Decorating 2 Year Old Son's Bedroom

When my son was born we decided to go with an antique looking Noahs Ark border, and accompaning things in the room, toy box, wall hanging, sheets etc. With it not being "baby" colors, but the antique looking colors we were able to keep it in his room for a lot longer past his babyhood into early grade school. We really liked the way it all pulled together and didn't necessarily purchase it all in the same place. We painted the walls a parchment color to go with the browns and golds and tans in the border.
He loved the beanie baby animals we had on his shelves, and the fisherprice toys with the and Animal themes.
Daisy Kingdom used to have a cute Noah theme that was not quite so baby-ish. Here's another one www.lelandswallpaper.com/images/border1410.jpg

As a decorator I was frequently asked this question. I tend to stay away from prepackaged theme rooms, however I do love theme in general. Once you find a theme that you like or have an idea about the type of theme you are interested in, I suggest contracting a muralist. There are several different types and in various price ranges. A gifted muralist can brin life into a childs room like nothing else!

First I will say I LOVE to watch the decorating channels HGTV, etc...they are a GREAT way to come up with ideas...also, get on the mailing list for Pottery Barn Kids, Teens, Domesitcations, etc...all of these places are designed to sell you stuff but you can always take the ideas from the pictures and recreate to your hearts content.

One idea that I would like to give you would last you well into your teen years...it's a little expensive if you do a whole wall but not so much if you do a border...get the magnetic paint...you can inexpensively hang your kids posters or family pictures really cheap and keep changing them out whenever you want. Pictures can be framed really cheap with either poster board or matte board from a hobby shop.

Another idea is to go to your home repair shop and find some slick paneling that can be used as a write on wipe off board. You can use that as cheap wainscotting (like $2/yd instead of $10/yd) and the kiddo can write on the walls to his hearts content. Another idea is the chalkboard paint...a lot of people have been using that...I've veered away from it b/c of the chalk mess, but if you don't mind, it too is a great creative outlet.

If you've come up with a theme that you want, don't forget to shop ebay...a lot of parents turn over their kids rooms on a dime and you will get some great prices on full room pkgs (lamp, clock, bedding, rug, etc.) when they do this...I've bought from these kind of women before and their products are generally barely used a year if that.

With a little creativity you can do a lot! And if you don't have any creativity...borrow someone else's! LOL...Good luck.

A place I go to for inspiration is HGTV.com. You can do a bunch of searches for things you are wanting to see. Also you can go to "Rate My Space" and see what real people have done.

I found this site.

http://boysthemebedrooms.com/

Hello L.,
My son will be 2 in a month and I am having some of the same issues. I have decided to go with the themed room as well. I wanted to have something that he was excited about as he is going to be getting a big boy bed and I want him to continue to be excited to go to bed. Right now he is really into trains, planes, and trucks so that is what we are doing. I figured that we could put any kind of transportation decor in there and it would go because of the bedding that we are going to do. www.olivekids.com has some good themed rooms. Don't worry about the price! They do sell those same things in the stores at much cheaper prices. Hope you get some good ideas!

Hi L.,

I'm in the same situation w/ my two year olds room. I could not find any websites that just showed pics and ideas. I finally thought of a theme I wanted to do, but I just thought of the idea of going to a wallpaper store and looking at childrens books. Alot of the books have pics of rooms that are decorated w/ the wallpaper, so maybe you could get some good ideas. Good luck!!!