BEFORE & AFTER: Boy’s Blue Accent Wall Bedroom Makeover!
I’m so happy that I finally completed this boy’s bedroom makeover! My son loves his new blue bedroom with orange accents!
If you like this bedroom makeover, be sure to check out my other boys’ green bedroom makeover as well as my own master bedroom makeover.
BEFORE
AFTER!
I thought people were pulling my leg when they said that it takes years to pull a house together.
“Years?? Come on…you’re kidding, right?”
I thought we’d move into this old 1973 home, being the young, zealous, excited new homeowners that we were, and just….renovate. Yep, remove all that wallpaper…paint this wall and that wall…and really turn this house into a hip, happening home.
Umm……yeah, right!
My latest room makeover epitomizes the idea that it takes years to make a house a home.
Doggonit, if they weren’t right!
Materials & Furnishings For Boys Bedroom Makeover
Below is a list of materials and furnishings that helped me to complete this blue bedroom with orange accents!
(My blog participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for my blog to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites).
- Behr Mosaic Blue wall paint
- Behr Emergency Zone organe paint (this isn’t the one I used, but is a good option for this dark blue room as an accent color)
- Black spray paint on existing curtain rod
- DIY copper piping headboard with built-in bookshelf
- Wagner wallpaper steamer
- IKEA curtains
- IKEA rug
- IKEA bedspread
- Target lounge chair
- Mid-Century Modern Dresser
- Black chalkboard spray paint
- Chalk paint
Rewind to 2010….
Let’s take a walk through time, shall we??
Out of all the crazy wallpaper in this home, the wallpaper in what would be the baby’s nursery took the grand prize.
BEFORE – Boys Bedroom Makeover
The floral awfulness needed to come down immediately.
Hubby and I ripped it down (when removing wallpaper, this wallpaper steamer on Amazon is a great tool!) and scraped the residue off the walls.
We were left with yellow underneath, and piles and piles of a sticky mess!
I was hugely pregnant with Kojo (baby #3), but that didn’t stop me from painting it a baby blue, and even got my other boys involved.
(OMG, I was so doggone big!!)
The Junk Collector
Despite the fact that the walls were done (and there was a crib in there) Kojo never used that room as a nursery. All that wallpaper removed but we never even really finished the room!
He slept with us until age 2, and then he moved over to the other bedroom with his brothers.
Over time, it just became a room to hold baby junk that we weren’t using anymore!
RELATED: BEFORE & AFTER: Upcycled Changing Table Into a Desk!
My Oldest Boy Claims the Room!
My sister gave us this mattress and box spring which were perfect for this “blah” of a room. At the very least, I thought we would have a guest room for the non-existent guests we get. 😉
But my oldest boy, when he saw the bed in that room, jumped on it and claimed the room as his.
Plus, when kids get to a certain age, they like their space, right?
But poor Kwabena…The room sat like this for at least a solid year–with baby blue walls that were once so promising, but was now outdated for a tween!
He never even had proper sheets for this bed and even had to use my old ratty floral comforter! Oh, the horror!
Even worse, we still hung up the much-too-short curtains from when he was a baby years ago.
I can’t believe I let my son’s room look like this for so long. Thankfully, he never complained!
The Tween Boys Bedroom Makeover!!
Let’s take another look at how the room originally looked after we removed the wallpaper.
BEFORE – WHEN WE MOVED IN
Even trying different configurations with the furniture, it just wasn’t happening. LOL
The Boring “AFTER” …
The Tween Bedroom for My Son!
AFTER!
One of my favorite additions to this boys bedroom makeover is the copper piping headboard with a built-in bookcase!
I can’t begin to tell you how much I love, love, love this boy bedroom makeover!
But the first problem I ran into what: What color am I going to paint the walls?
My Friend Said Blue Is Boring
I envisioned an accent wall with something pretty, like this Behr Mosaic Blue and light gray on the other walls.
My best friend, however, sighed, “Oh, blue is boring? Why don’t you do a kelly green?”
Well, first of all, I had to look up what in the world kelly green looked like….. [insert head scratch here].
Then I decided to trust my gut (and the comments from you all on Facebook), and I went with Mosaic Blue!
Dark colors scare me, so I was still a little unsure this would look right, but hey–it’s paint. You can always change it if it doesn’t work out, right??
And since this was only using 1 quart for the accent wall, why not give it a try??
Related: How I Overcame My Fear of Painting My Walls a Dark Color
When it was done, I knew it was the right choice! It wasn’t a dark boring navy blue.
This blue had life in it!
So I kept going, ignoring my friend’s negativity in my ear.
I love to reuse as much as I can with a room makeover, so I just spray painted the existing curtain rod black.
Then I bought some cheap thin white curtains from IKEA for $10.
The Copper Piping Headboard!
My son loves to read, but I didn’t have any place in his room to hold his favorite books (dude, he’s read the entire Harry Potter series four times already!!).
Copper piping is much easier to work with than I imagined (although it can be pricey). I can’t wait to do my next project with it!
I worried that books would fall on his head, but thankfully, they tend to stay put!
But I was sure to space the pipes exactly wide enough to comfortably hold them without them shifting around.
Plus, it’s anchored to the wall. This thing ain’t goin’ nowhere!
The little reading lamp came from IKEA ($10) so he can stay up and read it he likes, which he usually loves to do!
The Desk Area!
When we moved in years ago, we’d found this old desk on the side of the road in our neighborhood. It’s solid wood, a bit ugly, but….well….free…
Who can argue with FREE??
For the life of me, I can’t find the BEFORE picture!
Oh well…..just know that the AFTER looks much different, with a coat of Annie Sloan Paris Gray and some shades of orange accents to compliment the blue walls! I don’t remember what color orange paint I used, but I chose a deep orange since the blue paint was so deep.
RELATED: What’s the Best Paint For Furniture?
The Little Shelf!
We had gotten rid of this old IKEA dresser from our master bedroom makeover, but I had kept the pine top as scrap wood. It came in handy and I ended up cutting a piece of it and painting it orange to use for a small shelf above the desk with IKEA shelf brackets!
BEFORE
AFTER – As a bookshelf!
Watch This Project in Action!
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The chalkboard was thrifted years ago and I sprayed it down with some chalkboard spray paint and painted the edges to match the desk!
The dresser was a $20 mid-century modern dresser was thrifted and I had refinished that some time ago.
RELATED: Click here to see this mid-century mod dresser makeover tutorial.
The lamp I still need to make over, but the lamp and the shade both came from the thrift store years ago.
The chair was a $5.00 mid-century modern thrifted chair (which I may decide to re-cover or replace. Not sure yet.
The rug is IKEA.
And the big “K” was cut from scrap wood I had with my jigsaw and painted it orange!
But if you don’t have a jigsaw and want to just buy orange letters, you can find large letters on Amazon.
Related: Learn how to use a jigsaw–the easiest tutorial for beginners!
The Big ‘Ole Maryland Map
I was in luck this week when school ended and my son came home with this big ‘ole map of Maryland, where we live!
I used spray adhesive and mounted it to some scrap wood I had on hand.
Because I didn’t have a frame for it, I just painted a gray and white border around it to help define it!
The strings of lantern lights and corner chair are from Target! ($5 for a strand on clearance!).
I need to find a better way to position them so they don’t look so spotty and random, but I love the cozy touch they give the room!
The little bench with the stuffed animals is thrifted and was painted some time ago with Annie Sloan Florence.
Let’s Talk Budget
This is the part that I always hate.
I’m so bad about keeping track of what I’ve spent. I do try to reuse what I have, but sometimes, you just have to buy things.
The materials for the headboard were sponsored by The Home Depot for the DIY Challenge. Those materials came to about $100.
Paint…comforter…rug…wall anchors…clock…
Jeez, I have no idea. If I had to guess, I would say probably $300 or less.
Maybe after I publish this post I’ll go tally it up. 😉
But considering that I’ll probably not do another room makeover until my son has facial hair….well, this makeover will get a lot of life out of it! LOL
Perfect For My Boy!
It’s funny to look back at this picture of him from years ago, helping to paint what would one day become his own room!
BEFORE
BEFORE
AFTER!
This is the room he will grow up in.
I mean, he’s now double digits. Double digits!
Hopefully, this room will be the fond memory he thinks of when he’s a grown man looking back on his life when he was a kid, remembering the cozy bedroom that Mommy created for him.
Plus, I want to look back on my kids’ younger years and know that I gave them the best I could.
My husband came over into the room as I was finishing it up and asked, “Do you think this was worth all the effort?”
Umm….do you even need to ask??
Of course, it was!
Down to the minute details of washing the ceiling fan blades and repainting them–YES!
Because when I give my best, I’ll never have to question anything I do.
And in this room–I did my best in the 1 week time period I had!
Like this boys bedroom makeover? Save it on Pinterest!
So what do you think?!
I hope you love it as much as I do!
Even if it’s not perfect, it’s a BIG step up from where we started!
And I hope this blue bedroom with orange accents boys room makeover inspires you to see that you, too, can transform a room with just paint, a few furnishings, and a vision!
And as long as my baby is happy, I am stoked!
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I love the makeover. That blue is striking and using it as an accent wall colour was a super idea. I’m impressed that you were able to take it from a “storage space” to a lovely bedroom in a week! I do like the bookcase — what a great idea.
Hi, Karen! I know…a week is insane! The whole thing just started as me building this bookcase for The Home Depot challenge but then I thought, why not do the entire room?? 🙂 You surely can’t add a new copper pipe headboard and NOT do the room, you know? I could have had a lot more time, but with all the travel and stuff I had going on recently, there was no way to start any sooner. I just worked like a maniac for a week and got it done! 🙂 So glad you like it!
Very nice!!! Love all the DIYs and love that you put into them!!!
You said it perfectly, Elle: love! Yes….no detail gets overlooked, if I can help it! 🙂 And seeing his smiling face is worth it! Thanks for commenting!
There is absolutely nothing boring in this bedroom. The blue is a bright energizing color, subdued only by the soft gray walls. I love the desk area with the pops of orange. I also like the book rack from the copper tubing above the bed. I’m sure your son will be happy there for years!
Thank you, Barb! What a great word–energizing! That’s a great work to describe it! When I had told my friend I was painting it blue, maybe she thought I had another blue in mind. But when the light hits it and it bounces back this rich blue–well, you’re right, that’s not boring at all! 🙂 Thank you for checking out my project and for leaving such awesome feedback!
What a lucky young man to get his own room. As usual, you’ve poured love and interest into all the details. I was always reading as a child and would have loved my own bookcase. I’ll bet he appreciates that detail most of all: a custom headboard and bookshelf, made by mom, to call his own.
Navy blue and orange look nice together, it’s especially nice to have it framed by the green view and the white drapes. Man, I love Ikea.
As for the starting wallpaper, eeek! Not only is it…homely…but that print makes a small room look even smaller. It must feel good to have another room under your belt, filled with custom treasures. Good job, Mom.
Hi, Alys!! Another great comment from you! 🙂 You’re right–the wallpaper was hideous and made it feel really small. It’s nice walking dow the hall and looking into his room to see a finished place that looks so polished. Last night my son and I were standing in the hallway looking at his room and his brothers’ room side by side and–OMG–the difference is so drastic! It made me feel sorry for my other boys having to live in that “dumb” room as my 4-year old called it. LOL. I’ll be working on my patio for the upcoming Outdoor Overhaul Patio Makeover Challenge (details coming next week), but I’d like to try to work on their room at the same time, if possible. They deserve a nice room, too. I feel inspired to just get all the rooms done now! LOL
I love it, and it looks like he does, too – his very own happy place. It’s also a room he can easily grow into. Great work!
He absolutely loves it, Linda! 🙂 Thank you! Last night I took them to IKEA (my youngest ones like to play in the kids area), and when we got back last night, my son was so thrilled to go to his room and put on his jammies. He started spinning in circles, dressed only in his boxers, like the little puppy that he is, and it was such a joyful and funny sight to see! Thank you for commenting!
This Blue is not boring. It is beautiful and with the white it really pops.you did a great job on the
changing table turned desk. I also like the copper book shelf. This young man should be mighty proud of
his mother for such a great job.
Thanks, Betty! Hopefully when I’m old and gray, they’ll tell their kids stories about the things their grandmother used to make for them. 🙂 Ahhh…those will be good stories! 🙂
You did a great job with his room! I am sure that the is going to be one proud “ten” year old!!! Love how you did the bookshelf with the copper! My husband and I use copper to make jewelry with!! I love IKEA they have such great ideas!! I agree about the lamp! The shade is a “show” piece but I would do something with the lamp itself! And I love the BLUE and Orange!! (I am an Auburn fan-our colors!! )
Oooh, I want to see some pictures of your copper jewelry! So funny, because while I was cutting the copper piping, I realized that some of the pieces looked like rings! So I made this for myself:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153650674398085&set=a.372236993084.154918.654423084&type=3&theater
The only thing is that it turned my finger green after a short while! Do you make rings with the copper? I was thinking I could coat it with clear nail polish on the inside so it doesn’t turn my finger green!
Forgot to mention….so funny you mention that, Lou Ann, about Auburn! I knew there was SOME school with those colors, so I knew that it could work! LOL.
I actually think that there might be more than one with those colors!! You also have the Padres baseball team and some other sports teams!!
What a fun room for a young man! You did a great job and I’m sure K will love it for years to come. He can even pick it up and move it to his college dorm, although they might not let him paint the room. LOL! I don’t know how you come up with all the ideas you have, but they’re awesome! Orange has never been a favorite of mine, but I like the way the room turned out with the muted tones! I think I could actually live in it, and that’s a real compliment to you!
So funny you mention that, Teckla, I was thinking the same thing about his college dorm room! That’s what it kind of reminded me of! Even my 6-year-old had said (once I started painting the wall) that the room “looked like a teenager’s room now.” LOL You’re right, no painting allowed, but it will force me to get creative in his dorn room. UGH, that’s only 8 years away!! How could that be possible?!
So glad you like the room!!!
Serena , I am so impressed. It looks so good, so much more grown up and best of all, you used what you had. I like the way the orange pops with the blue. It is simple, happy, fresh, clean, and functional.
You did a great job…….in a WEEK!!!!! Amazing……send me some of your vitamins.
LOL, I wish I could bottle the energy I have, Joan! I’d send some your way, free of charge! 😉
I love the words you used to describe the room! Simple, happy, fresh, clean, and functional. Thank you for that!!
It looks amazing. You did a great job and I can’t wait to see the headboard tutorial. I foundmyself craning my neck aroundto read the book titles 😉 Has he read A Wrinkle in time? Think I will dig thru mineand see what titles I can suggest. My boys were really advanced in their reading skills and interests too. I can see making over the lamp base but I love the shade. Can hemake up a story about the crest on it to makeit His?
OOoh, yes, please send some titles, Susan! We were at IKEA last night reading these comments and I asked him about A Wrinkle in Time and he says he thinks he may have read some of it, but maybe not finished it. We’ll look for it at the library (and some other books that you recommend). I’d like to get him off of video games this summer and create more time for him to read, which he loves to do so much. As for the lamp, I’m leaving the shade alone, but the base will be painted!