Big Boy Room!

Well...this post is a little overdue since we made this transition a couple weeks ago, but our little Samurai is in a big boy room and he is lovin' it!  Can you tell?

We decided to switch rooms on him so that we didn't have to move the baby furniture the baby will be just a little closer to our room.

Of course, "switching rooms" isn't as easy as it sounds.  The room we switched Sam to was the room we used as an extra bedroom and an office.  Plus, the closet was just crammed with stuff...
Home office stuff
Towels, sheets, blankets and pillows (ahem...we have no linen closet)
Andy's police uniform and gear
Oh...and winter coats (ahem...no coat closet either)

We have affectionately dubbed our home the "Rubik's Cube From Hell" because every time we make moves like this, a million other things need to be rearranged to make it as functional as possible.  And can I just stress that it's not a "stuff" problem.  I am the queen of purging unnecessary "stuff" and I loathe clutter.  We just have no space!!  Now that that's off of my chest...

Enter my supreme organizational skills (I secretly love a challenge like this) and a nice supply of Space Bags and we got to it!  Here's the finished product:

We swapped our extra queen bed with a twin-size trundle bed that Andy's parents had.  We're using the bottom part of the trundle bed as Sam's toddler bed and it's PERFECT!  It's low to the ground so he can climb in and out and won't fall, and the mattress is encased in a wooden frame so he can't roll out.  We just put foam edging around the wood and it's the perfect toddler bed.  Great for sleepovers when he gets older, too.  The regular twin bed part of this trundle will go in baby girl's room for a little while, then we'll stick it in Sam's room when he's ready to be up high. 

Of course...this car fanatic requested a car theme, so we happily obliged.  Target had some pretty cute vintage car bedding, along with a little painting and a new lamp which he ADORES.

it's not hung crooked...I'm just an awesome picture taker

I didn't want to get all new artwork/decor for his room, so we put up a lot of the stuff he already had even though it doesn't really go with the car theme.  The colors go, though.

These lion/tiger/bear pictures are my absolute favorite.  Andy and I made them for Sam before he was born and they hung above his crib.   We just painted some canvas and made the animals out of foam, then glued them on.  So cute!  I'm going to make him put them up in his college dorm room because I love them so much.  Control Freak!

And here we have the over-used "name above the bed" decor.  I actually can't stand this decor idea, but we made them for Sam's nursery as an accent for a bookshelf.  They've been sitting in his closet forever and I wanted to use them somewhere to fill up wall space.  Plus...I'm as cheap as you can get and didn't want to purchase anything else to decorate with.  Meh.  At least they perfectly coordinate with the lion/tiger/bear.  I'll probably be switching it out soon. 

And for more color-coordination...look no further than clothing hooks!  Another item that was in Sam's baby room and we decided to "hide" them behind the door and put them at Sam's level so he can hang clothes on them.

Another piece of homespun decor...this was in the basement playroom, but we switched it with some super-cute alphabet artwork from Sam's baby room and brought it up here.  Now the playroom is a little more gender neutral for baby girl and Sam has a daily reminder of what his favorite things are...even though he has never expressed an interest in spaceships, robots, aliens, or trains.  Whatev.  I needed more "boy" things to stick on the canvas and these fit the bill.

Throw in a cute little leather chair for reading and his mini table/chairs for playing and you have one happy boy!  This little reading nook was Andy's idea and every time we look at it we think of that quote from Anchor Man..."I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany".  We seriously laughed for like 10 minutes at this setup just picturing Sam in a little smoking jacket reading Curious George with a rocks glass of a vintage apple juice and a pipe that blows bubbles or something.

Reading in bed and reading to his animals...in his favorite self-inflicted camo/stripe jammy combo...love!

And what room in our house would be complete without at least 3 crocks?  I'm telling you...they're great for blanket and stuffed animal storage.  Put one over by the bookshelf so he can keep track of his library books and I fall more in love with crocks every time!

At least until he tries to get out of his bed and bonks his head on one.  Live and learn, kid.  Stop getting out of bed :)  See?  Storage AND punishment all rolled into some convenient antique stoneware!

Now all we have to do is put baby girl's room together...


Ugh!  Can't I just snap my fingers and it will be done??  I'm too pregnant for this.  In fact, it was best put by my sister the other day when she came over to babysit and saw me for the first time in a few weeks.  She said "Wow!  You look sooo pregnant."  Yes.  Yes I do.