Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.
We moved into a house that was about 30 years old at the time, and most of the wall and floor coverings needed to be replaced. Of course, you have to space those projects out as time and finances permit. So after ten years we are just now getting to the bedroom of Jesse, my youngest son who just turned 15. He had three days off due ro a teacher’s conference, so Jim took those days off as well.
I didn’t really get a “before” picture as it was before we started working on it because…I would have been too embarrassed. He has the smallest bedroom in the house but the most “stuff,” some of it from younger days and no longer really played with, some that his older brothers passed down to him as they cleaned out their things. We would sort through and purge a few shelves or drawers at a time, but it was overwhelming for both of us.
My husband’s strategy was to pack up everything into boxes and put it in the attic, because if we took time to sort through it before painting we wouldn’t get done in the time frame we had. As we packed things away, if there was something obvious that needed to be thrown away or put in a give-away box, we’d do that, but otherwise we’ll just take the boxes out one or two at a time as we have time later to sort through.
So…here are the “before pictures I took after most of the furniture was out and they had done some spackling:
The walls look a little greenish here, but they were actually a barely-there blue.
Of course, you notice the hideous carpet:
We were delighted to find nice hardwood floors underneath:
Jesse first wanted to paint the walls red, but we felt that would be a little too intense. Then he said brown: we weren’t sure how that would do in a small room, but we were okay with it. Then he said he wanted to paint the trim blue. I wasn’t sure about that at all. But Home Depot had a computer setup where you could click on the paint color and then on the walls or trim of a picture of a room, so we tried it out, and it wasn’t bad.
It actually turned out better than I thought it would:
It was hard to capture the right shade with the lighting in the room and this camera, but this is pretty close. The walls are Double Chocolate, the trim is Smoky Blue. The doors and dresser are supposed to be Oyster, which I had thought was a little tanner than this — this pretty much looks barely off-white. But it’s fine.
I think he was wanting to try for a look that was grown and masculine, and I think this definitely fits the bill. I probably would have done things differently…but then, he is the one living in it, so as long as it wasn’t too outlandish, I was fine with letting him make the choices.
It hasn’t arrived yet, but I ordered this comforter — I let him choose it out of a catalog. And this weekend we’ll look for an area rug — I found a couple that incorporate the different colors.
He’s very pleased!
I also wanted to show my “work in progress.” It’s about one-fourth done.
You can find more Show and Tellers at Kelli‘s.
Stray Thoughts 
Love your son’s room. I looked at the comforter – it’s gonna look great. And your needlework is beautiful!
You did a great job on that room. Wow, what a nice bonus to find wood floors under that carpet. Your cross stitch is lovely. Kathi
Amazing makeover. Ya, I think I’d be thrilled to have the carpet taken off and have the warm touch of wood for flooring. Much better.
My show n tell is Halloween, solar lights since most all my visitors have been asking for some of my halloween decorations I’ve been setting up…and a set of kitchen linens that match my blog’s header that I found! Come on by if you can find time…Happy Friday!
I just love hardwood floors. You are doing a great job. I wish I could do needlework yit is beautiful..
Your son’s room looks great. I love those computers at Home Depot that enable you to see the finished room so you can play around with various combinations. I hope you will post the completed room when your comforter and rug arrive.
Nice to meet you Barbara.
I love the new colors- and he did a great job choosing a comforter. i actually like the carpet- kinda funky looking- but yes the hardwoods floors are better!
Blessings
Your needlework is coming right along! What a neat re-do! It is VERY masculine. I love his color choices-and the comforter is perfect!
I LOOOOOOOOVE the outcome! I can not believe how lucky you’ve been with those floors! I can’t BELIEVE that people COVERED those floors with that awful carpeting! LOL! I’m sure Jesse is LOVING his new room! (and I’m sure those boxes are in the attic for good… LOL!)
My son Derek’s favorite color is red — and when he was 13 I redid his room while he was away in Colorado for a month. HERE it is! He’s 19 now – and I just asked him the other day if he still likes it or if he’d like something different. He says he still likes it! I’m very bold with color in my home! I’m not afraid of it at all! I’m getting ready to do my kitchen BRIGHT yellow and blue … but after that, I’m going to remove “bright” from the rest of the downstairs and change to a very light sandy color. We’ve had COLOR in the living and family rooms for many years now. I’m ready to go back to something a little more neutral now.
Love your cross stitch. I have not touched mine in years. But enjoyed yours
The new room makeover looks wonderful and it’s great that you found hardwood underneath the carpet! I love seeing your cross-stitch in progress…keep up the good work!
~Kellli
Your WIP looks good! I love doing needlework – I find it so calming and…homey! Although I haven’t done too much of it this summer.
The room redo is going to be great. Brown and blue is a great color combo (and very popular now). I love the bedding you ordered for him! I had to laugh about the floor because when I first saw it I thought the carpet was pretty cool!
Manuela
I think those colors are very good-looking and masculine! The comforter and bedding is going to be so nice with it.
Nancy
The color selections are great and I love how the cross stitch is coming along.
Hi Barbara,
The room makeover is coming along very nicely! 🙂
And your cross-stitch is looking great!!!! Keep up the good work.
Have a blessed weekend.
Wow, I loved seeing this room makeover! Such a great job…I agree, the color of the wall turned out really nice! And wow, such beautiful hard wood floors underneath that “wild” carpet! 🙂
Your cross stitch is beautiful too…I so wish I could do that!
Blessings,
~Tammy
It is a very grown-up man-looking room which sounds like it will suit him great! The hardwood floors were quite a bonus. (We are remodeling as well…I think my son will faint if I tell him it could take ten years to get to his room!). It isn’t easy, is it?!
My Show & Tell
Hi Barbara, great work with Jesse’s room AND your cross stitch! I hope you’re enjoying your weekend. 😀
Hi Barbara, I just have to say that I really dig that carpet! 😉
The colors your son chose do go together well and along with that comforter looks like it’ll be quite comfortable for him.
God bless,
Brenda 🙂
How wonderful to lift that carpet and find that nice floor. I love the combination of brown and blue – my gosh, this looks like a whole different room! Good job!
The room looks really good. That’s great about the hard wood floors. I would have been scared of the colors too but he made a nice choice.
Praise the Lord!! As long as your son likes it, that’s what matters most! We painted our son’s room this year, too. Guess what, though? We did a deep red!! I thought it might be too obnoxious, but we love it!! The only annoying part is that red is the hardest color. You have to do at least three layers even after the primer layer. Ugggggh! I thought we’d NEVER be done!