When we told Elliot he was getting a new room he wasn’t thrilled. A creature of habit, our four-year-old boy doesn’t love change, so we knew we’d have to pull out all the cards to get him to move into his new space. Getting down on his level, I softly asked him, “what would you like your room to be decorated with?” I had visions of him responding with things I’d love like “coastal calm” “vintage boy” and “rustic yet classic”. He looked me in the eyes as his face lit up, “Paw Patrol!”
Now I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t drop a little. We’ve worked hard to create a beautiful home and a Paw Patrol bedroom just didn’t fit into my vision board. However, I also know that kids are only little for so long and they deserve their own space that reflects what they love.
So began the mission to create a Paw Patrol-themed bedroom. I wanted to make it stylish and easy to change as his interests change over time. He told me he wanted the colour blue and apart from that, he wasn’t picky. His old room had vertical paneling which we both wanted to add to this room for some warmth.
The Brief: A Paw Patrol Themed Bedroom with a blue base and all themed elements can be easily swapped out as Elliot grows older.
First of all, let me begin by telling you: take Before pictures. That way if you come home and your husband has turned the room upside down and started installing paneling you won’t be mad. Because no one should ever be mad at husbands for doing things around the house.
So this is all I have, a photo we took around Halloween when the room was still a guest room. Perfect.
The first step was installing the VJ paneling. We used EasyCraft VJ paneling which we had delivered to us from our local timber supplier: The Bunker at Doonan. They were $11 cheaper per panel than the Hardware giant here in Australia (let’s just call them ‘Hammerbarn”) and delivered it to our door for a great price. If you’re on the Sunshine Coast be sure to check them out.
We used our new nail gun to install the paneling, which was so much faster than the drill and screw method we had used previously. I highly recommend getting one if you plan to do a lot of paneling or framing of projects in the future. Ours is the Ryobi 18v Brad Nailer which I love because it’s light and easy to use.
The next step was choosing a paint colour and let me tell you this was HARD. I took a sample card of every blue in Bunnings and hated them all. They either read too babyish or way too bright/intense. I also grabbed some swatches from Porter’s Paint which I’ve never tried before. Their colour “Newport Blue” was a beautiful greyish blue that I loved, and luckily Elliot did too so we locked it in.
Once the painting was done it was time to style, we put the room together in two hours while he was sleeping and when he woke up on his birthday morning he saw this!
I have had my eye on this Bailey bed from Temple and Webster for years and was happy to see it in stock and on sale ( a rare thing in these weird times). We chose the Robyn bedside to go with it in a natural wood which I absolutely love. To dress the bed I chose some Paw Patrol sheets from Spotlight, a Quilted Pillowcase from Potterybarn and this grey comforter from Amazon. The throw on the end of the bed is IKEA, as is the bedside lamp.
Searching for decor items was hard too. I knew I wanted inexpensive items that could be changed out as Elliot’s interests changed over the years but I couldn’t find anything anywhere. So I pulled out my Cricut (yay!) and sewing machine (boo!) and made him a pennant flag and Paw Patrol shield bunting. They were easier than I thought, thanks to this SVG file for the Paw Patrol shields. The bunting could be changed to suit any theme and is a great way to add kid like touches to a room. Let me know if a tutorial on making these is something you’d like to see.
I loved making the Pennant flag and want to add more to make a collection on his wall. Elliot likes it too but mostly just because he thinks it’s his Elliot pizza slice. It was very cheap too, costing $5 in materials all up. I bought this baseball style font to use and I’m glad I did, I think it’s the perfect style for a name Pennant.
An easy way to add a touch of a theme without breaking the bank is to hang up their favourite dress-up items. This Ryder vest is from Ali Express and took approximately 8 years to arrive (or felt like it). It’s good quality for the price and looks cute hung on the wall when Elliot’s not wearing it.
What I thought would be a hard task, mixing ultra childish with classic simple style actually turned out to be pretty easy, and very fun. It involved more DIYs than I had planned but I’m so happy with how it turned out (and so is Elliot). He got his Paw Patrol room and I got a space he won’t grow out of in a year.
Did I miss any sources? Let me know! And as always, if there’s anything you want to learn more about leave a comment below.
Sarah xx
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