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Gabe's Bedroom Update

arrowsandbow9 • Feb 24, 2021

Gabe's Bedroom Update

Gabe is our oldest and in some ways, our most spirited, strong willed and opinionated. He lives for the ocean and he feels most alive when he is in the water. We had his American flag above his bed, and we loved that and wanted to play off that more and keep it kinda vintage, muted, retro-esq. And I asked you all - my friends - and I was so inspired by so many of your ideas. When this one hit, it was perfection and one of those 'this is how it was supposed to be all along!'

So we scoured the internet and garage sales and used pieces we had in the house for a little Vintage Surfer Room Update , fit for an 11 year old! I knew I wanted to add some depth to the walls and I knew I wanted to do a gallery wall of vintage findings - a flag with a great saying, some pictures of the boys, and vintage trunks (obsessed with how cute they are!). I linked some really fun options for a Vintage Surfer Room here.

I had a hard time initially deciding what exactly to do on the walls in Gabe’s room. I loved the look and feel of the board and batten, but I couldn’t decide if I should leave everything white, or go with either black or bone to add some “color.” With the gallery wall going up, I felt that any color other than a neutral would be too much and I didn’t want anything to clash with his blue bedding.

I wanted to give bone a try to give it a more vintage feel. So once I decided on bone, it was time to figure out HOW I wanted to paint the walls. I started by doing just the “boards” of the board and batten, but it didn’t feel like enough so I painted one full panel. And then I didn’t like that, so I painted all of it. And that was it, I felt it was a perfect compliment to the walls, but it wasn't going to clash with anything I was going to add.

Tip whenever painting or finishing anything with an edging: Whenever I do a chair rail or bead board or anything that has an edge I’ll go through and I’ll paint my color on the featured or wood portion of the wall but then I always like go over with my white or whatever color the top of the wall is and just make that line really really sharp.

Once the paint was done I brought in an old headboard that I got at a garage sale for like $5. Someone had added some hooks to it and it felt very “shiplike” to me, so I knew it would make a great addition. Now he has places to hang things and grab easily.
Gabe’s room might literally be my most favorite room of all. I am obsessed with how it all came out. It was one of those things that it could’ve been a really big disaster because I just bought all these random things and was kind of like “oh let’s see if they all look good together.” But I love it so much.

There was one spot on the flag wall that I felt that it could use a little something extra, something personal. I found an old navy towel that I had, so I cut it into a faux flag and hand stitched his initials in the corner with red thread. I kinda love it and was also super proud I repurposed and created something unique to finish the space!

This room is warm and comforting but mostly, it reflects Gabe's personality so well. When decorating a space, I find that finding unique, off the beaten path items is what truly makes the space welcoming, and reflects who lives there!
And of course, Gabe's Bedroom Update is Foxi approved!