Room Redo, Two: For the Tweenaged Boy

In recent months, Will had mentioned to me several times that he thought it was time for a change in his room. He felt he had outgrown the Star Wars/space theme that had excited him several years ago, and he was hoping for some new decor that would reflect his current interests. I agreed that some areas of his room could use a little work, and I remembered Noah being eager about a similar kind of room makeover when he was around Will's age. Because I always love a good redecorating project, I was happy to accommodate Will's request.

We set to work on completing this project one afternoon over Easter weekend while Will was out playing with friends. Even though he had been involved in choosing his new bedding and the art work for his walls, I thought it would be fun to surprise him with the transformation on a day when he wasn't really expecting it to happen. My goal was to create a room that was fun, but still mature enough that it could last Will through his teen years.

We only made simple changes (we worked with the existing wall paint colour and most of the furniture we already had), but Will was very enthusiastic about the end result when he arrived back home that afternoon.

Duvet cover, sham, red throw blanket, and Boys Only pillow from Bouclair; 

Union Jack pillow from HomeSense.

Will's desk was the one piece of furniture we did replace. The rather small one he was using before was often overflowing with his random collections of important things...

...so I was looking for a desk with more practical storage space to encourage him to be a little more organized. The desk was a Kijiji find and matches his other furniture perfectly; the storage baskets (from Bouclair) and the magnetic white board built into the desk help to give him a place for everything. 

One of Will's favourite new room features is the row of matching clocks on his wall, which he has set for three different time zones. (Thanks, Manda, for this idea!) He likes imagining what friends and relatives in other parts of the world might be up to at various times of the day. When Matt and I first put up the clocks and realized how loud their combined rhythmic ticking was, we wondered if our sensitive boy would even be able to sleep at night, but Will actually loves the ticking sound. He says it helps him have something relaxing to focus on when his brain wants to go into overdrive.

Will and I found the skateboarding poster above his bed and this black high top sneaker one while browsing the huge online selection of images at AllPosters, and I framed them myself with simple, standard-sized black frames ordered from Amazon. A row of hooks gives Will a place to hang the medals he's earned from his various favourite activities.

Will loves spending time in his new room, and I'm glad that we were able to easily create a comfortable space for him that suits his personality and his tween spirit.

I'll leave you now with a fun little game for this rainy Monday:  Can you spot the kitten? (Apparently Iris loves Will's new room, too!  In true cat fashion, she's ignoring the "boys only" rule.  Will forgives her, though.)