Raffy's Bedroom

Raffy
Age 3
The brief: "A blue room with monster trucks and a big boy cabin bed"

It was only fair that I decorated Raffy's bedroom for his birthday as well! Entertaining two children for the summer holidays is full on, but with Raffy's 4th birthday fast approaching, I set aside some time to start creating his room. His room was very neglected and only had a bed and a wardobe in it. Everything was white! 

I knew with this bedroom I wanted to steer clear from a stereotypical blue, monster truck room (even though that is what he asked for!) I wanted to add them in subtly so that he would be pleased with the room, but also create a calm space that he could play.

I started with the colour palette. I wanted the room to be calming but with pops of colour and different textures. I had seen a blue paint colour used in a kids bedroom called 'Airforce Blue' by Little Greene and I used this as my starting point. I wanted to use wallpaper again as it had worked so well in Etta's bedroom. I gathered a lot of wallpaper samples, but in the end opted for a more budget option from Wallpaper Direct to keep costs lower. I then colour matched another paint colour with the stripes of the wallpaper. The pops of colour would come through in the accessories and art prints. This was my first moodboard...

We moved Raffy into the spare room (which he was very excited about) and off I went! I painted the ceiling and part of the walls in the colour matched beige colour. Three of the walls were wallpapered, leaving one feature wall in beige for bookshelves. The woodwork and radiator were painted in the 'Airforce Blue'. Along the top of the wallpaper, I stuck bobbin moulding which I painted in the same Airforce Blue colour to tie in with the woodwork. 

I purchased an IKEA cabin bed from Facebook Marketplace, and stuck on half dowel moulding to give the bed a more textured finish. I then added a thin wooden curtain rail and made some small curtains using orange gingham fabric to add another pattern into the design. I added fairy lights underneath as well so that he could create his own little dens. 

The IKEA desk and storage board had been such a hit with Etta that I knew Raffy would love it to. It fitted perfectly into the space at the bottom of the bed. I added a neon monster truck light and wall stickers to honour the monster truck request. 

Underneath his bed, I put another mattress which is perfect for bed time stories and sleepovers. I added two large storage baskets above the wardobe to make use of dead vertical space. 

A great tip for kids bedroom is to purchase a made to measure black out blind. We got Raffy's from Blinds 2 Go. They are not the most pretty so I added a roman blind from Dunelm on top which fitted the colour palette and look of the room better. At night, we just pull the black out blind down and the roman blind is just for decorative purposes. 

Then it was time for the final touches.... a bed canopy, zebra head, personalised flag, ledge for his Yoto player, Bouremouth FC flag, art work and a custom made photo frame using his first ever baby grow.

Whack a few party hats on the cuddly toys and we were ready for the big reveal!

He loves it! He spends so much time in here playing and reading books under the cabin bed. Etta wants to sleepover in here all the time! 

A few weeks later, we added a felt notice board as he wanted to pin some things up like Etta.

And this time, I made him stick his silly stickers on the INSIDE of his wardrobe door!