It’s almost the 4th of July!
I just love this time of the year, this holiday. My heart has a special place for all things vintage Americana. It’s not just the beauty of red, white, and blue, but the rich history of the founding of this beautiful nation that I absolutely love.
Our nursery is one of my favorite rooms in our home. I remember being pregnant with Gage, before we knew we were having another boy, and feeling slightly sad at the thought of potentially changing the nursery if it were a girl. Thank goodness we had a boy, and then another boy… I get to keep enjoying this favorite space.
When the time came to move Jackson and Gage into a shared room, I knew I wanted to keep a similar vintage theme in their big boy room. I wanted a room the boys could grow into, one that would mature with them, yet reflect back on the simple joys of being a boy… fishing, old trucks, baseball!
We started transitioning our guest room into the boys shared room last summer and we started this project on the roof. Specifically, the chimney, because that’s how changes go in older homes. With the boys taking over the guest room, we knew we would eventually need a new space for visiting family. With our basement complete unfinished, our plan was to add a new bedroom and eventually finish the basement space.
There was just one small problem with this plan and it was an old chimney stack from the 1950’s perfectly placed in the middle of our future guest bedroom. At this point you’re probably asking how all this matters with the bedroom the boys will be in upstairs. Well, that chimney ran up from the basement through the wall in the boys room.
It was a big project, but brick by brick Josh and my dad removed the chimney. Working through the rafters, tearing into the wall in the boys room and down to the basement. It was messy, but the end result was worth it! We now have big open space in our basement for our future guest bedroom. Since we had to open the wall in the boys room, we converted that space into built-in cubbies.
We gave the room a fresh coat of paint and new baseboards. We installed a closet system added new lighting and light fixtures, updated all the outlets and switches. My search for a mix of old and new started with finding two matching twin bed frames on Craigslist, an old dresser at a garage sale that received a new coat of paint, bedding from Target, a vintage mailbox and replica map, some old barn wood turned into decor above the boy’s beds.
The boys have enjoyed sharing a room, let the adventures continue!
Wow, Michelle! It all looks amazing!! So proud of you!!
Thank you friend! It was a fun room to decorate!