Making room for two boys in this scheme

September 18th, 2012 | Posted by ideaqueen in Boy Bedroom Ideas - (Comments Off)

blue and green shared bedroom for boys
Got two boys? A shared room for them is a pretty simple affair, really. OK, that’s based on the fact that my two boys are fairly ambivalent about what goes in their room, actually. Just don’t stick pink and girly and they’re OK.

So some basic principles. As with any shared bedroom idea, decide if you want things to be the same, different or coordinated. In this case, I’ve gone with the same – as in each boy is getting the same bedding and they’re in a bunk bed, making the furniture the same as well. However, I ended up with different for the seating – a denim bean bag chair and a tan upholstered chair – and coordinated for the pillows – each boy getting a green pillow, then some versions of orange and blue.

Why, yes. The orange is a totally random color addition, meant to bring in a few punches of color and keep things interesting. Too much blue and green might be calming, but it was starting to border on boring for me as well.

  1. Bright Colored Striped Bedding Set
  2. Mix and Match Slat Bunk Bed in SeaGrass
  3. Kids Denim Beanbag Chair
  4. Harmony Kids Modern Chair, Tan Micro
  5. Streamline Frog Talking Animal Alarm Clock
  6. Brontosaurus Dino Planter
  7. Honey-Can-Do Lime Green Wire Mesh Waste Bin
  8. All Good Things Wall Art
  9. Pillows – A+B+C Science Throw Pillow, Orange Velvet Pillow with Quilting, Pillow Perfect Decorative Green Textured Solid Square Toss Pillows, 2-Pack, Robot Throw Pillow, Space Ship Throw Pillow
  10. Stacy Garcia Vertical Harvest Stripe Glass Inset Table Lamp
  11. Left Bank Wall Art – Hot Air Balloon, Bicycle, Clipper Ship

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission, probably enough to get a stick of gum. I generally only recommend products or services on this blog that I would use personally and believe you will find cool as well. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Shared Bedroom – Pick a pair to help decorate the room

August 9th, 2012 | Posted by ideaqueen in Kids Bedroom Ideas - (Comments Off)

Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse Bookends by Jim Shore

Some boy/girl shared bedroom ideas are obvious – knights and princesses with a castle backdrop, hot air balloons and airplanes on a sky backdrop, cowboys and cowgirls. Not to mention all the themes that are gender neutral like the beach or the backyard or a farm. But I was trolling through the Disney Store the other day and ran into the cute Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse Bookends by Jim Shore pictured here and realized that there are a lot of famous character pairs that would be a great way to decorate a room shared by a boy and a girl.

Some sets are pretty easy. Mickey and Minnie share a black, white and red color scheme and there are tons of accessories that come with them as a pair. (The real challenge is to find red Minnie instead of pink Minnie.) But they aren’t the only famous pair you could develop a bedroom theme around. Here are just a few ideas I came up with.

  • Max and Ruby
  • Superman and Wonder Woman – Actually, use any two super heros with matching color schemes – SuperGirl, Spider-Man, Captain America could all be substituted here with the same red-blue colors. I love the idea of using the comic book cover wall decals as big art over the bed. There’s only one for Wonder Woman and I’d pair it with this one for Superman since it has the same yellow background.
  • Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys (50s retro with a detective twist)
  • The Incredibles – Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, Dash and Violet
  • Fred and Daphne (Scooby Doo)
  • Dora and Diego – focus on jungle theme generally
  • Mr. Men Little Miss
  • Elmo and Zoe (or Abby Cadabby)
  • Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
  • Super Mario and Princess Peach
  • Elephant and Piggie
  • Babar and Celeste
  • Peter Pan and Tinkerbell – There’s tons of options for Tinker Bell thanks to Disney, so to do these together, consider going with green bedding for both, then accessories featuring each.

What other famous pairs could you use for a shared bedroom for a boy and girl?

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission, probably enough to get a stick of gum. I generally only recommend products or services on this blog that I would use personally and believe you will find cool as well. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Bright colors make a perfect room for two

July 3rd, 2012 | Posted by ideaqueen in Kids Bedroom Ideas - (Comments Off)

Bright bedroom decorating idea for a shared room

Whoo. Get those shades out. I made this room bright, bright, bright.

I was pondering the idea of how to do a shared bedroom in a cohesive way, especially when you have kids of different sexes. The cool thing with what I came up with is that there are just enough items repeated on each side to make the room feel like one design without taking away the ability to individualize at all.

You could do this in any color combo you want. Just do matching bedding in different colors. In fact, I had a hard time deciding just which colors to do. Thought about purple instead of yellow (Land of Nod has this same comforter in that color as well) and green instead of blue (Land of Nod has gingham bedding in those colors). Either of those would have been a little less bright if you prefer that.

Where I went from there was to repeat certain elements for the kids like the throw pillow on both sides and the matching personalized wall decals, then choose a rug that pulled in both of the main colors. Now, I went with something wildly colorful, but you could find a rug with these colors that would be calmer. But the rug gave me lots of leeway to bring in colorful accents for the room that weren’t necessarily in the two primary colors. Gives a rather eclectic feel by the time you’re done. Oh, and I’d definitely balance out everything with white furniture.

Paint Colors – BEHR Ultra in Gem Turquoise and BEHR Ultra in Lemon Zest, both from Home Depot.

  1. Yellow Animals Filled Comforter and Teal Animals Filled Comforter
  2. Modern Giraffe Rug
  3. Mix and Match Open Bookcase
  4. House and Family Rules Scroll
  5. C is for… Personalized Wall Decal
  6. Girl pillows - Plaid pillow, My Pillow Pet Polar Bear, Fish Pillow
  7. Boy pillows - Plaid pillow, Mr. Robot Pillow, Designers Guild Woof Woof Aqua Pillow
  8. Decorative Veracruz Storage Box
  9. Areaware – Whale Animal Box
  10. The End Bookend
  11. Metal Rose Magnet
  12. Dog Art – Attitude is a Little Thing Wood Sign, Don’t Wait Wood Sign, Courage to Grow Up Wood Sign
  13. Blue Dahlia Faux Flowers
  14. Designer Pick-Me-Up Alarm Clock

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission, probably enough to get a stick of gum. I generally only recommend products or services on this blog that I would use personally and believe you will find cool as well. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Kids Bedroom Ideas: When They Share a Room

December 6th, 2010 | Posted by ideaqueen in Kids Bedroom Ideas - (Comments Off)

One of these things is not like the other. And sometimes, it’s your children. My sister and I could barely be more different and we had to share a room most of our childhood. If you’re in a similar situation, you might have a fight on your hands when it comes to decorating the kids bedroom.

So, how to handle differing personalities, ideas and wishes? Here’s the three options I came up with.

Negotiate
Try to find the common ground. It could a particular color or style. It could a class of characters. It could be absolutely nothing. But sharpen your negotiating skills to try to figure out how you can get agreement on some to most of the room elements. This could actually mean introducing an entirely new theme neither child had considered.

Examples: One boy wants cars, the other wants airplanes. A good middle ground would be a general transportation theme that brings in both elements. Or one girl wants princess, the other wants soccer. Maybe you can get them to agree on the color pink, then allow for separate accessories.

Dictate
This was how my mom handled things when I was young. I don’t remember having a say in the pink and green Holly Hobby decor that went in our shared bedroom. She just decided and it was done. If you have easy going kids or know them well enough to develop something they’ll like but never think of on their own, this might be an option for you. Or it could just be your final stand in the negotiations where if they can’t work out the difference, you’ll decide for them.

Give Up
This is where my sister-in-law found herself recently. Her two boys came to agreement on their room, but the girls – not so much. Part of the struggle was age differences, which lead to vastly different tastes and interests. They couldn’t agree on a color or theme. So, their room is pretty much a hodge-podge with teapots painted on the wall (left over from the nursery), Tinkerbell on one bed and hot pink cheetah on the other. It’s not the most-pulled together, well-decorated room, for sure. But each child got what they wanted in their own little piece of it and they’re happy. Which is what matters in the end, right?

How did you handle a difference of opinion in decorating with kids who share a room? Love to hear your tips!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission, probably enough to get a stick of gum. I generally only recommend products or services on this blog that I would use personally and believe you will find cool as well. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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