A New Bed for Mr. 6 Year Old

Happy Valentines Day!!

Up until a few weeks ago, Mr. 6 Year Old was still sleeping in a toddler bed. We knew it was time for him to have a real bed, but he did not want to part with his Thomas The Train toddler bed. Not once had he ever even mentioned wanting a big bed. We had to talk him into it, and we finally agreed to keep the bed for his “future son”. It is up in our attic right now! And it was replaced with this loft bed. Does it look familiar to you?

We bought this bed for Mr. 13 Year Old when we moved into this house, not thinking about the fact that he was going to grow 5 inches since then! So we switched this bed to Mr. 6 Year Old’s room, and got a new bed for Mr. 13 Year Old. Are you following? The carpet was fairly new when we moved in as well. I would never choose this light colored carpet for a child’s room, but it is what we got and is in great shape, so I added the little area rug to try to protect it.

In our house, there is no room for a play room. Every room is already taken, so Mr. 6 Year Old’s toys have to be in his bedroom. And let me tell you, he loves his toys! My other two children never enjoyed playing with toys nearly as much as our youngest. He has such an imagination! This room is not one of those beautiful, picture perfect bedrooms that show no signs of actual life. It is a 6 year old boys room, and he plays in here every day. Believe it or not, to prepare for the transition, I did a major purge in his room, and we got rid of 4 black garbage bags of toys, and 2 bags of clothes. And he still has so many toys! And yes, I know the lid of the toy box under his bed is pink. The lid comes off and can easily be spray painted a different color, which I have been meaning to get to. The toy box is in great shape and I like the fact that it has shelves for his books, so it is staying. But I promise to get on that lid soon!

We did not change any décor in his room, he is not ready to part with the Thomas theme quite yet. I simply purged, cleaned from top to bottom, and switched out the beds. We have not painted the walls since moving in. This is the color they already were, and the paint was in very good shape and matched just fine, so we left it. But I have been thinking I would like to paint the walls. This art easel was a gift from Santa. It came from Ikea – $9.99! Great deal, and the other side is a white board. And it also hold a roll of paper that hangs along the bottom. He still plays with his kitchen all of the time.

He loves his little desk area. When this bed was in my older son’s room, I had the desk facing under the bed, but I thought it would work much better facing out, and it does. The red frame hanging on the wall is something I picked up at Ikea, and inside is his artwork. It can be changed out really easily. I have not bought him any bedding yet, hence, the jumble on top of the bed. I have been on the lookout for something to buy. I don’t want anything themed. I just want something that I like, but haven’t seen it yet. The drawers under the bed hold all of his clothes that I fold, and the cabinet holds all of his DVD’s

You can read more about this red mirror here. The bins were another purchase from Ikea. It contains Legos, kitchen play items, cars, and little characters. Because the bed has built in storage, we were able to remove a dresser and desk that were in his room. The dresser that used to be in here got moved to Mr. 13 Year old’s bedroom and the desk got sent to Goodwill.

This Thomas table is his pride and joy. He has more Thomas trains that anyone I know, and let me tell, you all of those trains and tracks take up a lot of space! He keeps putting stickers on this table, and I keep peeling them off when he is not looking, but he notices! The shelves are just cheapos from Lowes, and I would like to upgrade them. All of those Thomas stickers on the wall are removable.

Do you remember when I made this art gallery for him to display some of his artwork? He does use it, but he still likes to tape things up all over the house!

This little table that the TV is sitting on used to be his night stand. We had no place else to put the TV, so this iss a temporary solution. This TV is old, it used to be in our bedroom, until we finally got a flat screen. And it doesn’t have cable hooked up to it, so he just uses it to watch DVD’s. Someday, he will probably get a flat screen, and we will probably mount it on the wall.

He does have more floor space to play with the loft bed. And the toy box tucks neatly underneath of it.

This red “thing” hanging behind the door is a nuisance. It contains more stuffed animals, but won’t allow the door to open completely. I am going to move it to a better spot.

Here are a couple of shots of what this room looked like before.

I am looking forward to the day that the house isn’t over run with toys. But at the same time, I know when they are gone, I will miss it, because he is my last child. So although all of the toys do bother me, I try to remember that one day I am going to have an empty nest, and that makes it a little easier to tolerate. So here is a list of things that I would like to do in this room.

Paint the walls. I am thinking of painting the bottom a bright white, and the top something in a brighter color.
Move red net to a better location.
Change the curtains.
Upgrade shelving.
Paint the doors and door knobs.
Upgrade the TV and mount it to the wall.
Buy new bedding
Change out décor
Paint the trim
Paint the toy box lid
Add DIY shelving for books