{Oliver's Big Boy Room}

Time is flying by . . . . my first sweet {baby} boy turned THREE YEARS OLD!! I am not sure how that is even possible, but alas, it happened. Although I felt a bit sad about the whole thing, one positive was that we could finally phase out all of the "baby" stuff and phase in some of that big boy goodness that I keep seeing everywhere. This process was way overdue.

Baby Stuff:

I know it may seem silly, but all of the way up until Oliver's 3rd birthday, I still rocked him for a few minutes before bed every night (and at nap time). It was our sweet mother and son time. Nobody can soothe/lull him like I can. But, that upholstered rocking chair sure took up a ton of good play space, so I was happy to (finally) relocate it to baby Julian's room across the hall.

Another thing you may find unusual is that Oliver slept in his crib until he turned 3 as well. He never once tried to climb out of it, and in general seemed cozy and happy in there, so we didn't rush to ditch it.

BUT.....on Feb 17th -- Oliver's 3rd birthday -- our house looked something like this.....

At 3 yrs old - Bam - no rocking before bed. Bam - no sleeping in a crib. Boom - NO PACIFIER (that was DEFINITELY hard to type/admit, but hey, just keeping it real). Lot's of big changes for the big boy! (Next up - NO DIAPERS!! Eeek! And starting pre-school in September. Things are a happening, people!)

Now on to Big Boy Stuff:

Twin Bed vs Toddler Bed:

If I had invested any money in a good quality crib mattress (I used my sisters hand-me-down that she used for BOTH of her children, now ages 9 and 6), I may have considered buying a toddler bed to bridge the gap between crib and twin. Also, Oliver's crib (also a hand me down from my sister) did not convert to a toddler bed, so it was either spend $ to buy a toddler bed (and potentially a better quality mattress for it), OR go straight to a twin bed.  If I went the toddler bed route, this is the toddler bed that I would have purchased: The Babyletto Skip Toddler Bed.

It gets great reviews and fits a standard crib sized mattress. Good stuff! However, after mulling it over for a hot second, the twin bed option seemed glaringly better (money wise for the long term), so that is what we did.

I could write a whole separate post about the beds that I considered and looked into, as there are so many cool beds to choose from out there with such a huge price range, but ultimately only one bed truly stole my heart. The Harlan bed from Restoration Hardware Baby & Kids.

It's the bed that dreams are made of, don't you agree?!! Rust-colored metal with hand-stitched leather trim - yes please!! Ahhh. Yes, it was a total splurge, but in my opinion it was well worth it (and we got a substantial discount because we bought it during President's weekend ;) ). I was in my childhood twin bed until I moved out for college, so if he stays in this bed even half that long, it will have paid for itself in my opinion. 

Just for fun, here are a few others that I considered....

(I will update the source list with links asap...but for now - 1. Macy's. 2 & 9. Overstock. 3 & 6. Rest Hard. 4 & 5 & 8. Land of Nod. 7. West Elm.) 

and one other VERY strong contender that is not shown above is this West Elm Mid-Century Daybed

Isn't it so beautiful! It was a really tough call, but for just a tiny bit more $, I went with the Harlan and I couldn't be happier with my choice. The daybed is SO beautiful though, so I will have to keep it in mind (if it still exists) when Julian is ready to move on up!

If you know me, I am a bargain hunter by nature, but in everything (fashion, home decor, etc),  I am a big proponent of mixing steals and splurges together. I like the main key pieces to be good quality and as timeless as possible, and then I like to fill in with accessories that can be changed out with the season/trends and that don't necessarily have to stand the test of time. 

For Oliver's big boy room I chose these accessories to play around with.....

(Source list with links to follow as well, but for now - Duvet Cover & Teepee Pillow: Cotton On Kids; Fox Pillow & Tiger Rug & Storage Bin: H&M; Indian Chief Blanket: Pendleton USA; Doll House: Hape (Barnes & Noble Exclusive); Marquee Letters: Etsy.com).  

and achieved this look.....

Across from the bed is the same yellow dresser that we have used as his changing table, and a bookshelf. Nothing fancy, just basic & functional. 

For the rest of the room, my plan is to add something like this......

and then we can call it a day! What do you think?

:) I hope you like it as much as we do!

-L