe and Conner Dresser

Circo Chloe & Conner Dresser by Target

Then we needed a new dresser to replace the changing table/dresser. Enter Target. We decided on the Circo line because a) it looks nice b) ikea was more expensive and c) we could get it in store. I have to say it is pretty dang solid. It was a lot of pieces and the drawers slide effortlessly without slamming. The top drawer is divided so you can make seperate sides (we have night time diapers and socks). The drawers are really deep too. Highly recommend.

Closet Maid Shelves

ClosetMaid 9-Unit Shelves

Next up was replacing the blue shelves with white ones. The blue set went into the closet for more toy storage, shoes, blankets, etc. Simple shelves for really cheap. Perfect.

Circo ABC Toddler Bedding

Circo ABC Toddler Bedding by Target

Next up was the “theme”. I originally thought i would just roll with our existing stuff. Add a few new elements and call it a day but then on date night, we stumbled into the toddler bedding at Target and thought it would be nice. Give him something new and make it fun. So we got a simple toddler bedding set from the Circo ABC collection. The colors are all over the place and still will match the wall color and brown curtains. My friend Kelly also bought me the matching shower curtain and a cup from the bathroom collection to help tie together.

Now with the glider removed, we need a reading area idea. I am all over the place with this one. Ideally I could like a GINOURMOUS floor pillow but reality is those things cost too much. And don’t tell me to make it. I don’t own a sewing machine. I have looked into papasan chairs but standard sized ones would over power the room. They are GIANT. I still want to check out just getting a papasan cushion and then supplementing with throw pillows. Next idea is a small kid sized chair on the cheap. I see people pay the price for the PB Kids ones but FUCK THAT NOISE. I need cheap. I dunno. I am all over the place here. Any suggestions welcome.

Cornice Boards from Crib Bedding

Next up is recovering the cornice boards. Those you see up there are from his crib bumper. Just wrapped around a plywood box and placed on L brackets. Nothing fancy. No sewing…just a staple gun. well as you can see, these won’t match. we also have chocolate brown blackout curtains coming out of the boxes. So I need an idea to recover. I could use the top sheet from the bedding set to recover them since most people say they don’t use a toddler top sheet. OR I could get a solid color from the bedding colors and cover. I am thinking maybe the orange. I have no idea. Any suggestions?

Custom Art

Last on the list is redoing the letters in the frames above his bed.  These were a labor of love before he was born. My first attempt at Photoshop but I loved that they matched and I did them myself. Thanks to Guilty Squid, I now have the font used in the new bedding and can replicate something. I probably won’t do the same thing again but I do have these 3 20×20 prints to do something with. If I did the solid cornices, I might could use the same color fabric and do that with a stenciled letter on them. I dunno. Kinda lost again.

O and one other thing…looking for tips on good toys to leave in his room to play with but not make CRAZY noise. we have books, wooden trucks, some blocks and stuffed animals. Other suggestions welcome.

So this weekend is step 1.  We are dismantling the crib and bringing in the big boy bed. Maybe once it is in there, I will get a better idea of what to do. Andplusalso? Hold me internets, my little boy is growing up.

13 thoughts on “Landon’s Big Boy Room Plan

  • May 31, 2012 at 10:22 am
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    We have the Pottery Barn chair for Addie (that’s what I had my mom get her for her first birthday) and honestly, its worth it. You can easily remove the cover to wash, she loves it because its just her size, and she uses it every day. Its also nice because when she is too big, we can easily (and much more cheaply) buy just a new cover for next kiddo to pass it down. Have you thought about a bean bag for the reading nook? We also have a little chair from Ikea that only cost about $20 that she uses all the time, too.

    I am so glad you posted this because I have been looking for a storage piece for our playroom and that piece from Target is not only EXACTLY what we need, but its ON SALE. Headed there to get one today! Score!!

    Reply
  • May 31, 2012 at 4:08 pm
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    We have two First Anywhere chairs from PB Kids. The boys used them from 6 months to now. Jon and I have been talking a lot about replacing them because the boys are too big now. Anyway you could have the inserts if you want to buy a different cover, they’re like $30 on PB Kids:

    http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/hybrid-my-first-anywhere-chair-replacement

    I even have two I could give you so you could order one for Dolphin or something.

    My boys never used the top sheet, so I would agree with that.

    I would also say for the initial transition, keep the toys to a minimum then see how he does. If it goes well, introduce more toys. Alex did a lot better in a room with ZERO toys while Nate wanted as many toys as possible. Would have guessed the opposite.

    Reply
    • May 31, 2012 at 9:30 pm
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      What would I do with you. And I will pay you for the chairs. You are too good to me.

      Reply
  • June 1, 2012 at 8:21 am
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    Ditto the previous commenter on toys in the bedroom. I decided pre-Joshua’s birth that no toys would be stored in the bedroom, even when he was still in the crib. Bedrooms are made for sleeping. I’ve mostly stuck to that and I think it’s worked out well except we have no playroom so all of his toys are in the living room so my living room is overrun with stuff. He gets books and a few plush stuffed animals in his room. Basically, I want that room as boring to him as possible. Occasionally, he’ll take a train or car in there and we make the toy “go naptime” before Joshua goes to bed. As he gets older, I may move some of his toys in there. Unless the economy makes a magical turn-around and I’m able to buy a house with a playroom.

    Reply
    • June 1, 2012 at 8:25 am
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      yeah we have the no playroom issue to. And an open floor plan so I minimize toys in the living room since it is the EVERYTHING room. He loves to take “friends” with him to bed. Be it plastic trains or even stickers. He is really good at imaginative play, so I am thinking for when he gets up in the morning but I see the point on helping him go to sleep. I might scale back. I wasn’t planning on big stuff. Just like a puzzle or something. Maybe I will just be better about switching out the books from time to time to give him something “new”. Plus I should probably worry more about the fact that he and Dolphin with share the Jack and Jill bathroom and he might mosey in there. Yipes!

      Reply
  • June 1, 2012 at 8:43 am
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    Everything looks so cute – you are so organized! Sounds like you scored two PBK chairs – my kids have them too, and we use them all the time in our den.

    When we made the tradition for my son, we actually kept the glider in the room, because we sat in it every night to read together (until he just got too big, then we read on the floor or in his twin bed). We found another glider at a thrift store, so we were able to have one in each room. So, if you have an extra arm chair or something, you could always put that in place of the glider? Just a thought if you sit in that glider often. Otherwise, I think a reading nook with a small chair is great!

    Reply
    • June 1, 2012 at 4:03 pm
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      yeah i thought about that too. It would be another purchase. I am thinking once we get the hang of having 2 and how it is going, we might have different thoughts. Like if the baby isn’t asleep yet, we just read in his room. Ya never know.

      Reply
  • June 1, 2012 at 2:29 pm
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    Oh Brandy. So cute! Please come decorate my house because I am lazy and have no design skills. Anyway, I agree with the others about not keeping toys in the room. Daniel has books and a billion stuffed animals in his, and it’s cute to hear him play with them over the monitor when he wakes up.

    It looks like you’ve got the chair thing covered, but this is what we bought Daniel for the kitchen for his birthday last year: http://www.amazon.com/PKolino-Little-Sofa–Sleeper-Green/dp/B002AQIA6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338575329&sr=8-1 It folds out, and it has made a great place to rest or read for him.

    Reply
  • June 1, 2012 at 9:08 pm
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    I’ll target troll for you any time girlie 🙂

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  • June 7, 2012 at 10:00 am
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    I’m a little late reading this, but if you like the pottery barn kids chairs, check out uglysofa.com. We got an “ugly-where chair” there for our 1 year old and love it!

    Reply
  • January 14, 2014 at 12:14 pm
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    Link exchange is nothing else except it is only placing the other person’s website link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do similar in favor of you.

    Reply

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