Will's Cowboy Room

We chose to be surprised by the gender of both of our children. Which is SO fun. I highly recommend it. The only downside is that it makes planning the baby's nursery a real challenge. With both of our kids, I ended up waiting until they were here to start planning the decor for their rooms.

Will's room started with his quilt. I wanted to go with a farm/vintage western theme and thought the little stars in Make Life fabric was perfect (think sheriff's badge). Of course, by the time he got here and I got my act together I had to really scrounge to find more fabric in that line to be able to make his bumpers, crib skirt and curtains.









Justin grew up around horses and rodeos and his grandfather still has many horses, so this seemed like a theme that Will could grow into. As you can see from the pictures, nothing is permanent, so this blue room could easily be transformed something completely different down the road.

My favorite part of his room is the photos. Below you can see Will's great grandfather with one of his first horses at age 18, then Justin plowing with his grandfather, an old newspaper cut out of Will's grandpa and his daddy as a little boy at a county fair and then Justin showing sheep at a 4-H fair. I have a few more old photos that still need to be enlarged and framed - then they can also find a home on Will's walls.





On his dresser below you can see Daddy's bull riding buckles and a trophy from a horse camp he won when he was 12.



I store his toys in a wooden crate my sister personalized for him and a wicker basket. Larger toys are stored under the crib and on the bottom shelf of his changing table. The closet is still overflowing with my fabric and craft supplies, so he'll just have to live without that for a little while. ;)



I didn't have a full vision for this room when I began, but it came all came together and I'm really happy with it. It's functional, simple and personal. :)

Molly

Notes:
The fabric for the quilt, bumper, crib skirt, curtains, sheet and bunting is from the Make Life by Sweetwater line. You can still find bits and pieces of it on Etsy.
The bumper form was an old pottery barn bumper I bought at a yard sale and recovered.
The mirror and spurs and lone ranger tin and cowboy cut-out came from Hobby Lobby.
The ceramic boots came from Happy Harry's (I purchased those years ago!)
The wood pallet bookshelf is a DIY project I blogged about here.
The dresser was a $25 thrift store upcycle. I sanded, repainted and used rope instead of replacing the hardware.
The "W" above the crib was purchased from this Esty seller - I HIGHLY recommend.
The name puzzle came from this Etsy seller. Another gem! They don't have puzzles listed in their shop, but they will do custom orders if you ask. 

Wood Pallet Bookshelf - a mini tutorial

When I saw this project on Pinterest, I knew I just *had* to make it for Will's room. Luckily, my hubby was able to get his hands on a wood pallet for me. When he brought it home, our conversation went something like this:

"Here's the wood pallet you wanted for that bookshelf."
"Oh, thanks! But...it's so....new."
"Yeah, I got the best one I could find."
"I was kind of hoping for something older and more weathered. Now I'm going to have to beat it with a hammer."
"What? But I thought....I just.....never mind."

I'm pretty sure he's done trying to understand me when it comes to my crafting and DIY projects.

So I loaded my new pallet in my car and headed to my Dad's garage to borrow his tools. Or...just, ummmm, just watch him use his tools.

But in all honesty, this is a pretty basic woodworking project and if you have a saw and a drill, you can totally do it sans husband.

Some wood pallets are slightly different, but they generally look like a variation of this:





One pallet should make four shelves. Make your cuts as shown in the picture below. Except, you know...straighter.



Next, you'll need to measure the inside of the bottoms of your newly made shelves so that you can cut 2x4's to size and screw them in place. Otherwise, all your books will fall out the bottom of your nifty new shelf.

To finish them off, I took a little electric sander and tried to get the edges and corners as smooth as possible. Because I wasn't happy with the new wood, I took a hammer and some nails and scraped to give the wood some more character. Then, I took my can of stain and used a brush to run over the surface of the shelves one time. After each brushstroke I immediately used a rag to rub in the stain.

Then I had to wait a week for the smell to wear off before I could bring them in the house. I couldn't wait to get these things on the wall!





I am SO pleased with how they turned out. They hold a lot more books than I excepted - each shelf holds at least 20-25 books of various sizes - and it's so easy for kids to access and put away their own books.


I have one shelf left that I didn't use in Will's room and I think I'm going to paint it white and use it as a craft supply/coloring book/school book center in our little craft corner. The possibilities are endless! Honestly, I wouldn't mind having a set of these in my living room!



I have pictures of all the DIY projects I did for Will's room, hopefully I'll get that posted this week. I love how it all came together, it's definitely a room he can grow into and hopefully he'll stay interested in horses and cowboys. :)

Molly