When a young client asked me to help makeover his bedroom into a space that’s calm and fun, I thought: boy cave bedroom.
Age doesn’t matter when it comes to wanting a space that perfectly suits your personality and your goals.
My young client didn’t want his room to be attractive to his little sister, and the pink walls weren’t helping. So during our design meeting, we talked about the colors he loves and dislikes, what kinds of things he wants to do in his bedroom, and if he could do anything with his bedroom… what would that be?
His answers?
Favorite color: green.
Desired room activities: hanging out with my friends.
Dream bedroom feature: secret hide-out space.
Other favorite places to hang with friends: outside.
Client’s talent: baseball. He’s been able to throw and hit a baseball since he could walk. It’s unreal, and awesome.
Having a kid as a client can be awesome. Children are completely honest about their likes and dislikes, and they aren’t as concerned about what other people think about what they like. But my favorite part of having kids as clients is that they are the most creative when it comes to imagining possibilities, and they are never worrying about budget so they aren’t already having the anxiety-driven self-talk that it can’t be done. Budget is something for the parents and me to worry about.
Makeover mission: Make a fun Boy Cave for a budding baseball star.
So this pink bedroom is ready to become a fun play-place for a 7-year-old boy obsessed with baseball and outdoor fun. With a built-in secret clubhouse space, this bedroom will be a cool hang-out spot for him and his friends. Using a color palette inspired by his favorite colors that just so happen celebrate his love of baseball and nature, we’re using green, navy blue, reclaimed wood, and art made with baseball inspiration in this boy cave bedroom.
Project details: For this project, I’m removing some odd lighting that was installed across a little cobbled-together bump-out cubby that will become a new hideout. We’ll cover one wall with a reclaimed wood look, and the other three walls painted in shades of green and white. My dream plan to create an oversized baseball diamond to extend from the wall to the floor to ceiling was nixed by his parents, as they are concerned it might not grow with him. We settled on creating a two-toned green lawn-stripe on the wall opposite his bed.
With the lighting soffit removed, we had the hide-out accessible. And like most projects, I was inspired. Using sheets of plywood, my client, his sister, and my 7-year-old Jack painted murals on the playwood. We used those murals as wall coverings in the hide-out. Thinking that this hide-out might become a clubhouse, or an artistic urge might be inspired while inside, I painted one sheet with Chalkboard paint from Krylon, and trimmed a fun border in red with Frog Tape’s shape tape. By using plywood sheets, getting the kids involved, and using spray paint, the entire project took us as long as it took the kids to paint their murals. And they’ll have a fun reminder of how they made the space theirs.
Of course I was inspired by my client’s love of baseball. After the ceiling mural was defeated, I looked for ohter ways to celebrate his mad skills. Using baseballs and bats from the dollar store, we created a baseball hat-and-coat rack for his wall. Since I like a big reveal, I didn’t want him to see what we were doing until the end. But I asked him to write Chase’s Boy Cave on a piece of paper, so we could transfer it to a sign and added a bat and ball to the sign, too.
The wall colors were Lounge Green, SW 6444, Relish, SW 6443, and Aesthetic White, SW 7035. The two greens were too different in shade, so I mixed them until his parents couldn’t see the difference between the colors when the green Frog Tape was on the wall in-betwen. Lawn striping needs to be subtle, but noticeable. When I pulled the tape off, my client’s financial team (mom & dad) couldn’t believe they couldn’t see the differnece before. (Thank you Josef Albers.)
You’ve got to see the makeover video. So what do you think of this boy cave bedroom?
[…] My 7yo baseball star client wants a retreat. My idea? Boy cave bedroom […]