How to Fit Five Boys in One Room

Welll, this was an issue we started discussing as soon as we found out Seven was really Malachi.  So, I went to trusty Pinterest to gather my thoughts all in one place.  We started with these ideas:

Source: fabric.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Fabric sample

Source: fabric.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Another fabric sample.

And an idea for beds to include this:

Source: theinspiredroom.net via Abbie on Pinterest

And this:

Source: remodelista.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Our decorating and color ideas came from this bedding that we already had:

Source: target.com via Abbie on Pinterest

But before any of that could work in a room with five boys, we had to paint...and before we totally took the room apart, we remember pictures!

Sorry about the spots, not sure what was up with the camera.

Totally ignore that disheveled looking closet, the curtains for it will be coming later.  Ugh, I cringe when I look at that.  It does look much better now but still not fun to see every time you come in a room.

Before all the painting started, Mark and Granddaddy put their heads together to come up with bunk bed plans.  Granddaddy got the wood and cut it and even pre-drilled the frame and delivered it on Piano Recital day (cause he rocks).

I'm tempted to stop here and make ya'll all wait until tomorrow to see what took place but then I think someone would come up with the cyber version of rotten tomatoes to throw at me so I won't!

And this started...

Mark and I realized about an hour into bunk bed building night that two people, one of whom was in her third trimester were not really adequate enough to hold up these sturdy pieces of wood to build two levels.  So, reinforcements were called in by way of a neighbor down the street (he always comes to help...we really are wondering why he hasn't ran away far far from here now).  So, thanks, S for helping with the project!

Not going to show the finished project yet...I had some art up my sleeve to do as well as a bit of refinishing.  And while I worked on canvasses, three very sad looking male faces appeared and requested ever so sweetly to paint one.  I couldn't resist those big blue and brown eyes so an afternoon of painting commenced on their very own canvasses.

Not sure how we didn't get a picture of Josiah in action, but he was there painting his square too.

And, when we visited Granddaddy Thanksgiving weekend, he showed us a chest of drawers he had picked up for $35!  No kidding.  Solid wood.  Just needed to be painted.  For those that don't know, my parents are pickers on the side.  They have a booth at an antique mall where they sale their finds.  But this, this I was not going to let get away and gladly accepted it!

It had those missing drawers, I just had already taken them off to get the hardware off so Mark could sand it.

So ya'll want to see the finished product huh???

As you enter you can see that beat up dresser all done.  Mark did add the knob to the door.  We kept the solid wood sturdy big dresser we already had and got rid of (well, it's sitting in the schoolroom right now) the beat up smaller dresser.  We took the knobs off of that dresser and put them on here.  I already had the fabric for the boys' beds and we had plenty of paint leftover from painting the previous dressers.  So, total cost was $35 for the dresser!  That's my spaceship canvas that I freehand drew from looking at the pattern on the boys' crib.

Bryant helped with the photo tour and please ignore any toys, this was prior to clean up time.  This is Josiah and Liam's bunks.

And this is Bryant's and Ace's.  See the sweet little head peeking out.  Bryant got his mattress this past weekend and has transitioned pretty well to his big boy bed. (This is the part where I don't admit that we tried to give up paci but Mark nor I could stand the screaming so he still has that and it's probably a big part of the transitioning well.  Yeah, it's going bye bye before Malachi is born though.)

 We put gutter bookshelves on the footboard of each bed and a push light (which is battery operated and they have to buy the batteries...some of them are already in need).  At the headboard we put their name canvasses that I did with their life verses on them.  Have I shown those yet?

My other canvas that I made...freehand...yay me.

This was the boys' artwork.  I thought it turned out really well.  In an effort to control the art, I did sketch off the ship they wanted and outlined it and they did the rest.  I resisted any desire to control how they did it but I did limit their color choices to what we were using in the room.  Really, I did!  The end of the legs of Liam's ship is fire coming out.  And my control of Bry's hand was mainly to keep the paint on the canvas not  on the house or me.

Verdict:

I was kind of bummed that we didn't get to do the beds L-shaped.  When we put them in the L-shape, there was no room to put two dressers and a crib so we had to think and rethink.  My dad and Mark wanted to make sure they were sturdy enough for, well, boys.  And that meant using a bit bulkier wood.  But ya'll, these things will last for a long time!  We also had to factor in that the beds were tall enough to hit the fan.  Mark willingly volunteered to chop off a bit to make it work but we came up with this configuration and it worked.  I'm really happy with how it all turned out and the curtains on the beds are a super hit! This room was a month long project and every time the boys woke up it was kind of like Christmas.  They spent four days sleeping in the living room (on the sleeper sofa) and so they were truly surprised each time they awoke to find their room a little different.  It was a great treat for them and I'm so excited that they love it.

Now, I realize this is a long post, so next time we do a big project, should I just post as we go or wait until it's done?  I love waiting so everyone could definitely see the finishing touches.  Sometimes I forget to post the finished product when I post as we go.