Our home is full of 4 boys + 2 girls. We built our home with the notion that everyone would eventually need their own space. For years, our oldest boys have shared the same room.

I enjoyed so many DIYs and creating the perfect space for their room. But, this last Fall, our middle boy really needed some separation from his older brother. He asked us for his own room.

My first reaction was honestly a little sadness. I truly thought we would make it a few more years with them sharing a room. And moving him to his own room meant giving up my husband and my office space. Yikes.

But, I know the importance of space and the lostness that middle children can often feel and so we said yes. He was so excited dreaming up a room and putting his mom AKA “designer” to work.

First request was for dark green walls, like the forest. And giant forest wallpaper on one wall. He has a love for all things old, history, and nostalgia. So I got to work creating this updated not-nursery like woodlands themed bedroom with dark green walls.

The hunt for the perfect shade of green was no small feat.

I think we tested 5 different colors in his north facing room.

We landed on a Rock Garden (SW6195) by Sherwin Williams and balanced the dark by keeping the ceiling, floor, bedding and window treatments light.

I left all of his trim alabaster, although I did debate on painting it the same color as the trim.

Because he is an old soul (loves presidential history, 80s rock records, and dark moody colors), I chose to go with a midcentury furniture vibe on most pieces in medium to dark brown tones.

I searched FB marketplace daily for mid-century furniture but honestly, the price on most of the pieces was very steep.

A sponsored company kept coming across my social media feeds and the reviews were excellent. I was a little leary about their furniture. I tend to be picky about furniture (it’s the nature of my job) and I was afraid their ability to deliver might mean their furniture is mostly particle board.

After a few weeks of research and scouring their feed, I made my very first purchase from Nathan James.

And let me tell you about quality and customer service and the list could go on. The pieces (desk and nightstand) I ordered are solid wood!

They came carefully packaged, with all instructions and tools. They took less than 10 minutes to assemble (longest part was unboxing them). Their return policy is amazing. I really appreciate their values and business model. If you haven’t heard of them, I recommend checking them out: https://nathanjames.com/

We already had a mattress and boxspring that allowed me to purchase a metal bed frame and headboard only for this room.

This room is on the smaller size, the layout puts the footboard near with middle of the window so I opted for no footboard.

With dark walls and a North facing room, I needed to keep the bedding and the window treatments light.

I opted for a cream and black plaid comforter set and cream velvet curtains.

I originally planned to build and open shelving wall for his record player, records, books and legos but time I just honestly did not have.

A trip to HomeGoods for lamps also landed me this wood and metal bookcase that just happened to be 50% off the day I was in the store.

It’s not quite mid century but not too industrial or too farmhouse, so I went with it and saved myself some time.

The lamp for his desk has a brass and black base with a light shade that helps us continue with balancing out all of that dark with the light.

And for his bedside table, I chose a plug in sconce for the wall above.

This table is small on the top and I wanted to leave plenty of room for a water cup, clock, and of course all of his football trading cards!

This sconce came from Poly and Bark a company I have sourced from a lot this first quarter of the year. I can’t say enough about their products, delivery and customer care.

A true winner in my book!

I wasn’t able to deliver the huge forest mural that he wanted on the wall behind his bed. It priced out at over $500 and my budget didn’t allow.

But we came up with a great option by choosing vintage prints off of ETSY and framing them in these budget frames.

I went with a group of three, downloaded them from ETSY, and emailed them to my local UPS store.

They printed them for me in the desired size and I picked them up in 2 hours. Vintage artwork for less than $100! I’ll take it.

I’m so pleased with this room. The joy that it has brought to my son is the best gift. He was a great “client” and his payment of hugs and continuous “thank you mom, I love my room” are such a gift to me.

See something you like? Shop everything we used in this room HERE

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