Nautical Boy Room-Adorable and Super Easy!

A nautical boy room is a great way to create a fun yet mature space for that special little boy in your life!  Learn an easy way to decorate a boy room that will give him the personal space he’s always wanted and your house the finished look it deserves! 

A nautical boy room is exactly what I pictured my future child having after finding out he was a boy. A nautical theme is just so cute and easy to pull off for a little boy!  HomeGoods always has a large selection of nautical themed decor so I knew this would be an easy room to decorate!

Reasoning Behind This New Room

My son just turned five and for his birthday I decided to give him a “big boy” room!  Two and a half years ago when we were transitioning him from a toddler bed to a “real bed” I did a mini-makeover to his room to replace all of the baby stuff from his nursery with more mature “big boy” decor that I knew he would love.   I did this with the intention of making the transition more smooth (from a toddler bed to a twin bed), to encourage the maturation process (“it’s time to grow up now you are a big boy not a baby anymore”), and to avoid sleep regression after switching beds (aint’ no body got time for that!).  If you missed that post you can see it by clicking here.  Also, to see another fun nautical boy room decor DIY I did click here.

Involving Your Child in the Design

Together, my son and I had been talking about what his new room was going to look like for several months.  He’s been asking me for a bigger bed so that he could have friends spend the night for a LONG time!  Fast forward to this month and all of my design plans finally came to fruition!  And what better milestone than turning 5 to celebrate being a big boy and getting a BIG BOY ROOM!!!!!!!!

This was my design board for the nautical boy room…..

The Bedding

I knew I wanted him to have this particular bedding by Beddy’s Beds because it would be easier for him to make his bed every morning.

Beddy’s Beds come as a set sewn together with the comforter, flat sheet, and fitted sheet all in one!  To make the bed, all you have to do is put the set on your mattress just like you are putting on a fitted sheet!  When getting into the bed at night, you simply unzip the top.  When ready to make the bed in the morning, simply zip it back up! SO SO EASY!!  Every mama should have this bedding for her kids because it is such a time saver!!!!

Be sure to use coupon code: LEMON20 to get 20% off your purchase of any Beddy’s Bedding set.

Planning

1. Set a budget

   • This may need to be adjusted after completing steps 2-5.

2. Select a theme

   • Do not let your child have free reign as everyone in your house has to live with this decision too! There are tons of themes out there that everyone can agree on (sports, vintage cars, planes, nautical, hunting, animals, dinosaurs, etc.)

3. Make the theme tasteful

   • If your theme is dinosaurs, don’t let the entire room be overtaken by bright green dinosaurs!  Find ways to incorporate dinosaurs that are neutral and appealing to the eye. There are tons of tasteful options these days!

Executing Your Design

1. Shop for decor that fits your theme and budget

   • Select decor that reflects things you would see in a real life nautical setting like a captains wheel, anchor, nautical stripes, a decorative buoy, etc.

2. Create a design board with a shopping list

   • This should include all textiles (wallpaper, rugs, bedding), paint colors, lighting, furniture and accessories.

3. Purchase the items on your shopping list

   • Not everything has to be purchased at once.  Save up, shop sales, and purchase over time.  Never sacrifice on good design for your budget.  Be smart and plan ahead to get the room you really want!

4. Install and reveal

   • A child is more likely to love a new room if revealed in a fun way!   It will give him something to get excited about which will, in return, create a space he will take pride in!  If you missed our reveal you can watch it in my saved highlights on Instagram.  His reaction was adorable!

Install Day

I had everything ready to go and as soon as he left for school my husband and I got to work.  My plan was to have everything installed in one day while he was at school so he would have no idea.  He came home and went straight to his room to change his clothes for the movies and walked in to this HUGE surprise….

Source List

Wallpaper

Bedding – “Game On” style

Ceiling Fan

Headboard

Bed Frame

Headboard Cover Made by Sew Custom

Headboard Cover fabric

H Pillow

H Blanket

Sailboat Bolster Pillow Made by Sew Custom

Sailboat Fabric

End Table

Lamp- HomeGoods but I’ve linked another nautical themed lamp here

Curtain Rod

Curtains– Homegoods but I’ve linked a pair that are almost the exact same.

Toy Chest/Tufted Bench

Step Stool- baby shower several years ago but I’ve linked a similar one here

His exact words to me after he finished screaming and jumping up and down were “Mommy, I love it SO much!!!!”

My heart did backflips for him and I was internally high fiveing myself because everything went down exactly the way I wanted it to, which rarely happens!!!

Ok enough about the reveal.  Here are some of the nitty gritty details of this nautical boy room…..

I cannot believe the price on this H throw blanket and H pillow cover!  Both are very good quality too!

He loves this tufted bench with storage I found at Homegoods a few months ago.  Our dog has a bad habit of stealing stuffed animals and chewing on them so this storage bench has eliminated that problem! It also provides the perfect surface for laying out school clothes the night before….another great way to encourage “big boy” responsibilities! I’ve linked a similar bench for easy online shopping here.

You know my love for wallpaper runs deep and this sailboat paper is everything to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The background is solid white which brightens up the room and the boats are printed to look like a blueprint type paper.  It gives off an all American, nautical vibe and I absolutely love it!!!!!!! Not to mention, it obviously fit in with our nautical boy room theme perfectly!

Thanks to this wallpaper, I didn’t have to purchase any artwork for this room.  I’ve actually never had to purchase artwork for any of the rooms I’ve designed with wallpaper. That’s the beauty of wallpaper, you can just let the print on the paper be the art…..

I found this pillow at Homegoods several years ago but linked a similar one here for easy online shopping.

In keeping with the all-American nautical boy room theme, I wanted to add a slipcover to the headboard made from this beautiful, relaxed linen material that would give this cheap headboard a Restoration Hardware/custom look.  Paige from Sew Custom, often referred to as my “fairy godmother seamstress” is responsible for this perfect slipcover!  I’ve talked about her on Instagram and even did a walk through of her shop when I went to pick up my stuff that she made. She is an amazing business woman and VERY talented seamstress!!!!  She can do anything from upholstery to bedding to wedding dress alterations and slipcovers!  I love her because she’s professional, affordable, and knows her way around a sewing machine!!!!!  She’s been at this a long time and really knows what looks best for each project.

Paige from Sew Custom is SO incredibly talented!!!!  She even added this custom monogram to the slipcover for a personal touch….

In order to tie together the whole nautical boy room theme and complement the sailboats from the wallpaper, I made sure to include some natural rope in with my accessories.  Let’s talk about accessories in a 5 year olds room for a second.  They should be very minimal because little kids, boys in particular, don’t really understand the purpose of said accessories.  Also, they don’t need them!  So by “accessories” I’m referring to a lamp and a curtain rod….

I was able to reuse the curtains from his old room which I bought at Homegoods several years ago and just dressed them up with a fun nautical curtain rod with jute finials.….

Here are the links to the curtain rod and almost the exact same curtains here.

Another brand I wanted to be sure and work with again for this room makeover is Fanimation!  Their ceiling fans are SO amazing both from a technology and design standpoint! Gone are the days of ugly ceiling fans!!! I chose the Spitfire model again for this room because I used it for our master bedroom makeover and was so pleased with it that I had to use it again.  It comes with fanSync technology that can be linked to and controlled by your smart phone!  It’s also an Energy Star rated fan so it will save us money throughout the year!  While living in the south, ceiling fans are a MUST in the hot hot summers so having an energy efficient fan is a must…

Paige from Sew Custom also made me this bolster pillow out of matching sailboat fabric…

I love how it pulls the bedding together with the wallpaper even more!  Custom pillows are another way to add an upgraded look to a room.  Having sailboats on this pillow also helped to reiterate the nautical boy room theme!

The reveal of this room was SO fun!  Thanks to the help of my amazing husband and wallpaper guy, I am so happy we were able to pull it off!!!  My son’s reaction was everything I thought it would be and it was SUCH a fun day!!!

Since the install, my son has loved everything about his new room.  He loves the nautical boy room theme and is ecstatic over having a bed large enough for us to get in and read with him!   Having a lamp that he can turn on and off all by himself absolutely rocks his world!  (Oh to be 5 years old again!)

And most importantly, he loves being able to very easily make his bed in the morning with 1 quick zip thanks to Beddy’s Beds…

More importantly, he has a room to be proud of when friends come over and a space to work on keeping clean.  We told him that along with a big boy room comes more responsibilities….

• Making the bed
• keeping the floor picked up
• putting laundry away
• laying clothes out for school the night before
• turning the lights out when you walk out of the room

Some of these chores were a part of his daily routine before, but now he is even more excited about doing them!

Well that’s all for today!  If you need help designing a room or want a design board to get you started, email me or leave your contact info in the comments below and I would be happy to create a design board for you, complete with a shopping list to get you started!