Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 83 Comments

A Boy’s Bedroom With A Wood Plank Ceiling & Checkered Curtains

Since we don’t have any excuse to decorate a little boy’s room, we live vicariously through friends and readers. Which is one of the reasons we’re excited to share Kat and Mitch’s awesome transformation of their son Ryder’s room. They not only did a bang-up job on the whole thing (and took on lots of DIY projects to keep it affordable) it was all inspired by a free bed they found. Here’s Kat’s letter:

We just finished my son’s room and we’re so proud of how it turned out. First things first, this is what this room looked like prior… well several years ago anyway when Ryder was a baby.

Ryder Before

What made us decide it was time for a wee makeover was when I saw a metal bed in my neighbor’s burn pile one day. I didn’t want to put a new (to us) bed in a periwinkle room, so it was time for a change. 

Ryder After Full

My husband did the pallet ceiling and I painted pretty much all the furniture in the room. The color we chose for the walls is Benjamin Moore Thunder. We had the swatch on the wall in our kitchen (actually it’s still there) and whenever someone comes over they give us a weird look when they see the words “BM Thunder” underneath the swatch. Funny. And yes, gross. Unless you don’t have a twisted mind like my friends and I.

Ryder After Bed Vertical

The ceiling was a lot of time-consuming work but totally worth it and actually really not that difficult. And the best part is that Ryder loves it and can enjoy it for years to come. I know that pallet craft seems to be all the rage right now and may be just a fad, but it really does look cool.

Ryder After Ceiling Detail

The curtains and duvet cover I found at a thrift store literally days before the makeover was complete. I really didn’t think I’d be able to find anything second-handed. But wouldn’t ya know, a few days later I walked into a thrift store and found this duvet cover and two pillow shams for $3. It was the exact size I needed and it’s from Pottery Barn.

Ryder After Bed Detail

So we were able to makeover Ryder’s room on a very small budget. Actually the only things we bought new were the ceiling fan and a jelly jar sconce. Everything else came from thrift stores, auctions, or was given to us. I love the thrill of finding deals… there’s nothing like it!

Ryder After Shelf Detail

Hope you like it! – Kat

You can see more pics and details about the makeover on Kat’s blog, where she’s got loads of links to the various projects that are peppered throughout the space (including this cool bookcase they retrofitted to match the ceiling). We’re so impressed with all of the thrifty finds she incorporated into the room. No wonder Ryder loves it! What’s your favorite part?

Comments

  11. Brenda says

    When I was a kid, I used to imagine what it would be like if I could walk on the ceiling. This ceiling would be even cooler!

    Reply

    • Pamela says

      Brenda, oh my gosh! Your comment brought back such memories…I figured I was the only person in the world who, as a little girl, wished so badly I could walk on the ceiling!

  12. Lisa Marie says

    I must be really missing the dirty joke here. Am i the only one?

    “The color we chose for the walls is Benjamin Moore Thunder. We had the swatch on the wall in our kitchen (actually it’s still there) and whenever someone comes over they give us a weird look when they see the words “BM Thunder” underneath the swatch. Funny. And yes, gross. Unless you don’t have a twisted mind like my friends and I.”

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      BM = bowel movement. And a thunderous one = middle school gigglefest. You just aren’t immature enough. Haha. Take that as a compliment!

      xo,
      s

  20. Kerri says

    Love the pallet ceiling as well – never would have thought of that!

    And maybe soon there will be a reason to decorate a little boy’s room…. Clara is two after all… ;)

    Reply

  24. RLB says

    My hat’s off to the husband who did such a fine detailed job on the ceiling. I’m impressed by the tight seams and pleasing random color arrangement of the board.

    Reply

  25. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    Wow! I love it! I can’t wait to decorate my kids room (providing that Kev and I eventually are blessed with more than just the furry, four-legged, remote eating kind)!

    PS. The bed I grew up with is identical to that one! We have it in our guest bedroom now :) We found it in an old, falling down barn and rescued it. The barn fell down that winter.

    Reply

  27. Tracy says

    Did she get inspiration from Katie B? It looks like a really lovely “older kid” version of Will’s nursery. She did a great job, and I’m loving that ceiling along with everybody else.

    Reply

  32. how2home says

    LOVE the pallet ceiling omgosh, that’s definitely my favorite part of the room! “BM-thunder” lol…..my 15 months old nephew still has a tendency to do this in a projectile way to my brother and its hilarious.

    I’m considering doing a pallet ceiling in my studies room….any recommendations for a beginner DIY-er like myself?

    Reply

  34. Erika says

    I LOVE beds like that – can’t believe the neighbors were going to toss it. I have one similar that I had powder-coated (I think that’s the right term) in white.

    I love the before and after on this one! Excellent job.

    Reply

  36. Lindsay Huff says

    Favorite part of the room design = The celing. Favorite part of the article = BM Thunder. I’m still laughing about that!

    Reply

  37. Caitlin says

    OBSESSED!! My house has popcorn ceilings in all of our upstairs bedrooms (gross) and so I keep sending my husband ideas (we’re going to need a team of his friends to help when we eventually get it done). He LOVES it and I think operation un-pop the popcorn is a go!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, there are many heat treated pallets that are safe, so as long as you know how they’re treated and avoid the chemical ones you’re good! You can also seal them with a product like SafeCoat, which is also what can be used to seal lead paint!

      xo,
      s

  41. LMG says

    I am such a thrift store loser. I look ALL the time and am never able to find anything good that can be re-used. I think I live in an area that is full of people crazy about thrift-store shopping, and they manage to snag all the good stuff ASAP. :(

    Reply

  42. carla says

    Love the ceiling and that they painted the armour to match the walls – the closeup made it look like a built-in and I had to scroll back up to check. Also wondering how the neighbor was planning to burn a metal bed? Don’t think I’d want to live next door to him.

    Reply

  44. Cathy says

    I think it’s great. I like everything, but I would have to say that I just love the overall feel of it. It’s boy, but it’s not some contrived, overly theme oriented type room like some boys have (like baseball decals on the wall, dinosaurs everywhere, etc). It looks genuine.

    Reply

  46. Urban Wife says

    Wow! My favorite besides the pallet ceiling (swoon) is the metal bicycle on top of the chest.

    Reply

  47. Donna Jean says

    I love the whole room, but my favorite part is that it can grow with the child so that they don’t find themselves having to redo it in 5 years because he’s bored of whatever phase he was in when the room was done. Even the bedding can grow with him into his teen years. I know that is what we plan to do with our kids – talk about money saving!

    Reply

  48. Andrea says

    Sherry, that’s useful information about some pallets being safe — hadn’t seen it anywhere else. Also about the SafeCoat. I’ll be less afraid of pallets now, not that I’m handy enough to DIY much of anything. I live vicariously through you guys.

    Reply

  49. vanessa says

    What a beautiful ceiling!! I am in love! If my future husband doesnt stop me I might try to do my whole house like that!… haha maybe not but at least a room!

    Reply

  50. Karen says

    Oh, I really love the bed frame and that ceiling. What a great space. It really has a good, old fashioned “boy” vibe. Well done!

    Sherry, I had a dream and you were in it! You were… Ahem… In the family way ;) A sign I spend too much time thinking about the Petersik clan and your great DIY projects, I’m sure.

    I’m behind on reading posts, so I will tell you here– LOVE those red adirondacks! Well worth the moola you paid! What a fun colorful space it’s becoming!

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *