Big Bed for a Big Boy

There's no turning back - our Sully is out of a crib and into a big boy bed!  We just tucked him in about 30 min ago, so I'll let you know if he wanders in while I write this ;)

Until now we've made small but steady progress on the boys' shared room.  We swapped out the old changing table/dresser combo for a larger dresser with much more room for two growing boys.

We also made progress in bringing order to the closet, but it's still in need of additional storage and some finishing touches...

 And we swapped out the heavy closet doors for a more functional (and eye-pleasing!) curtain panel

It seemed the most pressing area to address next was Sully's bed.  He just turned 2 1/2 and recently came to the realization that he can throw his leg up over the side of the crib with ease...but hasn't yet climbed out.  Only a matter of time, so we said goodbye to the crib today.

Along with two twin mattresses for the boys, we have two twin bed frames from James' childhood.  They are fantastic, solid wood but were pretty scratched and scuffed from years of wear and tear and our many moves.

We decided to go with color instead of a stain.  I knew it would be difficult to match the other stained pieces in the room, particularly the night stand that sits between the two beds.  I also didn't want the room to feel too heavy or overwhelmed with so many dark pieces. 

We also decided that spray paint would be a good choice because of all the grooves, notches, etc. in the frames.  So, we opted for an Indigo blue (close to a light navy) in a satin finish.  Check out the step-by-step tutorial!

It took most of Saturday between layers and drying time but we were able to move in the new bed Sunday afternoon!  This particular shade of blue worked perfectly with all the other elements in the room.

Next step was the bed rail.  Our little guy will be up on a high bed, so while it's not the most lovely of design features....safety first!

Now, time for the fun!  My bedding budget came from the items we sold on craigslist and my first stop for bedding was my ole' standby: Target.  You have never steered me wrong, Friend! 

I found a couple of great options there but for peace of mind, I made a few other stops.  I ran into a limited selection at Marshalls and either high prices or low quality at my other stops.  So back to Target I went!

James probably thought I was crazy but I actually came home with 3 choices:  a solid reversible quilt in blue, a striped comforter with all the room colors, and a plaid patched quilt in blue/red/browns. They all had blue but I wanted to see them against the color of the bed.  The solid one clashed with the blue paint on the bed and the stripes on the bed were competing with the stripes on the wall.  So, the winner....plaid!

I'm so happy with the colors!  It's just the right amount of pattern and a great weight for year round weather.  It's also fun enough for two young boys but neutral enough to grow with them. 

Last step was showing the big man his new bed!  I tried to get a shot of him on it but he was so excited he would not sit still.  He was a happy blur...

 Here's a brief pause in the action...this shot was pure luck

I guess that wasn't quite the last step.....he still needed to bring his "friends" up to their new home.  This is probably a much more realistic shot of what the bed will look like on most days. 

Let's check out the Before and After....

Before:

And After:

We still need to address the box spring....as long as the safetly rail is in place, I can't bring the quilt down to cover it, so we'll come up with another solution in the near future.  For now, it's one new big-boy bed, one happy boy and one happy Mom! 

I'm linked up at Bowl Full of Lemons