Semi-Homemade Bedrooms: Big Boy's Vintage Trucks

I'm finally sharing Gman's big boy room with y'all!  And I'll let you in on a secret... his room was the first one done in the new house...  and has actually BEEN done (all but switching out a chest of drawers for a black bookcase) for months... Pictures taken... Complete.  But I didn't LOVE the pics, so I kept thinking I'd retake them (because I can be a perfectionist like that).  But you know what?  Life with 3 kids and a more.than.fulltime job is crazy.  I'll never retake those pics.  So... here you go, imperfection and all!

The idea:  Vintage Trucks

The inspiration:  Gman's love of all things with wheels, but especially trucks.  This boy is ALL boy.  Except that he tells me he's not a boy, but a man.  A BIG man.  His words... ;)  So babyish themes with cartoonish vehicles was not gonna work for my lil - err - BIG!! man.

The sentimental touch (and focal point!):  The old truck of mr. fix-it's dad, aka Papa.  This old truck is now solely used on their farm and goes literally only yards in a day.  Papa loves that truck... it's a reminder of a simpler time.... and, to the kids, it's part of who Papa is.

Last June, I took several pics of Papa's truck. I took them with this room in mind (three of them hang over Gman's bed and are the focal point of the room), but I also ended up using them for Gman's Semi-Homemade Vintage Truck Birthday Party last summer.

The fun touches:  There are vintage trucks throughout the room, of course!  This one happens to be a fire truck....

My sister Ellen got Gman these vintage truck pillow cases last summer for his birthday.  I had found them on Etsy (of course!) and they are just too, too perfect!  Love 'em!  They go perfectly with the bedding I (finally!!) found him (it's Tommy Hilfiger from overstock.com, and I love the bold colors of the set, and the stars on the pillowcases!)

Remember back when we lived in the Summer House last year?  Um, yeah, I've mostly blocked it... but while we lived there, I found 2 of these great metal wall hanging on super low clearance at Hobby Lobby.  Each one has 3 vintage vehicles on it, and they're hanging on either side of his red (super cheap - $10!!) curtains.

The color scheme:  Gman's Semi-Homemade Pirate Nursery was - and maybe still is! - my favorite of all the kids' rooms I had designed at that point.  So I decided to keep the elements I loved in that room (the navy blue paint - Pittsburgh's Star Spangled - and the white beadboard) and throw in red to go for an Americana feel... to pull in the patriotism and wholesome feel of the time when Papa's truck was new.

I love the canvas hanging over this dresser.  (This dresser will soon be moved to another bedroom and replaced with a black bookshelf.  When we went shopping for Gman's big boy furniture, we found that we were drawn to black furniture.... again... somewhat similar to Sissy's... what can I say?  We're consistent.)  :)

I love this license plate frame (HL again!!) and a few more metal vintage trucks (yes, HL.  I know, I have a problem.  But the frame, and the trucks... each item was under $10!) 

And the license plate frame ties in to the picture of the US by license plate... which is hanging over the vintage red chair I found on one of my trips to Canton with Mrs. Everything.  That chair was.... are you ready?  $22.  Amazing, I know.  And I took some navy blue vinyl and put Gman's name on it - he loves that!  Lastly, the clock hanging over the door reminded me of a hubcap... and was a $12 clearance item at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I love it when a ton of clearance buys come together! 

Ahhh, looking at that last picture, with that tiny baby in the doorway.... I took these pics during my maternity leave.  Can I go back?  ;)

Happy weekend, y'all!  Next up.... the Semi-Homemade Modern Black and White Safari Nursery!

Semi-Homemade Girly Bedroom Concept #1: A Mad Hatter's Tea Party

I was originally going to share with you the millions of ideas I have come up with or come across for Alice in Wonderland parties... but.... as I thought about it more and more, I've decided:
.

Alice in Wonderland is a contender in the next theme for Big Sis's room!
.

What do y'all think? I'm going to brainstorm other ideas, too... Show you some of the details.... then maybe I'll set up a vote! ;) What's funny is, I swore to myself before I ever became a mother, that I'd never.ever.eva! do one of my child's rooms in character. But... this is kinda character couture, dontcha think? ;)

And so... concept #1..... Big Sis in Wonderland!

The inspiration:

Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton, in theaters now

The color palette:
What's awesome about this theme is how the color palette plays into Big Sis's current bedding perfectly. Woo hoo! This takes the pink & green from her bedding... color scheme from Paper Presence!

But this adds the dimension of color I want... the purple and blue that are totally necessary...

The walls:

Y'all know how much I love vinyl decals for a big bang for your buck! Lil Decal Shoppe has the cutest stuff! Like this big Alice decal

and these chess pieces! So cute, marching around the room! (Also found some fun teacups that could also be set up to parade across a room, too!)

Oh, and then you can customize the room (y'all know how much I love that!) with this decal from Personal Touches

It almost seems necessary to have a big tree decal in a corner... but it would have to be really dense, if that makes sense... and almost dark... maybe too scary! ;)

The new Alice movie is so vibrant and bold.... I'm thinking I'd want to incorporate lots of color on the walls.... and her hot pink/lime green bedding (which I don't have plans to replace yet!) would work in perfectly. Still brainstorming on details like chair rails, bead board, anything as a wall interest!

.

The furniture:

Teacup nightstand ~ I'm waiting to hear back from Donna on where to find these giant unpainted teacups.... I'm picturing painting them vibrant colors... (love the Cheshire cat one!) and then putting a tabletop on it.... as a nightstand or something! Check out the amazing Mad Hatter Tea Party she threw - love it! Here's the inspiration for the teacup nightstand:

Read me bookshelf: I love all the fun phrases in the movie! I've been thinking I'd get a (cheap!) black bookshelf for her room.... and put a vinyl decal on the side that says Read me! (a play off Eat me and Drink me!) To give you an idea, here's what I'm thinking, shown on my armoire...

A simple decal on a closet door and the closet is playing along, too! This is Big Sis's current closet.... Alice'ed up to say Dress me! (Don't ya love that font? With a viney, fantasy look?)

The repurposed table & chair set: Remember this set from Big Sis's current pink & green preppy room?

Imagine if I... spraypainted it all Cheshire Cat pink. Painted light pink stripes on the table legs. Then got a decal of the Cheshire Cat's infamous grin... to put on the tabletop? So cute!

.

The accessories:

I'm picturing fun throw pillows with lots of the catch phrases from the movie. Like "curiouser and curiouser!" Maybe "Dream This" (again, as a play on the "Eat this" and "Drink this" phrases). Appliqued white rabbits, pocket watches.... or maybe a set of 4 pillows, art prints of a heart, club, spade, diamond! These pillows would be cute in hot pink & lime green!

And you can find anything on Amazon... like this cute, plush Cheshire Cat.

The bedding: You could go over-the-top on bedding....

But we're going to stay with color-as-a-theme bedding that we already have! (At least until the next house...)
.

The lighting: last but certainly not least!

I found a very similar (maybe this exact!) chandalier last weekend when Mrs. Everything and I went to Canton. How perfect is it?

Lamps: I'd either try to fashion a lampshade out of a Mad Hatter's hat... :) or repurpose what we have to say Light me!

So..... what do ya think of this Alice in Wonderland themed bedroom?

.

The pros (as I see it):

Super fun

Super unique

.

The cons:

Too trendy (but don't forget, we only have to live with this for 2 yrs!)

Too loud (but we like loud!?)

Too character-y (anyone buying my idea of character couture?)

.

And for those just getting to know me.... my hubby is a builder and we move about every 2 years. I loooove decorating, esp kids' rooms, and if I had enough time and money, I'd go all out and do 1 of the kids' rooms every year. As in, over-the-top. But, I'm limited on both time & money, so I get creative and do it all semi-homemade!