BACK TO SCHOOL BEDROOM MAKEOVER WITH WAYFAIR

I've been really excited to share this collaboration as it involves some of my favourite activities...interior design, styling and a bedroom makeover! Yep ever since we told the kiddo he was going to be a big brother he's been asking to change his bedroom from a 'playroom' to a 'big boy room' and with him fast approaching Year 2 at school – eek – we thought it would be a fab idea to surprise him. So when Wayfair asked me to create a Back to School Bedroom Makeover the timing couldn't have been more perfect! Wayfair is definitely one of my go to online stores as it offers a broad range of homeware for every room in the house at a great value, including a great kids' range full of unique finds, just look at this bed!

We moved into this flat when Felix was only nine months old and I spent the week before moving in perfecting the nursery, with soft colours, toys, feeding chair and all the other essentials and since then it has accumulated toys, clothes, books and a new bed but other than that it pretty much looked the same as you can see here. So what exactly does my growing boy need?

INSPIRATION
As always, when creating any type of makeover I often start with a good few hours pouring over Pinterest and creating a mood board and the great thing about Wayfair is that they offer fab ideas boards where you can collect and collate collections and products to keep all your gorgeous finds in one place!

As this project was for Felix I had a chat about what kind of things he would like if he could change his room. His first words were a new bed – to be fair to him this was loooong overdue – and an adventure room with a desk. Hmmm so here's what I came up with: Wes Anderson's Moonlight Kingdom meets Scandi inspired space with storage. Sounds a bit eclectic? Well I wanted to pull themes of having a permanent den, displaying his homemade bow and arrows, with a nod to camping in the great outdoors and mix it with a light filled space to accommodate the new furniture pieces.



GETTING STARTED
This is probably my least favourite bit but oh so necessary when it comes to a room makeover as the amount of sorting and clearing of accumulated things is an epic task. So I made a quick list of all the jobs I needed to do to prepare the room:

• Remove old wall decals.
• Sell the chest of drawers.
• Go through clothes and shoes and donate any unworn/unwanted items.
• Sort through toys, yep the old recycle, donate and keep scenario.
• Sell old extendable toddler bed.
• Pack away old baby display toys *sob*
• Sell old toddler table.

Once everything was decluttered, much to the kiddo's confusion, we packed him off to my folks for a sleepover to start the transformation of his Back to School bedroom makeover.

THE FINAL LOOK
So what do you think? As the room is quite narrow we kept the furniture light and added in hints of cool blue to give the room a more spacious feel. Oh and the bed!! I've been lusting after this bed frame for soooo long on Pinterest and knew it would be perfect for my growing boy, especially as it's a single bed – no more uncomfortable midnight cuddles with the boy. Felix squealed when he saw it and immediately decided to camp out and retreat to his bed with toys and books, plus it's even more fun when you throw a blanket over the roof!

WORK SPACE

I wanted to create a work area in Felix's room that was fun, practical and would be a good place to do school work and keep his drawings. I chose a white desk with under storage for all his loose papers and kept the chalk board wall with the addition of a peg board, alphabet poster and desk tidy for all those pencils, chalks and rubber bands.

STORAGE

After selling the bulky chest of drawers that took up the whole of this wall, we moved across the old shelving unit and streamlined the toys and books allowing us to keep on top of the clutter. Keeping the surface clear makes such a huge difference and I love using these house shelves to display a few of his favourite pieces! The lamp ties in with the colour scheme while looking stylish and helps the room have continuity, plus it can grow with the kiddo as he gets older. I made sure to hang his bows beside the desk to keep the feeling of adventure as well as displaying his map and adventure books to give that Moonlight Kingdom vibe.

THE WARDROBE

After the bed, this is probably my favourite piece in the room. Not only is a retro metal locker wardrobe so cool but oh my how I love not having to cram clothes into tiny drawers! This single unit is perfect for growing kids, with shelves on one side and a space for hanging coats on the other, plus it means that the overspill of sport equipment is now hidden from sight. YAY! I popped up a times table chart in the hopes that it might subconsciously sink in and kept Felix's dress up clothes in a paper sack. This for me has a scout hut meets school vibe, perfect for the inspiration behind the bedroom makeover.

So there you have it! The back to school bedroom makeover has made SUCH a difference to this little space of his. Gone is the old mismatched furniture and playroom feel and instead we've been left with a beautiful stylish space for a growing boy, that pacts in practicality and adventure. You can find all the pieces and shop the look over at Wayfair, which is so easy to use and you get free delivery on orders over £40 too!

If you fancy checking out some bedroom inspiration you can head over to my Kids Bedroom Makeover board here. Have you ever taken on a room makeover? What do you think of the new space? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

*This post was created in collaboration with Wayfair. Thanks to the brands that work