Our little guy Ty is turning three (insert tears) in March so we figured it was about time to finish up his bedroom. We moved into our home a couple months before he was born. I initially slapped some paint on the walls, threw in a crib, FB Marketplace dresser I found, and called it day. I really had a hard time coming up with a concept for a boys room that I would love and he would too. Therefore, I put his room on pause until I could confidently figure out what I wanted to do.
Ty's Nursery Mood Board
Over the last couple years I have gotten a much better handle + understanding of life with a boy. This boy, Ty, he is strong. He is smart. He is competitive and resilient. He is love. Ty is all that is boy. When putting together his room I wanted it to embody who he is but also inspire him for what is to come. My goal was to give him a room that was him but also mixed in my love for both modern and vintage design elements. I also wanted to make sure that it was a room he could continue to grow into as he grows from toddler to boy (insert more tears).
I am not a person for theme style rooms but here we are... a sports themed bedroom. Super cliché, I know. BUT its not like your typical theme room, its like way cooler. I found a way to mix things that Ty loves in a way that I would love too. Compromise ya'll. I have been gathering items for his room over the last few months. Some things were bought new like a stool, bed and bedding and some things were bought used from Goodwill and Etsy vintage shops. We also found ways to incorporate treasured family pieces into the mix which makes his room even more special.
Lets take a walk around the room shall we?
When we first planned out Ty's room, I knew I wanted to find a mid-century modern dresser. I have such an appreciation for mid-century furniture, and wanted the real deal but I didn't want to pay a fortune. We scoured FB Marketplace forever waiting to find the right one. Finally, we came across a beauty that required a little bit of a drive to Chicago. It was well worth the drive as this item was in its owners family for 2 generations. It had its original hardware, finish, and was in pretty decent condition minus a few scratches. I love it + every nick it contains.
We couldn't have a sports room without paying homage to our Irish heritage and the great Notre Dame. I found a board on Etsy that read "Play Like a Champion Today" which is a saying ND has used since the 40's. I may or may not also be trying to manifest Ty's destiny. No pressure bud.
Another favorite piece is a sentimental gift given by my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Our guy was the cutest ring bearer in their wedding this past summer and they gifted him the sweetest wood bat with his name on it.
Moving onto my favorite wall! My Father-In-Law gave us some vintage hockey sticks signed by the great Bobby Hull. I love adding things that hold sentimental value to our family.
I am a sucker for a gallery wall and this is my most favorite part of the whole room. I want Ty to grow up surrounded and inspired by amazing men and woman who overcame obstacles and do inspiring things. I pray that he will grow into a strong man but I know one way great men become great is by surrounding themselves with the best. We are thankful to know some of the best. I created a wall of photos to remind him of all the good people he has in his life. I want him to be able to look at that wall when he wakes up and see all the the things he can be and do. We have everything from old family photos to friends we have made along the way that are an influential part of our boys life. I plan to continue to add to the wall as time passes and add his accomplishments along the way.
And for the finale... the vertical shiplap wall! Well first, my mother-in-law informed me this is in fact paneling, like from the 60's and 70's paneling. That doesn't sound as cute when you put it like that so we are rolling with "vertical ship lap". YA'LL THIS. WALL. I initially planned on putting up shiplap wallpaper. I found some from Target that was $34.00/roll. After 3 hours of trying to perfect the first strip, in true fashion, I gave up and stared at the wall orchestrating our next project. If you have ever successfully put up wallpaper, you deserve an award. It was awful and my patience or lack their of just couldn't do it. If I ever decide to do wallpaper again, I will be seeking a professional to do it. Instead of wallpaper, we opted for what we do best, shiplap. I felt like we needed to spice it up though. I did an IG poll and was shocked as an overwhelming amount of people were not in favor of hanging shiplap vertically. But in true Brit fashion, I went against the grain (see what I did there) and decided to hang it vertically instead of horizontally. Something about vertical shiplap makes it feel more retro and masculine to me.
We purchased, from Menards, Unfinished Knotty Pine Wall Plank and a couple trim pieces for the corners all totaling under $100. I didn't have enough paint left from when I initially painted the walls of Ty's room so I had to get paint/supplies which cost an additional $60. All of the boards were unfinished pine and needed to be painted. We could have gotten boards pre-painted white but the project would have cost us a lot more than we wanted to spend. Also, the pre-painted shiplap boards were much widder and would stick out too far when meeting the baseboard in Ty's room. Prior to hanging the boards, I did two coats of paint and then taught Ty how to do a plank. Kid is strong like his Mom... and Dad. Definitely Dad.
Perfect segway into Dad, AKA Dan. AKA Master of all things. I had every intention of slaying this project on my own. I woke up early, went to get my workout in, and was ready to do some blue collar ish. I called Dan on my way home to let him know he can get ready to go to the gym and he had already hung up half of my planks. He is literally a gem and I am forever thankful that this guy is my guy. The boards came tongue and groove, which made them easy to join together. He measured the length of each board as he cut them, wood glued the boards to the wall, and then used a nail gun to secure the boards. When he finished hanging all the planks, I went through and painted in all the nail holes you could see. He did a great job of hiding a lot of the holes in the grooves that clipped the boards together so their wasn't a whole ton to go through and patch up.
My last little project for the room was creating a space for Ty to hang up his artwork or pictures. I was originally looking on Etsy for a clipboard style art display and it was so expensive. Not like break the bank expensive but its one of those things that you just feel silly paying that much money for when you know it doesn't cost 1/5th of that to produce. On Etsy, two bars with 3 clips on each bar cost upwards of $50. Instead for $24, I bought a 30 pack (I plan on doing the same things in Addy's room) of bulldog clips off Amazon and 1" x 3" x 8' Unfinished Pine board from Menards and used stain I already had.
PHEW... I bet you were like is this girl ever going to stop typing. We are so close.. a few more words then I'll let you go. I love this space that we have created for our guy + I am so excited to share it with you! I hope you enjoyed following along through pictures as much as I enjoyed creating them.
XX
Brit
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