Transitioning from a Nursery to a Spectacular Big Boy Room

Nobody prepares you for this! We didn’t do much for Asher’s room when he was born {a lot of it was Sawyer’s}, so although I was excited to match his personality and plan out his big boy room, I was not mentally prepared for my last baby to no longer be a baby anymore.

 
 

The nursery to big boy room transition came earlier than planned when an opportunity came to work with an amazing paint company. When they reached out, I knew exactly what room I wanted to do. The time came to bring the vision to life and I already had the mood board ready to go.


*These links contain affiliate links. Meaning if you purchase through my link, while it’s the same cost to you, I get a small commission – see my full disclosure here*


Because of a specific timeline, I did things a little out of order, but the end result was all the same.

Tongue & Groove Ceiling

Since the day we moved in, I knew I wanted to cover the textured ceiling. Our house is from 1929 and there are different textures throughout. At some point, orange peel texture was done to his ceiling. No thank you! These 6 pack tongue and groove panels from Lowes provide the perfect fun and rustic feel I was going for. I simply added liquid nails behind each board and used a brad nailer to attach it to the ceiling.

 
tongue and groove ceiling
 

Rug

Next up was a new rug! Remember I had a certain timeline for things so I went out of order. This Orchards Area Rug from Boutique Rugs was the perfect addition to his room and although some people thought I was crazy mixing this rug with the upcoming wallpaper, I took a chance, and I am so glad I did.

 
Close up of rug
 

A rug is the simplest and easiest thing to change out to completely change a space. I figured if it ever feels too busy, we can always go with something more simple. But for now, I am in love.

Big Kid Bed + Bedding

This is where things got real! A big boy bed from Nurture&. I went with this bed because not only is it adorable and can grow with him, but also because the rounded corners and stain-resistant fabric are exactly what we need with a toddler. Once he is old enough, we can remove the safety rails.

 
View with new rug and bed
Close up of bed with safety rail
 

To top it off, I went with Beddy’s of course (you can see why I will always use Beddy’s bedding on my kids bed here). It truly is the best bedding for kids and they have such a variety of cute designs and colors, not to mention the ease of zipping the bed every morning.

Paint

This is what kickstarted everything! When Magnolia Home by Kilz reached out, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I ended up using Castle Cream for the tongue and groove ceiling and Drawing Room for the walls from their Castle Collection line.

 
Magnolia Home Drawing Room
 

The Castle Cream is the perfect creamy, soft white with a timeless essence while Drawing Room is a soft, french gray with a green undertone. Their paint is so smooth and makes painting a breeze. If you haven’t tried the Magnolia Home by Kilz line, I highly recommend it.

 
Drawing Room Paint by Magnolia Home
Overall view of room
 

Wallpaper

The final piece of the puzzle was wallpaper. As soon as I saw this Ollie Wallpaper from Wall Blush (you can use the code SIMPLYDISTRESSED40 for an extra 40% off), I knew it was what his room needed and matched perfectly with his happy and energetic personality.

 
Close up of wallpaper
 

This was my first time with wallpaper and it challenged me, but once I got the hang of it, it went up with ease. Just like most things, you get better with practice.

 
Wallblush Wallpaper
 

Extras

Once the big things were done, there was a few finishing touches I wanted to incorporate. First up was to build him a little stool out of scrap wood to help him climb into his bed.

 
New stool
 

I had some left over wallpaper so I built a large frame using more scrap wood and added the wallpaper. Then finished it off with a lion, tying it together with the safari animals above his dresser (and matching his favorite lovey, which of course, is a lion).

The one thing still left to come is to build him a new dresser. Stay tuned for that! It will be an adventure. Other than that, his room is complete!

 
View of current dresser
 

Let me know what you think of Asher’s big boy room! And if I don’t say it enough, thank you for being a part of The Simply Distressed.

with love, andi