A Boy’s Room Makeover with a Super Hero Theme

Today I’m sharing a room makeover with a super hero theme. This room features a cityscape wall mural, a reading nook, and a shelf and desk area for reading, coloring, and making small crafts.

While I shared glimpses into this room last week when I shared both room reveals, this post is dedicated to just the boys’ room and I will be sharing a closer look and a full source list. 

As a reminder, this is a before and after of what the room looks like from the same spot as you enter the room:

In case you need a refresher, check out the design plans for this room here, and the ‘progress’ post where I explain what we did over the 6 week timeline is found here. 

The Wall Mural

The pièce de résistance of this room is really this incredible wall mural. It is a cartoon-ized version of the New York City skyline and is a perfect backdrop to this super hero theme room. 

I ordered it from an online store in London and it applied just like wallpaper. After giving them them exact wall dimensions, it arrived in a single large roll. Each panel was marked where I was to cut, so it was very easy to line up and install. I used regular wallpaper adhesive to install it. 

It’s a two person job (one at the top and one at the bottom), and it took us about 2 hours to finish it. 

The mural was how I selected what type of bunk bed I wanted as well. It would have been convenient to use the bunk they had before, but when I saw this industrial one, I knew it was the best choice against this wall mural. Another family who needed a bunk bed was the lucky recipient of the old one.  

This new bunk bed has the look of being constructed with pipes, and the stained wood footboard and headboards are a cool rustic feature. The bed is sturdy and heavy, but lighter than their old chunky wooden bunk bed.

I also made sure to select a bunk bed that can be separated, should they choose to not have the bunk option and instead have two twin beds in the future. 

The Trundle Bed

When figuring out bed options for 3 boys sharing a room, my first choice was a triple bunk bed. However, their parents shared the plan they have to add an additional room in their home within the next couple years, which would move one of the boys out of this room. For that reason we decided to stick with a bunk bed but add a trundle bed. This would save floor space in the room and use the often-forgotten space under the bed. 

The youngest son was sleeping in a toddler bed and they were skeptical that would would prefer the trundle, so the plan was to keep the toddler bed in the room at first. However, as soon as he saw the trundle bed and that he could sleep close to his brothers he chose to sleep there right away. It sweetened the deal that he also got new Beddy’s bedding, along with the other two.

The trundle bed was quite simple to build. We built it using my plans for a roll-away storage trundle, but shortened the length by 6 inches, and obviously didn’t install the dividers. I painted it black and attached two, matte-black drawer pulls. It glides over the carpet and rug very easily thanks to 6 big caster wheels on the underside. 

This chalkboard I added to the blank wall space by the bed. I just attached wood trim in a square and painted the inside with a couple coats of chalkboard paint. 

The Reading Nook

It was important to me to create a place for them to comfortably read, since they have a vast book collection and the parents prefer them to read in their room. So I selected this wing chair that is the perfect size for kids to  lounge in with a good book. While I added pillows for pictures, I know those will probably end up on the floor and that is perfectly fine! 

The shiny blue floor lamp is from Target and thought it was the perfect addition to this nook, giving them adequate light when reading here at night. It has a heavy base that stays sturdy even on carpet. 

There is quite a bit of space in front of this chair, so if the family later adds floor cushions or even a bench, it wouldn’t be crowded.

The Desk Area

I initially thought I would create just some low shelves to hold books, but I noticed the boys had quite a few decorative objects crowded on their dresser before the makeover. So these long DIY shelves serve a great purpose of displaying those items. The lowest shelf is really more a ledge that holds picture books for the younger boys, and below that is the desk. 

The desk wasn’t in my original plan, but I couldn’t love this addition more. With the buckets holding pencils, markers, crayons, etc, they have a place to color, cut and paste, do homework, draw pictures, or also simply read. Don’t you love those metal stools? They tuck under the desk perfectly!

I stained the shelf-desk and the other shelves above it a custom stain to match the dresser. It’s not identical but pretty close and I love the worn look it has now.  I used Varathane Weathered Gray stain, let it dry, then Annie Sloan Dark Wax rubbed into it. 

I tried giving the shelves a collected look by combining things they already had, and some vintage items. The wooden horse, globe, and toy truck and airplane were all vintage finds. All the rest of the shelf objects were things they already owned and I gave them the plant from my home. 

This wall of shelves is not only very functional for them (holding all their treasures and books) but looks awesome too! 

The Gallery Wall

In both the girls’ room and boys’ room I created a set of 6 framed art pictures for a gallery wall. This is such a fun way to utilize the large wall space above a long dresser and can be switched out with different art down the road, if they want. I got the super hero art as digital downloads on Etsy and framed them using matte-black frames from Ikea. 

The dresser is sleek and modern, but the stained wood veneer gives it a rustic vibe as well. Sometimes finding a bold accent lamp has to be thrifted! This fun yellow lamp used to be white so I knew it could be transformed when it got a couple coats of yellow spray paint and a new lamp shade. 

When I saw the train set at Ikea I couldn’t resist and plopped the rest of the wooden tracks into the vintage tin.

The Rug

The final element in the room brings in the bold blue color they loved and had on the wall previously, and that is the area rug. It isn’t too thick so it doesn’t make the furniture sit on it funny, but it really grounds the room. The moroccan pattern is a perfect modern touch for the boys’ room without competing with the style of everything else. 

I hope you enjoying seeing a closer look at all the elements that came together to create this fun and bold super hero theme bedroom. On Friday I’ll be sharing the girls’ shared room, so stay tuned for that!

Sources:

(Affiliate links used)

Wall color: Behr Marquee Cameo White

Bunk bed

Trundle: DIY plans here (Note, we shorted the length by 6″ so it would fit under this bed properly, however the plans makes a trundle that fit under my daughter’s bed beautifully, so measure your bed to know the size you need). 

Navy stripe bedding   USE CODE ”SHADESOFBLUE for 20% off ENTIRE ORDER

Navy bedding

Black dash bedding on trundle bed

Check Comforter blanket on top bunk

Green Stripe Comforter blanket on bottom bunk

Area rug

Dresser

Ceiling fan

Curtains

Wall mural from Muralswallpaper.com, name: Etching

Wing chair

Yellow throw pillow on chair: Ikea

Red throw pillow on bed: Ikea

Orange and Blue throw pillow on bed: Ikea

Smash! Pillow on chair

Floor lamp

Shelves: top two shelves– 1×8 with 6″ metal brackets sprayed oil-rubbed bronze, book ledge– two 1x2s nailed together and attached to wall with 3″ metal brackets spray painted same as large brackets. 

Black bar with buckets holding craft supplies: Ikea

Desk: 1×12 attached to wall with white 10″ shelf brackets

Red Stool

Blue Stool

Yellow Stool

Super hero art: Superman, Hulk, Spiderman, Wolverine, Captain America, Batman

Black frames: Ikea

Yellow lamp color: Rustoleum Sun Yellow

Train track: Ikea