Hello friends! Today I’m so excited to share our boys’ room makeover, complete with a paneled bunk bed nook, timeless colors & so many lovely vintage finds. We also have the sweetest family news to share. Our second baby, born this summer, is a boy! Matt and I are both delighted, and we truly love saying “the boys.” You can watch the whole makeover in the video below, then read on for all the paint colors, sources, AI mockups & decorating details!
Starting with a Dream, a Prayer, & a Quilt
This story really starts with years of waiting, dreaming, and praying for a child. After years of waiting, we found out I was expecting a little boy. While we waited for him to arrive, I wanted to make him something special, all his own that he could treasure for years. So, I made him a quilt with muted Americana colors and a nautical twist.
When we began, this small boy’s room was really just a white box. It had a bifold-door closet, and beside it was a wall of original wood built-ins. There were upper cabinets, an arched mirror niche over a laminate counter & two banks of drawers.
Creating a Timeless Shared Boys’ Room
Our goal was a timeless room the boys could grow into, with classic materials, Americana colors & just a little nautical flavor, versus a nursery they’d outgrow in a year or two. The inspiration came from the bedroom we created for our older son in our previous house. It never felt like a primary-colored nursery. It was really a little boy’s room he could grow into.
We carried over the same color scheme, the thrifted art & many of the decorative pieces. You can see more of that home in our English country home tour. Because we wanted this room to last, we spent more on real wood tongue-and-groove, real brass hardware, paneled closet doors & a real wool rug. I’ve shared more about choosing real materials that make a home feel timeless.
How Our Bunk Bed Nook Plan Changed
My original Pinterest inspiration showed elaborate built-in bunks with fancy woodwork on the guardrail and drawers beneath the bottom bunk. They were absolutely amazing! However, the woodworking felt like a bit much for the season of life that we’re in, and it would lock the room into being a bedroom, ~ and we wanted greater flexibility long-term. It would also cost more in materials.
Instead, Matt built a simple paneled nook that holds freestanding, stackable bunk beds. Someday, the nook could hold a daybed or even a desk for a little home office. I love that the room can change with our family.
Making AI Room Mockups with ChatGPT
I always begin a room design with a collection of images on Pinterest as my mood board. My new second step in designing a space is creating an AI mockup image! Imagining a finished room from a mood board on Pinterest is a natural step for some, but not for everyone. Having a mockup image easily conveyed my ideas to Matt and put us on the same page quickly. The mockups weren’t meant to replace the mood board. They simply helped us see how all those ideas might work together in our actual room. Here’s the original bedroom with the dated built-ins.
Here’s how you can make a ChatGPT mockup of your own room:
- Take clear photos. Photograph the room from several angles. I took straight, clear photos from three different sides of this room.
- Add your inspiration. Give ChatGPT your favorite Pinterest pins, then ask it to add the colors, trim & architectural details you love.
- Add your actual furnishings. If possible, upload photos of the real art, furniture, and light fixture you plan to use. The framed art in our mockups is art we already owned, which made the images feel much more realistic.
Here is the AI mockup.
Here is the actual, finished room! The similarity is amazing!
Building the New Bunk Bed Nook
I’m a minimalist when it comes to clothing and toys. Our boys don’t have large wardrobes or piles of toys, so the room had far more storage than they needed. The built-ins also took up a big portion of this little room. By removing them, rebuilding a much smaller closet & adding stackable bunks, we gave the boys more open floor space to play.
Matt removed the carpet and pad along with the closet and built-ins. After removing the built-ins, closet, carpet & pad, he rebuilt the closet at a much smaller size to allow room for the bunk beds. Next, he installed a chair rail around the room, with real wood tongue-and-groove below it. Inside the nook, we skipped the chair rail. The tongue-and-groove runs from floor to ceiling across the back wall and left wall.
Matt also added crown molding, new baseboards, new window trim & a proper windowsill. Having the window trimmed and painted gave it a more elevated, handcrafted look. It’s a wonderful example of how chair rail and woodwork give a room good bones.
For just a moment, we were tempted to leave all that beautiful raw pine unpainted… but decided to stick with our original plan. The bunk beds were a very snug fit. We measured the beds and built the closet, then chose real quarter-inch-thick tongue and groove instead of thinner grooved sheets. We hadn’t considered the extra thickness on three sides! Thankfully, the beds fit. Barely…
The Three Paint Colors
- Walls above the chair rail and ceiling: Ivory Lace by Sherwin-Williams SW 7013. It’s the same soft cream we used on our kitchen upper cabinets.
- All trim: Morning at Sea by Sherwin-Williams SW 9634. This includes the crown molding, baseboards, chair rail, window trim, bedroom door & closet doors.
- Tongue and groove: A custom lighter blue made from diluted samples of Morning at Sea.
That lighter blue took three or four tries! “Lighten by 50%” and “lighten to 50%” mean different things at the paint counter, and we ended up with one color that was too light and another that was too dark. The funny part is that Matt and I own a paint company. We talk about color, sheen & undertones with customers every day! In the end, we hand-mixed all our samples until the blue was light enough. Color is tricky, but it’s worth getting right.
Brass Hardware & Solid Wood Doors
We installed new six-panel closet doors with real hand-made brass knobs. The existing bedroom door is a solid wood six-panel door, so it stayed. We simply added a new, high-quality solid brass knob.
When Matt installed the doorknob and turned the handle, he said, “Oh, this is nice. You really can tell from the feel of this that it’s quality.” You really can feel the difference every time you open the door.
Furnishing the Vintage Boys’ Room
Most of the furniture and décor came from Facebook Marketplace, thrift stores & antique shops. You know how much I love using affordable thrifted and antique décor to give a room character!
The stackable wooden bunk beds came from Marketplace. The little acorn-shaped finials immediately caught my eye. They’re darling without feeling girly or overly ornate, with just enough detail to look vintage.
The British campaign-style chest also came from Marketplace. I’d searched for campaign furniture for about three years, ever since we decorated the first nursery. Pieces rarely appear in our area, and when they do, they’re usually beyond our budget.
This one appeared when I wasn’t even looking. It is in incredible condition and was a good price at $320 because the owners had moved and it didn’t fit their new home. It’s tall, so it offers more storage without taking up a larger footprint. As of the time I’m writing this post, there is another campaign dresser on Marketplace right now for $700.
The vintage metal tole light fixture is one of a pair we bought on Marketplace several years ago for about $50. It was nice to save on the vintage fixture after spending a bit more on the chest of drawers. We added replacement candle covers that look like real beeswax candles, and it’s just absolutely perfect.
A friend spotted the antique English waterfall bookcase at an antique shop for $65. It’s shallow and not full height, so the scale is lovely in this small room. It holds children’s books, fire trucks & tractors. For storage, the boys now have the campaign chest, a smaller closet, and three containers that slide beneath the bed. Because they don’t own much, that’s plenty.
The One New Piece
The patterned, hand-tufted wool rug from Bed Bath & Beyond was the one new piece in the room. I searched Marketplace for months, hoping to find a real vintage Persian wool rug in muted reds and blues. Every rug sold before I could pick it up, or the seller was squirrely.
Then I discovered that Bed Bath & Beyond carries real wool, hand-tufted rugs in many styles and standard sizes. Some were even less than the Marketplace rugs, and they could be returned. Wool wears well, washes well & hides stains. A beautiful wool rug can move from room to room and house to house, which makes it a worthwhile investment.
Thrifted Art Gives the Room Its Voice
Most of the artwork was carried over from our older son’s first room, or found secondhand at thrift and antique shops. More than any other step, hanging the art brought this room together. It unified the colors, made the style clear & gave the room its voice.
Thank you for joining us for this boys’ room makeover! I hope this room gives you a few ideas for thrifted, antique, DIY renovations in your home!
Warmly,
Rachel
Shop the Room
*Some of these are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
- Solid brass bedroom doorknob, Amazon
- Under-bed storage containers, Amazon*
- Rattan tissue box cover, Amazon*
- Sailboat & whale sheet sets, Amazon*
- Closet door knobs, Etsy*
- Bamboo blinds, blinds.com* (more in The Best Bamboo Blinds for a Cozy Bedroom & Are Bamboo Blinds in Style?)
- Hand-tufted wool rug, Bed Bath & Beyond
- Paint: Ivory Lace SW 7013 and Morning at Sea SW 9634, Sherwin-Williams
