Ali's Big Boy Room Decor

 As I had mentioned here, one of the first things we did after moving in was set up Ali's room. I was so excited for him to finally sleep on his own as he had always been in our room in Jersey, where we had a one bedroom apartment. I knew the best way to encourage him towards the idea of his 'Big Boy' room was for us to decorate with all his favorite items.

Right when I found out I was expecting a baby boy I knew I wanted to do a transportation theme. However, in 2010, when Ali was born, the Jungle Animal theme was huge! Personally I felt that once he grew older he wouldn't be as crazy about animals as most boys tend to gravitate towards cars, planes, and trucks (that held pretty true for my little guy). I didn't want to buy things that wouldn't last longer than just his infant/toddler years so this theme felt right. I did regret it when he was a baby, because you could often find Jungle themed items on sale or easily available, and Ali had a serious obsession with Lion/Zebra/Giraffes (courtesy of Madagascar which we watched on loop for months). But, now that he is Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Engine's biggest fan this room decor works pretty well! 

Without further adieu, Welcome to:

$10 chalkboard found at TJ Maxx, this one happened to be a gift. Excuse my terrible handwriting.

My husband is a big fan of Garage sale rummaging. I personally don't always have the patience for it because usually you have to sift through a lot of junk and imagine the potential in things beyond what you see up front. But, in rare cases we did come upon some great items. 

Fortunately, baby items are one of the top things people like to get rid of at garage sales since kids grow up fast, some things are barely used when you get them. I don't feel comfortable buying clothing or anything personal, but that's why room decor is the perfect thing to look for at garage sales or on Craigslist.   

Transportation bedding: Target online (no longer available) Convertible Crib: Walmart online (not sure what model, just know we paid $99 instead of the ridiculous prices Babies R Us charges and they had a promotion for a free toddler mattress included too!) Toy box: Garage sale $10 (saw the exact item at TJ Maxx/Home Good for $30!) Radio Flyers wagon: Gift Fisher Price Train: Gift Storage Bin: Ikea $5 Bed Canopy: Ikea $15

More garage sale finds! I paid maybe $1 for each, Fire Engine book ends and Truck night light. The hand print decoration was artwork he made in class, but it went perfectly with our primary colors theme. 

Close up shot of his bed sheet, discontinued but it from SkipHop. I'm planning to put up some sort of wall decal or maybe just paint this above his closet. 

love this step-stool found at Home Goods It has space inside to store  small items.
At a price of $25 we decided its just not worthwhile despite how adorable it is!
Maybe inspiration for a DIY project? We'll see. 

Update: We made some changes to the room. I finally got a chance to put up the wall decals. They came out looking great and gave the room a more fun playful feel! We also made another trip to Ikea and got another storage bin since something had to be done about the endless stuffed animals! They had this bookshelf on sale for $20 regularly $50. Ali played with the cars themed rug while we shopped and he enjoyed it so much we had to bring one home for him even if it was a bit of a splurge. He's definitely spent more time playing in his room this week than watching TV, so guess its a worthwhile buy! Lastly, I fell in love with these cute wall hooks which fit perfectly behind the door just high enough for little man to hang up his own clothes! I wish.

Above the window we put them a little higher to leave space
for curtains eventually 

Wall Decals: Target  In store $10

Rug: Ikea $13

Bookshelf: Ikea $20 

Wall hooks: Ikea $4

 His room is still missing a bit more lighting. For now I got an $8 floor lamp from Walmart. Again, I'm just not ready to pay major $$. So I've been searching to find the right stuff and being picky about it. Advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated :)

I'm totally in love with this airplane lamp, so in love that I've spent hours on Craigslist trying to find something like it. For some insane reason people have a real attachment to their kid's room airplane lamp and believe that it's totally acceptable to price it higher than a new one! I recently got a huge mosaic mirror at pier one for cheaper than this dinky lamp! sigh, so there's my rant on that as I continue to search. Ali's dad thinks this is a great DIY project for me, but I'm not creative that way. Mostly, I'm lazy and I'd rather have someone else do the work. So maybe you all can do some garage sale searching for me? Or just gift one to my little cutie. His birthday is December 27th, but we don't mind celebrating early :)