Wallpaper Wednesday

This Park Avenue apartment from this month's House Beautiful magazine had such a fabulous 8 year old boy's room. In it they blew up an antique map and papered the wall with it. I thought it was such a great idea- I wanted to share it with you.

I wonder what it costs to have an antique map enlarged to wall size??????

The Nine-Year-Old Boy's Room

Christine,

I was wondering if you could help me? This is my nine year old's room. Something is missing and it feels a bit cold. Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking for one thing doing the back wall the matching brown Serena and Lily paint that coordinates with the bedding.

Please help!

Melissa

Hi Melissa,

Yours is an easy one- as you have already made such nice selections in the bedroom. I like everything you have purchased. (I don't say that to a lot of people :) I would change three things to the room:

1. an area rug
2. the way you made the bed
3. focal point

Your carpet is a little dull- I would add an area rug- the one at the top of the post is from Pottery Barn Teen. This will help the room to feel a little more finished and grounded.

Read this post on bed making. Your bedding is great- but the bed making is not. I know that 9 year old boys may not be the best at making the bed a specific way- but you can always try....

The big thing missing from your room is a focal point. In a bedroom- the focal point should always be the headboard wall. The area that theoretically would be the focal point is simply empty. An accent paint color is not the answer. You can do one of two things. Fist of all- you could hang wall decor above the bed that would act as your focal point- like the American Flag below that I found from Uttermost...

Or- secondly- you could add a headboard. I like the tall dark brown one below from Padma's Plantation. If your headboard is too low- it will not be the focal point we need- you would still need wall decor- but if your headboard is tall enough- it can stand alone and really finish off the room. I like how this headboard is sophisticated enough that it won't be to juvenile in later years. It can be a great headboard for a guest bedroom when your little boy is off to college.

So - there you go- I would add a rug- re-make the bed and add a focal point. A few small changes- and the room will look fantastic. Another thought is to find a map that has better colors in it for the room- like this map from Boetti.

Thanks for writing in!

- Christine