Stick A Fork In It

I’m done.

D - O - N - E ...

... done.

With a capital d.  Or is it D?

Either way, it was just about a year ago that I first started plotting my teen son’s room remodel.  Pulling inspiration and storing them on my hard drive …

… this was in my pre-Pinterest days.

When I asked my son what he wanted, his only request was orange.  It’s been his all-time favorite color for as long as he could say the word (and perhaps it’s because I dressed him in orange when we went to the park so I could spot him right away …)

But there was no way I was going 360 floor-to-ceiling orange. That seemed overwhelming. And bright. And not at all restful.  And bedrooms should be restful first and foremost …

... and that whole ‘accent wall’ idea of orange seemed so yesterday.  At least that’s what Nate Berkus says …

So I dreamed a dream that paired orange with gray and black and white.

The middle band is chalkboard paint, framed out with custom moulding that my husband and I attached using my trusty miter box and brad nail gun.

My son and my husband have named the Ikea Malm bed “the Hugh Hefner bed” …

... and not because my 14 year old ‘has game’ – yuck  – but because it sits so low on the ground.  Almost water-bed-like-ish …

I poured so much of myself into this project.  Like these “high/low” drop cloth drapes I made back in August (see how I made them here)…

… they make my heart go pitter patter …

I mean seriously.  Seriously?  I am pleased as punch with the way they turned out!  Exclamation point worthy pleased!  Spiked punch worthy punched!

The top band is a yard of pricier home décor fabric trimmed out with orange ribbon attached to less-than-a-dollar-a-yard drop cloth material ...

And then there’s the monogrammed “s” pillow I made …

It’s not perfect. The transfer messed up.  But I don’t care.  It was made with love …

And this comic book page number art?  I’m thinking I may just spark a new blogland trend here with this here project …. 

… and rest assured (for my male readers), no real comic books were harmed in the making of these – a thought that horrified my son.  I just color copied a few Archie pages …

I framed pictures of downtown Chicago that my son took on the day before his first day of high school …

… and the day before my 14-year-old son took the “El” – or is it “L” -- to school ALL BY HIMSELF for the very first time …

And, yeah, that was a bit of a harrowing day for mom and dad …

All the frames in the room were 50% off at Michaels; I’m a sucker for a sale sticker …

See those shelves with the trophies on them? I purchased them 15 years ago.  When I was six months pregnant with the very young man who lives in this room.  But we never, ever hung them up …

… they just sat stacked upside down on top of that custom radiator cover and displayed those trophies …

Of course the bottle cap drawer pull dresser I imperfectly refinished here found its way into the room …

I love the Gapersblock poster I picked up at a Chicago craft fair back in the fall …

… it’s cover art of a super underground, super cool, super young and hip Chicago e-zine that I’m too old to read or understand or subscribe to …

Oh, and don’t forget to look up.  Otherwise you might miss the ceiling fan that I gave a major makeover complete with that washi tape I pinned here and wrote about here …

So stick a fork in it.

Please.

Seriously.

It’s finally done …

… a ‘mere’ 8 months later than originally planned.

Why can’t real life be like a 30-minute HGTV makeover show?

Linda is a wife, mother, Chicago homeowner … and creator and author of it all started with paint blog.  You can find even more pictures of her son’s room remodel by clicking here …