At least one down

I haven't shared too many pics of different rooms in our house. I think it's because they all will make you think I am living in a mental institution.  No, really...most of it is a blank slate and not so exciting.

The very first room that got some attention was Charlie's room. He was three when we moved and I wanted to give him a sense of really feeling at home in our new house....so, he and I painted his room together. Can you tell yet that I get a lot of house projects done because I convince my son that it's really fun to help?

I will have to devote a post sometime to share my tips for painting walls with a preschooler. We painted the room khaki and did deep blue and red stripes at the bottom. We used a laser level to put up the tape and it worked beautifully. Props go out to my husband who helped--he was the laser level holder.

Most of the furniture in the room came from IKEA. Here is the semi-loft bed we bought for C. You can turn in upside down to have the bed part close to the floor...we started out with it like that, then flipped it once he got older. It is pretty cool to climb up and be in the bed with the bed tent over it.

You can see the sides of the bed get decorated with artwork. The underneath part has pillows, blankets and a beanbag chair.

I installed a new ceiling fan in place of the flush-mount light fixture. While I would not say that ceiling fans are the most aesthetically pleasing decor items, they serve a purpose, especially in bedrooms. I like that one...it has a bit of a modern feel to it. The flag used to hang in my mother-in-law's classroom and C and I painted the letters to spell his name.

I cut an old map someone had left in our teacher's workroom and framed a few pieces. The globe was also a cast-off from someone's classroom. Probably because it still says "East Germany" and "West Germany."

This is one of our favorite parts of the room. Charlie's art table! The chair and table were passed on to us from his Granny. There is a metal rail with hanging plastic containers that hold art supplies. I used chalkboard paint to make the chalkboard and I bought the adhesive dry-erase board at Hobby Lobby. The globe light is from IKEA. You can buy a dimmer that attaches and we keep the globe light on at night on the lowest setting while our boy dreams away. I bought the Norwegian flag in Norway one time I was there and it fit the room so well, along with the flag of the great state of Ohio.

Beside the art table, we have a clothes dresser. Hanging up are Charlie's Norwegian hats, along with some of his favorite items on top. It gets a bit junky up there...occasionally I have to clean it off and he doesn't always know! On top of the hook rail is this print:

It is a print of a little Swedish boy in traditional dress. This was a present from my mom's cousin, Marlene! I love it.

Whew, it has been a busy week! Two pep band games and conferences. So glad it is the weekend. I am excited...it is supposed to be close to 50 degrees on Sunday! I have some garden clean-up to do and the kiddies can play outside. Spring is on its way....eventually!