Fun Kid Rooms - Jungle Theme

The rooms that I am most proud of (by far) in my house are my kids' rooms. I loved picking a theme and running with it to make an amazing little room for my babies. Everything in them was done with love. These rooms are also the only ones that weren't necessarily done with resale value in mind.

I figured I would start with Little Dude's room. We bought our house back in 2009 and we closed on it when I was 8 months pregnant. The 1st month of home-ownership was all about the larger remodeling projects like redoing the kitchen, tearing out old carpets, refinishing hardwood floors, updating the bathroom, etc. I basically was not allowed around most of the time. Shortly after Little Dude arrived, the bigger projects were done so I was allowed to start on the nursery.

Here is what I was working with:

The walls were a light peach color and the carpet was a bright burnt orange color. The carpet was filthy and rather faded in some parts. Here's the kicker though; the original wall color that we could see in some spots that hadn't gotten a coat of peach was burnt orange! Can you imagine what this little room would have looked like with the bright orange carpet and walls? ((shudder))

We knew from the first time we checked out the house that there would need to be a lot of work done. The plan was to rip out all the carpet throughout the house and paint all walls. Maybe we should have kept the awesome curtains though, haha.

Here are a few more shots around the room:

That last one shows the view from the room looking out into the hallway and into what is now H's room. Yes the hallway was indeed bright turquoise! 

Before painting I had to decide on a theme and plan for the room. I went through several ideas and landed on a jungle theme. I always knew that I wanted to do a mural for the room, and since my mom has done them professionally she was going to help me. I googled jungle murals, and immediately had a plethora of ideas and inspiration. I was trying to decide how big to make the mural and what the limits of it would be (whole wall, whole room etc) when I saw this:

A mural by Heather Hurzler

I loved the idea of the wall being an opening of a tent looking out onto a jungle scene. I was set on this idea and sketched my own design:

*click on pics to see larger versions

Since the room itself was going to be the inside of a tent, I picked a neutral beige color for the walls. We took down the curtains, washed the filthy walls as best we could, and got to painting:

My mom and I worked solidly through a weekend and we had the mural pretty much done:

I love how it turned out. It was the perfect blend of cutesy/cartoony and lifelike for me.

Once the mural was done we ripped out the horrible orange carpet and replaced it with some neutral beige carpet. It made a HUGE difference in the room. Then we filled the room with furniture and baby things: 

Almost everything for this room was done a budget:

• The solid maple crib was a hand-me-down from a family friend. It was/is in perfect condition, no scratches or signs of wear and tear.
• Hubby's uncle owns a flooring business so we got a deep deep discount on the carpet and installation. I'm not sure how much it was for this room since we got a bill for the whole house that wasn't itemized, but it was definitely less than $100.
• The glider was a rather expensive one, but it was a gift from my parents for their first grandchild.
• The shelf system with the colorful bins was free from my brother. Long story short: he bought a house that came with a bunch of (mostly) junk in the attic. Amongst that junk was an unopened box with this brand new shelf system in it. My brother doesn't have kids so he gave it to me.
• The dresser was an old garage sale dresser that I had since I was 13 or so.
• My mom made the diaper stacker for me so the materials cost almost nothing.
• The jungle themed bedding was from JC Penney. My mom worked in management there at the time and purchased it on clearance (plus her discount) for around $20.
• Although not pictured in the above photos, we also put in curtains right away. The rods and curtains themselves were also purchased on clearance at JC Penney and were honestly less than $30 for both windows. Regular retail price on all the components would otherwise have been roughtly$140.
• Pretty much all of the toys were hand-me-downs or baby shower gifts. Between some over-zealous grandparents and some very generous family and friends (4 baby showers total), I didn't have to buy much at all for Little Dude's first few months.

Here is a 360 degree tour of the room today:

Little Dude is still in his crib for now. I hope to keep him in it for a while longer since he sleeps so well. We have rearranged the furniture a few times now to keep things interesting. This configuration does block some of the mural, but he loves having it right there when he goes to bed.

He likes telling the animals goodnight.

The toys certainly have changed. The kitchen was a Christmas '10 present and the easel a 2nd birthday present.

The kitchen and the curtains over the first window:

The view out his window is my new garden :).

The dresser changed a lot just recently. Here is the post about that. The shelving system with bins is a little more naked thanks to a 2 year old that likes to pull them out and play with them.

This is a gift from grandma (my MIL) that hangs over the dresser.

Here is the final wall and second window:

I love the airy curtains that still allow a lot of sunlight through!

This is a cedar toy chest that my parents built Little Dude for his first birthday. My mom sewed the cushion on top, and I painted his name and the frog on it to complete the look.

Here in the corner between the shelving system and the chest is a garbage bin and the Diaper Champ. These items are nice to keep away from little hands.

Finally, looking up we can see a couple of newer additions:

We installed a ceiling fan in the room. This one is a small 30" fan made by Westinghouse. The stuffed animal net was $3 from Ikea.

So there you have it, the evolution and complete tour of Little Dude's room. A true labor of love!

Next up will be Miss H's room.