The wait is OVER! We are finally ready to reveal Bowen’s Modern, Contemporary and FUN “Big Boy” Bedroom. I’m not going to lie, usually I am a very decisive individual… I know what I like and what I don’t. But when it came time to move Bowen out of the Nursery and into a new bedroom, I had NO idea what route we should take with decor. I mean, this child is into EVERYTHING! His current number one obsession is Cars, but not long ago it was Sea Animals , and before that it was Madagascar and Alvin and The Chipmunks. Just this week, he was introduced to Dinosaurs, and I know its only a matter of time before Hockey stars dominating the narrative. So what is a parent to do? We obviously want our kids to have fun rooms that are their own little sanctuary and reflect their interests and personalities, but with those interests changing on the weekly (or sometimes- gasp- daily) it feels rather daunting.

I went back to what I know, I started with a neural colour scheme! Ha, ha. Those of you who have been following along for a while know I am a HUGE fan of neutrals! When we planned Bowen’s nursery, we didn’t know if we would be having a boy or girl, so we chose a few different shades of grey, as well as cream, white and a few tiny pops of colour. This time around, we would still to stick with white and cream, but since blue and green have been consistent favourite colours, we wanted to incorporate those as well.

Next, I thought of the vendors I wanted to make sure to include. Immediately, I thought of Justine Ma Designs, Urban Walls and Chapters Indigo.  A few months back we hosted a hand lettering workshop with Justine, who is just one of the sweetest and not to mention, most talented calligraphers and artists around. We decided on “Bowen” in script for over his bed as a focal piece and anchor point for the room, since we didn’t really personalize the nursery with his name anywhere.  For about four months this was all he had in his room besides the furniture!

Because this little man’s interests seem to be constantly changing, I decided against the permanence of Paint and Wall Paper right away. We’ve long been drooling over the amazing Decals created by Urban Walls, and figured a few of their fantastic designs would be ideal. These decals are not overly expensive, are high quality, relatively easy to install, and easier yet to remove in case we needed to re- vamp his room in a few years. PERFECT. Except… Which to choose? Immediately, we loved the idea of palm fronds, but then they started to pop up EVERYWHERE. We wanted something that wasn’t too trendy, yet still original.  After perusing Urban Walls’ extensive online catalogue, I couldn’t get the greenery element out of my mind, so we chose these gorgeous Fig Trees.  Fresh, modern, and best of all they paired beautifully with the script from Justine.

There was just one tiny problem. When I looked around his room, there were still two blank white walls. One wall is primarily built in drawers and closet, but it was still missing something. The other wall was just straight up lonely! Then I had a brain wave. I remembered I had these four gorgeous prints my Aunt Faye had gifted me when Bowen was a baby. They would be Perfect. Originally by the Animal Print shop and available at Chapters Indigo  , they were on canvas and didn’t even need to be framed! (The currently sell similar for at Chapters Indigo but not these exact ones.)

Installing these four prints solved another problem- which direction to go on the closet wall. Since we already had a semi-Animal/ Safari theme going,  we figured one more couldn’t hurt, and chose this awesome Tiger from Urban Walls.

For those of you curious about the level of difficulty of applying the decals… you truly need not worry. The most tedious part is cutting everything out. The Fig Trees were definitely a two person job, as one person is needed to hold everything while the other verified height and spacing . Once you use painters tape to place everything on the wall it goes rather quickly! My husband was able to do the tiger by himself. Plus, each decal comes with step-by-step instructions, and you can also find helpful tips and tutorials on the the Urban Walls website!

Now we just needed a few more added details to pull everything together.  Chapters Indigo to the rescue again! They have such a phenomenal selection of throw pillows with fun graphics, textures and colour combinations. I pulled a few in the blue/green/ white colour scheme and voila! Plus- Most of these pillows were ON SALE!

Then I went to work on the night stands. These are cheap, old nightstands from Ikea, but they do the trick! I Added a great print and frame (both from Chapters Indigo ), an adorable Mini Light Box from Chapters Indigo and this bulletproof Pineapple figure from Chapters Indigo  (made to look like glass but is actually plastic!) If you have little ones in your house you know anything at their height is fair game, so I wanted to ensure all the bedside table elements were durable and inexpensive. An added bonus- all of these are currently 50% off!

As you can see, the new room is a big hit! He absolutely loves everything about it! Now, just to get him to actually stay in there when its time to sleep….

If you have any questions about this room transformation, be sure to send us a note at rivercitysisters@gmail.com or over on instagram!