Boy’s Bedroom Reveal #GMCHTA

I’m going to do things backwards today. Let me explain.

As I mentioned in a post early last week, I teamed up with GMC to shop the World’s Longest Yard Sale in order to decorate a room in a Habitat for Humanity House. Along with 7 other bloggers, I traveled almost 1,000 miles to furnish and style a home for a deserving family.

I want to show you the room I designed and tell you a little about the experience. Since the other bloggers will be doing the same, I thought it would be fun to share my room first, then pop back in later this week to let you know more about the process and take a look at the rest of the house. Sound good?

I know this is out of order, but since this reveal is so exclusive, important, and highly anticipated (insert sarcasm here), I wanted my design to be seen here first.

As I mentioned, I was one of the eight bloggers on this adventure. When we arrived in Detroit last Wednesday, each of us was assigned a room to decorate in a Habitat for Humanity home in Atlanta.

This house is going to be the future home of the Yaro family: Moumini (Dad), Mireille (Mom), Yassine (Daughter – Age 10), and Elias (Son – Age 1). I was in charge of decorating Elias’ room. (I was also given the laundry room to decorate, so I’ll share more about that in a later post.)

Wednesday morning through Saturday afternoon, we shopped the yard sale (and a few of our favorite retail stores) to furnish our spaces. To make things more efficient, we bloggers spilt into three groups. I was teamed up with Brooke from All Things Thrifty and Dusty from All Things G&D. We were given GMC Yukon Denali’s to drive in comfortable style and to pack full (which we did) with our purchases.

We also received some information about the family to help us shop and inspire our designs. Mr. Yaro is a big fan of soccer, and Elias likes to play as well. The family prefers the colors blue, green, gray, and black.

I was a tad worried about decorating a child’s room since it was something I’d never done before. However, once I had my vision and started to find a few key pieces, my worries disappeared.

Let me show you the completed room, and then I’ll give you details about some of the pieces.

Pretty fabulous, right? I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.

Okay, let’s chat quickly about my finds and the design.

One of the first things I bought (Brooke actually found it.) was this large green marquee letter. At a nearby sale, I also purchased a wooden rocking horse that I thought would look great in the space.

A little farther down the road, I spotted what became my favorite piece in the room. It was a buffet that had been refinished with black and gray chalk paint and adorned with brass hardware. So perfect, so IBC, AND ideal for the space. Although not a traditional dresser, it provides lots of storage. It’s also low enough for Elias to access. Plus, I think it’s a piece that can grow with the family. Score!

The bed frame and mattress were donated by a local GMC dealer.

Shopping for accessories was so much fun.

For some wall art, I found these old cabinet door fronts that had been turned into mini chalkboards. Dusty (who decorated the little girl’s room) and I found matching piggy banks that we gave a coat of gold spray paint.

Above the dresser, I added a mirror which I painted green to tie into the space.

An adorable bedside table brought in even more color. I was lucky to find this piece pre-painted (again with chalk paint) in my color scheme.

I also incorporated this set of books into the space. I used the book cover colors that worked for my room, and some of the other books were used in the Master Bedroom. The set cost me $2. I saw this same set online for $200! Dusty also picked up a set for the little girl’s room. She paid $2 at the yard sale; online her set was priced at $300. Crazy.

Toys, more storage, and other accessories were added to the space to complete the design.

I should mention that some of the bloggers who had participated in previous years recommended not trying to DIY and paint everything. There just isn’t enough time. I was so fortunate to find pieces that were ready to place in the room.

As for the bed linens throughout the house, it was a consensus among the bloggers to buy new. We wouldn’t have time or the resources to properly clean or wash those items so we felt new was best. I found my bedding at HomeGoods.

With most of the items purchased, I was ready to decorate.

We weren’t given many photos of the home and only received rough estimates of room dimensions. This made shopping and space planning somewhat challenging. Thankfully, the pieces I chose filled my spaces perfectly. The only thing I was lacking was some wall art for a large feature wall in the Elias’ room. I did some quick thinking and decided to make something.

I got a small drop cloth, free-handed / painted on a soccer ball, and then stapled a strip of wood to bottom and top of the drop cloth. After securing it to the wall with some screws, I had instant art work, and that giant wall was looking a little less bare.

With that, Elias’ new soccer-inspired room was complete.

We were given a budget of $285 to shop for the room, plus a $50 Lowe’s Gift Card. I managed to spend all of my money and then some. The bedding and curtains were a donation from me to the family. This wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to make the space extra special for this lovely family.

As you can see, they LOVED the space.

What do you think of the design?

I’ll be back on Friday to talk a bit more about this adventure and reveal the other rooms in the home. Be sure to stop back then.