Colorful, eclectic Boy Bedroom

When we moved into this home two years ago, one of the first rooms I decorated was my son’s.  It’s where inspiration struck first, and I had so much fun creating custom framed engineer prints, pallet art, and industrial pendant lighting. I loved everything about it, and declared his room, “done.”

However, he has since graduated to a bigger bed…which required new bedding…and while I was at it, I decided his room was missing color, and elements that better reflect his personality. Since he’s a little bigger now, he deserves to have a new big boy room to go with it!

My design style, if I had to describe it,  is an eclectic mix of colorful, vintage and updated traditional. Today I’m going to reveal his colorful / preppy / rustic /  vintage big boy room. Hopefully, this will give you some inspiration on decorating your son’s bedroom and try some of the same things too!

My son is a bookish, computery sort of dude, so when I asked him about what he’d like to see in his room that both reflect his personality and make him happy, he told me he has so many interests, he’d hate to narrow it to just one. ‘Atta boy! Let’s get to his bedroom makeover ideas.

So I went with our collective eclectic vision, on a budget.

I tend to try to invest in a few important, quality pieces as a foundation in my decor, and supplement with DIY or thrifted items, and that’s exactly what happened for this bedroom makeover.

Central to my vision is this rug that we found online and fell love with. Not only does it match the existing elements in his room, but it added to and brightened the color palette we envisioned.

Working with that foundation, I thrifted some vintage items I knew he’d love: a globe, croquet balls, and a book collection. I also picked up a fun pom tablecloth that worked perfect in his “toy box.” He may be a big kid, but he’s still sentimental about his stuffed animals. If you recognize the green thing and the pixelated thing…well, solidarity, my dear mom friends.

I just love monograms. I think that’s pretty obvious. When I found this vintage varsity letter online, I had to have it. My mom affixed it to this pillow I found on clearance.

I mentioned earlier that my son is a bookworm, which means he reads at least 30+ minutes each night before bed, and has more books than I knew a 9 year old could possess. Still, I’m glad he is such an avid reader,  and I want to support his love for books. I bought this vintage crate to stack a large slew of his books, right next to his bed where he reads at night. I thrifted this old chalkboard that he likes writing his witty thoughts on..

I finally found a home for some gold foil map art I’d never gotten around to hanging, and I added a pristine linen print that had been my grandmother’s. This piece (perhaps a dish towel?)  had clearly been in storage for a very long time, and there was no ironing that seam out. When it was hung up, I decided it suited the casual vibe of the room.

Of course, we still have his custom framed engineer prints and the thrifted dresser we painted when we originally decorated his room. I’m happy to say these prints are holding up beautifully, and remain one of my favorite things in the whole house.

The biggest wall in his room was still blank, and I was wracking my brain trying to come up with something visually pleasing but inexpensive and practical.

I settled on the idea of using the crib springs we had in storage as a command center of sorts.

When I saw these pennant banners , I knew I had to have them. I love that when he’s lying in bed he will be looking at these words and soaking them in.

I spray painted some craft buckets we had on hand and I hung them using some unused curtain clips

This completed the bedroom wall decor makeover we were looking for.

He told me he’d really like a shelf in his room. Since I eventually plan to build a floating desk under this grid, I opted to upcycle some belts and a piece of wood to hang a small shelf right on his command center.

He couldn’t be more thrilled with his updated boy bedroom.

I love everything about this space now, except the pile of clothes and books that are usually strewn across the room. Mom reality, people! For now though, I look at this unusually clean perspective of my growing boy’s room, and smile. If you like any of our bedroom makeover decor or have tried it in your own son’s bedroom, please share your pictures below and tell me how they like it!

What do you think of my son’s finished big boy room? Please let me know in the comments below!

Source List:

• Rug: Birch Lane Kids
• Pennant Banners: Mary & Martha
• Map Art: Minted
• Bedding: Target
• Engineer Prints
• Pallet Wall Art

*Some items in this post, Big Boy Bedroom,  were provided by sponsors in exchange for sharing about them. All items were chosen by us and all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Affiliate links are used at no extra cost to you.