Aiden's Bedroom Makeover...

Back in April, when my son Connar turned 11, he got a "bedroom makeover" for his birthday.  It was really fun to give him - Connar's Bedroom Makeover -  for his birthday.  Ever since that makeover, my youngest has been asking for a new bedroom for his birthday.

Aiden got to pick his theme - Football & Soccer - and my husband and I planned the rest.  Aiden's grandparents invited him and his brother to an overnight, so that we could do the work on his room without "help".  Since it's Christmas vacation, Aiden was actually able to receive his new bedroom on his birthday!

As you can see, he was pretty excited!  

Here's what we started with...

 Aiden has a lot of toys and it's been quite a while since we've done any purging.  He also had some elements left over from his baby nursery decor and layers of toddler through big kid.  One thing he needed, was a good system to organize his toys.  His #1 request, "I want it to look sporty.  So everyone knows a sporty kid lives here."

I started with fabric for curtains and throw pillows.  (Aiden's existing curtains had been hanging since he was born...he was done with the cute stars!) All the sewing and projects were done ahead of time.  I had sketched out my ideas so I was able to order and shop for the new elements.  This way, the day of the make-over was cleaning and assembly.

The new curtains are striped and have a football border.  I made the shelf several years ago (actually for the nursery of my oldest...it's been handed down.)  I love the way the curtain hangs.  I just stitch up a long rectangle, gather it onto the shelf and staple it on.  The ribbon border is added with hot glue to cover the staples.  The shelf is a great spot to display school projects or other things that aren't played with regularly.

Aiden loves to wear jerseys and my husband had the idea to display his jerseys in a way that he could also wear them easily.  We used heavy-duty hooks on the walls, and I bought black hangers for the jerseys.  He can switch out which ones are on display and wear them whenever he wants.  I also bought new posters...a soccer player and a football player...and hung them in inexpensive poster frames.  This makes the posters easy to switch out, but makes for a cleaner look on the wall.  Aiden also loves the big vinyl football player shadow. 

Simply rearranging the furniture went a long way to creating the look of a new bedroom.  While we rearranged, I sorted through toys.  Aiden hasn't noticed anything missing and he has more room for the toys he plays with.

Rather than a toy box, I moved three sets of plastic drawers into his closet.  This makes it easy to see where toys are and easy to find what you're looking for!  The labels are covered with packing tape and attached with velcro dots.  The packing tape creates an eraseable surface, so Aiden can change the labels easily with dry erase markers. 

Aiden told me later, "I didn't expect to have it be so different.  It feels so good when I sleep!"

I couldn't ask for a better thank you!

Happy Birthday!