Real Home Inspiration: 5 Boys' Bedroom Ideas

Children's bedrooms are all about compromise—balancing their individual needs and preferences (that seem to change by the day) against your family's available space, style and your budget. If you're living in rented accommodation, there are even more things to consider.

So what's the best way to decorate for a growing boy? As gender-neutral options and pared-down versions of adult styles grow in popularity, the variety of designs and accessories to choose from is expanding rapidly. This means that there's quite a lot of overlap in colour schemes and décor options for all children. Is it better to go for something neutral that's easy to change down the road, or nicer to stick to a themed room he'll love now, even if he'll be requesting a do-over in six months?

To answer these questions and help you get inspired, we checked in with five families and their boys' bedrooms. Here are their thoughts on how to incorporate kid preferences in room renovations and create spaces that their little ones love.

Room #1: Mini Eclectic Brights

In this room from Velveteen Babies, the furnishings have been cut down to child sizes—from the tiny Eames rocker to the giant donut cushion—making the room feel inviting and even magical. We interviewed mum and maker Coral on how the space came to be and got her tips on creating a transitional space.

**How much of the room was a collaboration between you and your little ones? **

"The boys have a very large input into how their room looks, and because we have such a keen interest in design, they seem to have inherited it too! I tend to show them things to get approval before ordering, and they like spotting new things in their room. It's very transitional and we often change things about."

Image: Velveteen Babies

Do you think it's more important to have a neutral room that transitions easily from one age to the next, or to reflect what their interests are right now?

"I think that a room that transitions makes things easier—I never decorated a nursery for them and simply jumped right into a bright and fun colour scheme that we could add to and subtract from as they got older and developed different interests. I stay clear of themed children's rooms, character wallpaper and duvets that were too busy. Instead, we team monochrome with bright pops of colour, and to reflect the boys' interests we bring in prints and fun accessories."

Image: Velveteen Babies

What will you do differently the next time you re-decorate?

"I've already painted the green wall white! I think keeping to white walls and neutral flooring means that you can go to town on design accessories, pops of colour and lots of fun lighting."

What advice would you have for parents who want to change up their child's bedroom?

"Try gaining inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram—there are so many amazing ideas out there that the kids will love. Buying and changing-up poster prints is an easy way to update the kids' rooms—we just use standard glass-free Ikea frames and source fun prints online. Lighting is also a fun way of adding drama, and adds cosiness to a kids' space, which makes it calming at night."

See the whole room here: Velveteen Babies

*For desks, chairs, tables and more homewares cut down to pint-size, check out our selection of *children's furniture.

Image: Practically Perfect Mums

Room #2: Chelsea Central

This neat room looks free of clutter—because it is! When Jane's son's room was selected to receive a makeover in a competition, they used the opportunity to not only get rid of everything he deemed babyish, but to let go of old belongings as well. Here's Jane in her own words:

"We'd been living in our house for ten years and I'm horrified to admit that we still hadn't got round to decorating my poor (then) nine-year-old's bedroom. When we moved in I hadn't really noticed how cluttered the room was and how scruffy the decor had become—it just sort of crept up on me!

Of my three boys, Bubble, the middle one, is the most sporty and had recently become a serious football fan (Chelsea). He was desperate for us to trade in the babyish Ben Ten light shade and white painted nursery furniture—perhaps for a new blue and white scheme. Prior to the makeover we'd already made a few improvements with the IKEA desk and a couple of sets of age-appropriate bedding, but being selected by Hillary's Blinds to take part in their Big Bedroom Makeover gave me the deadline I needed to get the job completed.

Before decorating, I spent a few days planning and gathering ideas on this Pinterest board I created. The actual decorating took me about three school days plus some extra time in the evenings and I achieved far more than I originally anticipated. I'm incredibly pleased with the new look Chelsea football bedroom theme, in fact I can hardly believe it's the same room: it feels more tranquil and spacious than before.

A by-product of the makeover is that we've completely decluttered all the things he'd grown out of without really noticing. It was much easier to choose not to bring babyish toys back into this smart, new, tween space than it would have been to go through every item trying to find things to get rid of. (...) The best part is my son's reaction. I've lost count of the number of times he's come up to me with bright eyes and a massive grin to tell me how pleased he is with his new Chelsea football bedroom. He's so proud of his new space that he even makes the bed every day and keeps it tidy too—well, most of the time anyway!"

**See the whole room here: **Practically Perfect Mums

Want to find out how a pro adheres wall stickers? This article is full of simple and handy tips.

Room #3: Circus Accents, Balancing Interests

The owner of this room, Max, loves Disney, superheroes, Star Wars and there are more than a few references to Where the Wild Things Are in the mix, too.​ We chatted with Laura, the mummy half of the blog Max and Mummy about how she included all of her son's different loves in his room.

Did you and Max work together or did you do most of the work yourself?
 
It's mostly me, but Max definitely has an input. I draw upon the things he loves to make a space that he wants to be in. In most cases it's bright colours with great artwork on the walls. I try to steer clear from characters as I know he goes through phases of what he loves.

What does Max like best about his space? Does he spend a lot of time in his room?

Yes! He has all his toys in there (cleverly stored in boxes and all labelled) so we try and focus his play in there. He loves the fact that there's loads of floor space. That's always our main aim when we try and do his bedroom, as it gives him the chance to spread out and really maximise play time.

Image: Max and Mummy

Do you have any thoughts about whether it's more important to have a more neutral room or to reflect what his interests are right now?

Max has just got into super heroes and Star Wars big time. But he's still a massive Disney lover and is convinced he's going to be a rock star. So it's hard to balance all those interests in his bedroom. I try and keep the room as neutral as possible to allow me to add and take away bits that he loves and has moved on from.

​**What did you do differently with this recent redecoration? What advice would you have for parents who want to change-up their child's bedroom? **

Now that Max is five, he wanted to upgrade to a bigger bed. So we've invested in a mid-sleeper which is great as he can now have storage under the bed too. He's also started making posters and finding artwork with me that we can hang on his walls. At the moment it's book-themed with circus brights. For any parents that want to change their kid's room, I would advise them to think ahead. They might love one thing now, but in six months to a year's time they might have gone off that. It's a lot of work to constantly repaint—artwork and posters are fab as you can mix and match to your heart's content and kids can really get involved too.

See the whole room here: Max & Mummy

Images: Max and Mummy

Did you spy Max's play kitchen? Get more inspiration and ideas on how to build your own play kitchen here.

Room #4: Out of the Nursery, Transition to 'Big Boy'

We love the gradual changes that upgrade this room from nursery to 'big boy' bedroom, especially the very grown-up reading corner (complete with circus-themed canopy) that helps make it extra cosy and perfect for the nursery circuit. Hayley, a mum of three boys under three, is quickly becoming an expert in the bedrooms for boys department. We asked her for more details about how she created this space for her oldest son, Tyne.

How did you transition from a nursery to a 'big kid' room? Which elements were important to keep?

"We decided to make the transition at 18 months purely because we were moving house anyway, and so, with so many big changes happening, it seemed like we might as well make the switch there and then. Once Tyne's cot was dismantled at the old house it went straight into storage, and we decorated his new bedroom in more of a 'big boy' style with a reading corner and a toddler bed. We chose a character-themed bed as we thought that making the transition fun and exciting for him in this way would help him to get excited about his new room, and it certainly did!

We wanted to keep elements of his nursery such as the cuddly toy collection on top of his wardrobe—made up of all the cuddlies he received as gifts when he was born, as these had so much sentimental value to me—there wasn't too much else that we were desperate to keep."

Image: Sparkles & Strechmarks

Do you think it's more important to have the room neutral so that it easily transitions from one age to the next, or to reflect Tyne's interests and likes now?

I thought the best plan was to keep the major elements of the room more age-neutral—so the walls are shades of plain blue and the curtains and shelving are plain blue, while the carpet and rug are neutral too—but I added in his current favourite thing in the world, Thomas The Tank Engine, with a character bed and character bedding to make it exciting for him right now. I was confident that he'd continue to love Thomas for the next couple of years anyway, and so it will last us until he needs a bigger bed and can be changed—everything else will match whatever theme he decides on next time!

What will you do differently the next time you redecorate a child's room? What advice would you have for parents who want to change up their child's bedroom?

The next time we do up a child's bedroom it will be when Tyne's younger brother moves in with him to make space in our current nursery for our new baby, and so it will all be about space saving and making the room suitable for two children of a different age. I'll be looking at using the space more efficiently, and finding new ways to store toys and books rather than using vital floor space such as using the height of the room with shelving.

**See the whole room here: **Sparkles & Stretchmarks

Long outgrown the nursery years? Check out our five simple steps to decorating your older boy's bedroom here. 

Image: Lilypod and Sweetpea

Room #5: A Shared Circus Safari Space

"Rather than rushing out to the shops to kit out her boys' bedroom in one sweep, Jessica, who blogs at Lilypod and Sweetpea, realised that she was far happier with her choices for Jasper's and Rhys's bedroom when she was simply browsing, unstressed and unfussed. We love how the theme—a little circus, a little safari and a lot of animals—is brought in through the little details, especially via the trio of cuddly stuffed animal busts on the wall. Here are her tips on putting together a shared room for siblings... "

**How much of the room was a collaboration between you and your boys? Did they have ideas about what they wanted? **

"The boys are obsessed with animals, so it was kind of a no-brainer to theme their room that way. As they're so young I wanted to make the most of being in charge of the décor and purchases before they're old enough to obsess over Peppa Pig-themed rooms—the horror!"

Image: Lilypod and Sweetpea

What advice would you have for parents who have siblings of different ages together in a room?

Don't go crazy sticking to a particular theme. It's so tempting to buy the matching bedding, lamp shade, bin and posters, but kids' interests change so quickly. Find a loose theme and colour scheme, take your time and shop around.

I always find the best buys are ones I come across while browsing, rather than when I put pressure on myself to complete a room transformation in a day. Also, remember that less is more—kids accumulate so much stuff whether you like it or not, so don't go crazy on little trinkets that could end up cluttering your space. 

**Do your boys spend a lot of time in their room? What do they like best about their space? **

They spend a lot of time in their room—it's our place to go for down time and chill. They have a small number of toys in there (mainly calming activities) as well as their bookshelves, so they really do associate their room with a more calming environment—while being fun and cool to look at of course!

What are your thoughts about whether it's more important to have a more neutral room that transitions easily from one age to the next, or to reflect what their interests are right now?

I think it's important to reflect their interests and evolve as they grow within that.

Image: Lilypod and Sweetpea

Oh, and of course—storage the heck out of that room—if you can't downsize on toys, hide them away in style! For kids of different ages, try to find a middle ground. If one likes under-the-sea and the other cowboys, then merge the two to make a fairytales theme. Stick to plain and neutral furnishings and paint, and then add a small amount of statement items to draw in each child's interests. ​

***See the whole room here: ***Lilypod and Sweetpea

Want to see even more kid-friendly spaces? Check out the last edition of Real Home Inspiration: Children's Rooms.