Gavin's Big Boy Room Reveal!

Well, hello there! I have an exciting post for you today.  Are you ready for photo overload?  I think that Gavin's room is finally finished enough to show you!  And by finished enough, I mean that I still don't feel that it's totally finished...but it's close enough.  :)  To be quite honest, I think this will be a room that I add to and change constantly as Gavin grows and changes.

When the twins were born, this was a storage/spare/office room.  The twins shared a room until they were about a year old, when it became impossible to keep them together.  They always woke each other up!  So we moved Gavin into this room, even though it was unfinished.  Poor Gav had to deal with a crib, and not much else.

Although I'm not really into "theme" rooms, I wanted to create something for Gavin that reflected his interests.  He LOVES being outside, and is definitely a kid who prefers to be outside rather than in.  We decided to go with a summer-camp vibe.

Here's the room last Summer:

And here it is now!

Remember the Pottery Barn-style oars I made?  Here they are, attached to the wall with industrial strength Velcro.

The room is filled with sentimental touches.  When my Dad heard that we were redoing Gavin's room, he had some things to donate to the cause.  You see, Gavin and his Pop Pop have always been special buddies.  I love that there are items in here that used to belong to my Dad.

These were his Boy Scout badges.  I hot glued them to pieces of burlap and framed them.

I found this vintage Boy Scout sash, complete with badges, at a flea market.

This tackle box was my grandfather's, my dad's dad.  I never met him, because he died the year I was born.  But my Dad passed his tackle box along to me, and I knew I wanted to use it.  It was very rusty, so I sanded it down and gave it a fresh coat of paint.  Now Gavin uses it to store whatever he wants.  His  little "guys" are guarding it today.

Here's another little collage of goodies on the wall:

We bought the G for Gavin's nursery before he was born.  It used to be white, and I spray-painted it red. I bought the Chinese Checkers board on EBay for 99 cents!  I found the Scrabble board in an old, forgotten cabinet in my school.  And the dart board was a flea market find from my Mom.  I used some more of my Dad's badges to fill in some space here...I just stuck them to the wall with sticky-tack.

Bonus points if you can find the missing Scrabble letter.  Gavin picked it off before I had the chance to hang the board.

I bought the Billy bookshelves at IKEA after being inspired by Sarah's built-ins in her little boy's room.  Oy, what an ordeal.  We purchased them in white, but they were really off-white.  And they're laminate, which makes them a real pain to paint over.  I had to prime them first with Zinsser Cover Stain, and then I painted them the same white as the wainscoting.  I hope to eventually paint the back of the shelves a contrasting color and add moulding to make them look more custom-made.

Most of the things you see on these shelves are flea market finds.  Those blue bins are from IKEA, and perfect for stashing my little guy's stuff, like all of his dress-up gear.  (I use them in my classroom, too, to store books!)

I'm just learning to sew, and this custom valance was my first project!  I love the way it completes the room.  I am obsessed with the vintage Airstream campers on the fabric.

My brother-in-law, John, is an artist, and also made a contribution to Gavin's room.  How cute are these marshmallows on sticks?  Makes me want to go camping.  He got the "sticks" at Michael's and painted them black.  The "marshmallows" are pieces of styrofoam tube that he painted white.  Love them!

Since Gavin can't reach the light switch on his own, I had to add this adorable stool that my mom found:

And now on to the things that aren't quite finished.  I made a great lamp out of an old jug, but haven't found a lampshade to go with it just yet.

Also, I have this great pair of vintage skis, but I'm not sure where to put them.  Hanging them on the wall feels a little T.G.I.  Fridays to me.  Any ideas?

Thanks for taking the tour with me today!  I'd love to hear your feedback! :)

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