Boys' Bedroom Makeover:The Big Reveal!

What a busy month! These past few weeks, we have tackled the big project of creating a fun, colorful bedroom for our boys to share. It was past time for our two year old to be done with his crib so to maximize play space on the floor, we bought bunk beds for them from IKEA. (They have a nice low to the ground set perfect for toddlers and preschoolers that they can grow into). 

These past few weeks we ripped out carpet, painted wood floors, painted walls, assembled bunk beds, put up curtains, painted garage sale furniture and even created a huge chalkboard wall! Then, we passed out...

I added finishing touches with handmade decorations and transportation stencils.The end result was an eclectic blend of modern and vintage, salvage and store-bought and of course, repurposing and I am thrilled with how it turned out. And so excited to share with all of you!

Our whole house was painted with this shiny beige paint that reminded me of liquid makeup-not a huge fan. After a year and a half of slowly getting rid if it in different rooms, I decided to change them in the boys room to a soft gray called "Sharkey Gray" using Glidden paint and toned down the semi-gloss sheen by using eggshell. I also painted the white trim a shade lighter than this in a pale gray.

Then it was time to rip up carpet! I left this job to to the hubby. Why paint wood floors? Well, it was cheaper than refinishing wood floors. And, ours were dinged up and stained from age so it was a good option for us. And, the carpet that came with the house was pretty cheap and ugly.

 So, when I first thought about painting wood floors, it sounded a little intimidating, but after a little research and some easy tutorials, it sounded about as hard as painting a wall. Turned out to be so simple!

Here's how we did it: 


First, we patched up all the dents with wood putty. 
After they were dry, we sanded them smooth primed the floors and allowed to dry, using a brush for the edges and a roller on an extension pole for the rest of the floor. 
After the primer was dry we added two layers of floor paint. We used indoor/outdoor latex paint in a soft white. 

Then, it was time to paint the walls. I chose navy blue and bright orange as accents to paint in the ridged rectangle sections we were lucky enough to have in a few of our rooms. (Anyone know the technical name for them?) Gotta love built in character of an older home!

Wonder how I got those perfect paint lines on my textured walls? Click HERE  to see an easy trick using painter's tape to do just that.

Here I added some cute airplane and cloud stencils in the entrance using the Martha Stewart craft line, and switched out a basic ceiling fan for new lighting and bunk beds from IKEA.

My boys love their new room! The only downside is that my two year old has decided playing in his new room is more fun than sleeping...

A vintage 7-UP box makes a fun place to store their books.

Chalkboard monograms and huge chalkboard wall

my sweetie! 

I told you the chalkboard wall was huge! We painted this section with green chalkboard paint and it really feels like it's time for school. In the corner is a name pennant I made out of old jeans and burlap. I'll share more details in a later post about how I did it.

my other sweetie! 

IKEA has the best wooden toys! They are learning how to count with this abacus.

We created a fun school room look by adding vintage desks found at a consignment shop and an old globe snagged at a garage sale.

Another name pennant made with jeans, burlap and stencils.

A garage sale table transformed with paint, stencils and glow-in-the-dark painted tracks! (Don't worry, I'll show you what it looked like before in a later post).

Having fun coloring on their chalkboard-yes, they love their new room...

Another fun schoolroom accent was adding an old map to the wall framed in pallet planks.

No, I did not pay the $125 that Land of Nod suggests for this toy bin. Below is their version:

Modern Toy Storage design by The Land of Nod

I already had this one found at a garage sale years ago and painted it navy for a great knock off look for cheap!

Ok, another cute kid shot. I can't resist! 

So, there it is! All done on a budget to create a high-end look.  Our labor of love is finally done and I'm really proud of all the hard work it took to transform this space from blah to boy's wonderland.

Looking forward to sharing a few more detailed posts with before and after pics of my garage sale furniture revamps and how I created the room accents.

Hope you enjoyed the room tour and thanks for stopping by!

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How to Paint a Straight Line on a Textured Wall

So I've been in the middle of painting our boys' bedroom and we have these built-in panels that we decided to paint in bright pops of color while leaving the rest of walls gray. In case any of you reading have textured walls like I do, I thought I'd share this helpful tip-if you want perfectly straight lines to separate colors, it really is possible!

First, I'll tell you what NOT to do: Don't expect to apply the tape (I used Frog Tape) to a textured wall and just simply paint your color over it and expect it not to bleed. I did that last spring and ended up having to use a eyeshadow sponge applicator to tediously touch up my dark blue that bled through = no fun!

I assure you, there is a much easier way! This time I read the fine print on the tape package, which tells you for textured walls to go to their website for a technique to make straight lines on a textured wall.

Here's what you do:

1. First apply Frog tape where you want your line to be. Make sure you smooth out any air bubbles.

2. Then, with your original wall color, paint along the edge of the tape. Frog Tape is not like regular painter's tape because it has this Paint Block technology that reacts with the latex paint and gels to form a barrier that seals the edge of the tape to prevent paint bleed. Pretty helpful.

3. Allow to dry completely.

4. Then paint with your accent color all the way to the edge of the tape.

5. After the accent color is dry, it's time to remove the tape.

6. Ta da! For the most part, my line on my textured wall was pretty straight with no bleed through, creating a bright pop of color in the room against cool gray.

No, Frog Tape didn't pay me to write this post, (but wouldn't that be nice?) I just wanted to share a helpful tip so you could avoid the headache of doing it the wrong way.

I've been a little missing in action lately because of all the hard work of painting their room, helping my husband put bunk bed together, persuading the boys to sleep in them,  and working on accessories and stencil accents for the room. It's really looking like a little boys dream and I can't wait till its done so I can show all of you!

(And, in case you've been following along and wonder what's up with my bathroom redo-well the painting is all done, but there's been a little delay in getting the lighting and mirrors-we took a trip to IKEA and I guess a lot of their stock is being stored away for remodeling. I was disappointed but it is a good excuse for us to go there again-I love that place! It is so good for hauling kids along with you with all their play areas and cheap kids meals...)

Anyway, enough rambling! I do think the bedroom will be done before the bathroom-so excited for the big reveal!

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!

Bleach Pen Stenciling

It's been a busy week with big painting projects around here! And baby boy is finally sleeping through the night = much more energy for me! I am finishing up the trim in my bathroom and my husband started ripping up carpet in our boys' room, painting the floors and walls. I'm excited about the vision I have for their space-it will be fun and colorful and 100% boy!

Now, whenever I'm doing a big project that takes weeks to finish, I need to take breaks for quick little craft ideas I've been storing in my head. So, I experimented with the idea of using a Clorox bleach pen and stencils on a t-shirt. I first saw freehand bleach pen shirts  last summer from a blog called Show, Tell, Share and did a freehand numbers one for my son that turned out cute.

And then, I started thinking about all the cool patterns I could make if I used stencils-turned out to be even quicker and easier than freehand because the gel is so easy to work with (and a great way to hide stains or in my case, paint spots on an otherwise nice t-shirt)

Here's what you need to make your bleach stenciled T-shirt:


Clorox bleach gel pen
plastic stencils (I used my Martha Stewart freebies)
safety goggles if you're smart (oops-I should do that next time-eyes are important!)
plastic bag or wax paper to line inside of shirt
rag or paper towels


First, lay your t-shirt flat and line the inside with plastic or wax paper to prevent bleach from bleeding all the way through.


Place your stencil where you want it on the shirt.


Put your safety goggles on to protect eyes from bleach (and open windows or do outdoors).


Use the wide brush end of your bleach pen to squeeze out gel in a circular motion onto stencil.


Carefully remove the stencil, wipe off with rag or paper towel and repeat with another design where you want your pattern to be.

Allow the shirt to dry for a few hours or overnight. It's dry when the bleach gel dries up into a whitish powder. 

Finally, wash and dry your shirt and get ready to rock an artsy, original, not-found-in-stores look! 

I admit I've been a little self-conscious about wearing what I create (I'm a little scarred from that Bedazzler look from the 70's/80's) but I'm pretty happy with how this shirt came out and can wear it with pride.

Hope you enjoyed this little project-now remember the big projects we've been working on? 

Here's a sneak peek into the boys' room floor and wall painting project-It's really coming along and I can't wait to do the bright blocks of color, huge chalkboard wall and more stenciling. I also can't wait until I can put the boys back in this room-they've been so crazy excited it's been hard to get them to go to sleep at night in a different room (yawn...)

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks and the big reveal of bathroom and bedroom! 

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