Inspiration for the Big Boy Room

When my oldest child moved out of his crib into his big boy space, my husband and I had a blast creating his airplane room.  We painted a world map on one entire wall.  We installed a shelving unit shaped like the front of an airplane on another wall.  (An amazing find at an antique store.)  And we picked out very handsome furniture and an airplane quilt to top off the theme.  This wasn't some bought-it-at-Walmart decorated room.  It was really cool.  Until the house flooded.  

Now, my youngest son is getting to the age where we need to make some decisions about his sleeping arrangement.  Since his brother's furniture was ruined in our Great Flood, we've decided that it might be a good time to let him share a room with his brother.  As a result, we've been considering how best to create dual sleeping arrangements in a typically small child's bedroom.  Do you use bunk beds, parallel twin beds, or perpendicular beds in the corner?

We've been in and out of stores checking children's furniture and/or decor.  And of course, we've found inspiration for our future boys' room at Pottery Barn.  Not all the pieces of furniture or decorations in the pictures below are for sale, but these pictures are proof that it is possible to put 2 (or more) children in a room together while maintaining style and class.

Oh, if only I had a carpenter who could install some of these architectural features in my house!  And if only I had a maid to keep our rooms this clean!  These rooms are like Mommy Heaven.  Unfortunately, the dimensions on some of these beds are just completely unrealistic for a normal size room.  Still, that doesn't mean that Mommy can't be inspired. 

I'm sure that someday my boys won't care at all about how their bedroom was decorated when they were toddlers.  But Mommy will remember.  She'll think back to those sweet memories of little boys building trains on the floor and she'll smile about how cute they were in their fantastic big boy room. 

Stay tuned...Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to show how this inspiration was translated into our space.