A Place of His Own: Boy's First Bedroom
Let’s face it, a boy’s bedroom is simply the first iteration of a future man cave. Take my oldest grandson, Matia, who is 10. The first time my son laid him in my arms, it was mutual love at first sight, and he and I have been best buds ever since.
Matia has twin sisters who, although he loves them dearly and defends them fiercely, are nonetheless the bane of his existence. So when his family moved to a bigger home and he got his own bedroom, it was a banner day. His very first act was to create a sign for his door that stated “No sisters allowed” (only not that politely).
His second act was to telecommunicate his need for a desk from the Seattle area, where he lives, to Santa Rosa, California, where we live. Message received; I scoured our local thrift stores for a perfectly ugly student-size desk. When I found one, I plunked down $10, took it home, painted it a deep Newport blue and then decoupaged it with his favorite characters from The Avengers. The Hulk climbs across the face of the desk pedestal, practically pulsating. Thor stands with his hammer high on the desktop, and Captain America’s stars march across the pencil drawer. It is actually very cool, and I was inordinately proud of myself.
When we drove it up to Seattle and put it in Matia’s room, he was ecstatic. Now his football jerseys hang above it, and even though you can never see the top because it is always covered with Matia-only-knows-what, it is the centerpiece of his room.
A boy’s bedroom is the one place in the world where his enthusiasms can be prominently and graphically represented; his colors, his sports, his books, his passions. As you will see from the rooms below, you can spend a lot or you can spend a little. If the small man in your life is fortunate enough to have his own room, share some of these ideas with him and watch his face light up.
Once you learn your new baby will be a girl or a boy, preparations of all kinds ensue. I still vividly remember that moment for us more than 35 years ago. We were into chocolate and creams and reds back then, so that was the design direction Matia’s dad’s nursery took.
These parents chose a captivating nautical theme, which is greatly enhanced by the deep blue wall. Painting the dresser the same color as the wall was a stroke of genius in this nursery.
Take great enjoyment in decorating your son’s nursery while he is still blessedly without an opinion. (If you are lucky, that will last until he is about 3, then all bets are off.) This charcoal and acid-yellow color scheme with its mix of stripes and camouflage is both masculine and stunning. And don’t you love the lime-green blanket?
What a happy room for a toddler. The colors are both soothing and bright. Paint has been used as the primary decoration, and the tree on the wall must make him want to read. As your child gets older, that can always be painted over and replaced with something he chooses and loves.
Just look at what has been accomplished in this London boy’s room with paint and a lot of vision. The only pattern added to the mix is the pillow on the bed and the striped throw. You could add more, but it is absolutely not necessary.
My grandson Kai, who is 7, gives every indication of growing up to be an architect. No matter where he is, he finds something to build with. He would go bonkers over this inventive and colorful Lego headboard. The very broad painted gray and white horizontal stripes that wrap the room’s walls complement and ground the bright colors, and will work equally well when this little guy outgrows the Lego look.
While we are talking about color on the walls, take a gander at the lively green in this room.
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that I am a rabid Seattle Seahawks fan, so any room in these colors is going to garner my approval. But this is so well done! The blue and white stripes of the closet, and the deep blue bedspread, complete a winning look for not much more than the price of paint.
Same color scheme, different application. (There must be a lot of Seahawks fans!) Here the blue and white stripes cover an entire wall and are repeated in the bedding, while the expanse of green ties everything together and calms the scheme.
How to paint perfect wall stripes
You simply cannot go wrong with stripes in a boy’s room. Just be sure that the rest of the room has lots of solids — like the bedspread shown here — so that your eyes don’t start to twirl.
Boys' bedrooms provide a stellar opportunity to go thematic. I assume this young man loves sailing, and his room lets the world know that. Kidsntoddlersbeds has an enormous selection of beds for kids in every theme imaginable.
The thematic look here must have required a lot of blood, sweat, and tears on the part of some adult in this boy’s life. But how inviting to him it must be. The study area below, with its chalkboard walls, and the bed above, accessed by a ladder that begs to be climbed, create a serious problem for the parents: The threat to send their son to his room has lost all its bite.
My sons stubbornly eschewed the use of dresser drawers. Everything went on the floor. Perhaps this highly functional and great-looking locker would have made them more amenable to putting their clothes away.
It really is so practical; just enough room in each cubbie for a few clothes, so they don’t have to look under anything. I have spent half my life responding to “Mom, I can’t find my shoes, my shirt, my keys, my homework, my wallet, my backpack, my helmet …” ad infinitum.
This is the ultimate in recycling and repurposing. I like to believe that it was Grandpa’s or Great-Uncle’s truck. Even if it wasn’t, it begs to tell us its story. (Don’t you wonder how they got it in the house?)
Team pennants are an inexpensive and personal way to decorate a wall. They provide myriad options for color schemes, and a young man is not likely to outgrow them.
Talk about indulging the baseball fan in your home. This is just awesome, and the bookcases with drawers below that flank the bed are a very functional use of space and create a cozy alcove. The trundle bed invites him to welcome his friends.
In our experience “chill” is excellent advice for boys from the ages of about 11 to 25. The charcoal walls of this room and the minimalistic decor are soothing for raging hormones, while looking very cool and adult. Kudos to these parents for creating the perfect room for a teenager.
Sometimes your college grad returns for a time to the nest he so eagerly departed just a few short years ago. An excellent design tool for young men is to pick one thing they really respond to and let it guide the room. An advertising poster like this one not only informs the modern and sleek color scheme, but it will continue to please once Mom and Dad get the room back again.
This sign says it all. For all of us, decorating our sons’ bedrooms has the same purpose and goal as every other room in our homes. We want them to have a place where they feel safe and welcomed, where they are free to explore who they are, to discover what they love and where their passions lie.
By the way, if you are thinking that you will never survive your sons’ teenage years, I can tell you from personal experience you will! And once they are grown, it will have been so worth it.
