A little back story about our house. My mom found it for us in 2005 and said “Well, the house isn’t much to look at, but the yard is amazing and you can build a pool there!” My mom was a real estate queen. And she was right. She also described (accurately) that kitchens should be measured in “butts” as a unit of measure. Think about it. I have a 2 butt kitchen. No more than 2 butts can be in the kitchen at any given time or you’re stepping over people. You’re going to use butts as a unit of measure now, aren’t you? 😉
Well, when we bought this house we thought we’d be here no more than 3 years. And then the housing market crashed. Well, now we’ll be at this address a LONG time. So, in my “embrace” theme of 2013, I’m embracing my house for what it is. And I’m going to make it the best space I can (on a budget of course). So, I’ve committed to making over one space a month in my home. First up for January was the boys room.
My husband gave me a bit of a hard time that Delaney had the best decorated room in the house. And he’s right. But, in my defense, the boys room was the best decorated room in the house when they were in the nursery too.
What I wanted for the boys room. Something classic and traditional in design but with some fun and color too. This room will probably be like this for a number of years.
This room has s-l-o-w-l-y evolved. When Carter moved into this room it was bunk beds. And toys. That’s it. And thanks to Richie’s woodworker uncle, he made us some fabulous built-ins to match the bunk beds and we’ve now finished it!
So when you walk in the room and look straight ahead, this is what you see.
See those curtains? So proud of myself here. Those are a duvet cover from Target (on clearance for $17, no less!!!). It’s a king size I cut in half lengthwise. Pretty budget savvy, heh? I wanted the Pottery Barn Kids Rugby stripe panels, but didn’t have the budget here.
The shelves are the built ins built by Richie’s uncle. I used baskets we already had, and affixed chalkboard labels to white cardstock, punched a hole and tied them on with raffia ribbon. And I used a chalk marker to label everything in the room. 
The chevron boxes? Yeah. Those were a labor of love (and a bit of stupidity, but we’ll just call it love, ok?).
I found a pinterest tutorial about how a mom covered cardboard boxes for storage. “I can do that!”, I said to myself. Heh. Here is the tutorial. So one week, a lot of cutting, a lot of mess, and a seriously busted thumb later, they were done. I do love them. But they are chock full of flaws. The boys love them and I adore the color and pattern. So there ya go. 
That (above) is the boys dresser. Yes, by now I’ve stained the knobs. Don’t judge. I also want to get a globe for them for their dresser, but I’m still on the hunt.
Those are glass jars from Walmart where I drop all the miscellaneous parts to transformers, star wars, etc on a daily basis. Makes me batty to have tiny parts lying around. Especially since Laney is on the floor so much and on the move!
This is the other set of shelves. I made the rugby boxes just like the chevron ones here.
Below is their closet storage. Having 2 boys into 2 very different styles of toys means a LOT of stuff and a big need to keep it all organized.
I love this little space here! I found the pennant on etsy. The prints in the frames were from zulily a LONG time ago. And the frames are from my frame vendor. They just happen to tie in with the chairs and the sheets on their bed (see below) really well. They adore those chairs too. Take them to the living room to watch movies or sit in them in their room. A huge hit. They are the Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chairs in Navy Madras. I came darn close to getting them the madras quilts but decided to go a bit more neutral there. 
These are their bunk beds. They have duvet covers (I adore them. We recently potty trained Bodie and I was so thankful for just peeling off a duvet cover to wash). Their sheets are from PBK from a few years ago. I love them. And bonus of using a duvet for the curtains because I had the sham that came with it as well! SCORE!
I used their names on the wall from craftcuts.com. Great company! And then I hung prints of the boys from our recent holiday session with Kimberly Svenson of Fanciful Photography and our summer family session with Lori of Cayden Lane Photography
Underbed boxes are a big help in this room. 
And of course my kids were busy playing while I took these photos. Just some everyday life with the Dunlaps here. 
Sweet baby loves watching her big brothers play.
