A Castle Theme for a Boys Room

One decorating idea that I planned but never got to put into place was a castle theme or knight theme. My younger son was very into the idea, and we grappled for awhile over whether to let him have his own room. Of course as soon as I heard he wanted a castle theme, I started planning and drawing and doing online window shopping! As it turned out, we decided to keep the boys together and have them share a room, and they chose a space theme instead.

I was a little dismayed by not being able to put my idea to work, although decorating just one room was a cheaper option and I got an office of my own out of the deal.

My idea for this room was to paint two walls gray, then add stencils with faux painting techniques to look like stone walls. The other two walls would be green, with rolling hills painted on. A green shelf would hold his Playmobil castle and look like a neighboring castle in the distance.

Some other ideas I had planned were to paint some basic furniture - a dresser and nightstand - with dark paint, then paint on a crest or use decals. I was going to paint a royal looking headboard on the wall, and add rich, velvet bedding worthy of a king.

For other decor, I had planned to add armor and swords from children's costumes, and a life sized knight wall decal.

Here are some items from my shopping list that will work together in a castle room. Each item is available for secure purchase through Amazon or other affiliates by clicking on the image.

Creating a Play Area

What if you don't have a whole room for a playroom? It's a good idea to have a designated space so that toys don't wander into every room of your house. Even a small nook of your home can be devoted to a play area. Some ideas are corners of infrequently used rooms like dining rooms or guestrooms, or large unused walk-in closets - just remove the doors and add curtains or a folding screen to cover the space.

Toys can be quickly stashed away in almost any room, without cramping the style of the room. Coffee tables with drawers, decorative trunks, and storage ottomans all are stylish storage solutions, and no one ever has to know that they are filled with ten thousand lego pieces and broken crayons. In a less formal room, baskets, buckets and canvas bins can be used to quickly corral toys.

Another way to contain toys in a play area: let them be part of the decor. In a casual room, vintage looking toys make great decorations as well as activities for kids. There are many reproductions of classic toys that meet current safety standards.

Setting Up A Playroom

When my boys were little, I was very fortunate to have a whole room that could be used as a playroom. My only regret is that I didn't have a good design plan in advance, so it ended up becoming a large disorganized pile of toys! If I could do it over, I would design the room with better storage as well as play in mind.

No matter what the size of your playroom - whether it's a whole room or just an area in another room - think of how preschools are set up, with areas for pretend play, crafts, and more active activities. The latter is best done outside, but with a large enough room and some soft flooring, you can add small sliding boards, climbing walls, and other play equipment. Even a large mat where kids can just dance or jump around is a good choice.

Make sure toys have a home and that they are easy to put away. Toy boxes and canvas bins make cleanup fast.

For pretend play, use play kitchens, play tables, toy workshops - whatever appeals to the children who will be playing there. You can set up areas just like a miniature house, with a kitchen, workshop and quiet area, for some examples.

Flooring should be soft for little falls, but also easy to clean and maintain. Carpet squares and vinyl flooring are good choices; the first is easy to replace if necessary, the second easy to clean. The floor can have added softness and pops of color with soft, shaggy rugs.

Since most toys are colored in bright primary colors, they usually coordinate well and there is little need for further decorating. Walls can be plain white, or perhaps a brightly colored accent wall, a wall painted in chalkboard paint, or stripes or dots painted on the wall. Use maps, letter charts and other educational art for further decoration.

Decorating a Classic Nursery

When I was looking for decorating ideas for my kids rooms, I came across a print called "My Darling" by Bessie Pease and fell in love with it. It so captures the love and promise that a new baby brings. This print would look great as a focal point in a warm, soft, relaxing nursery decorated with pale colors, creams and yellows. It would work especially well in a room with white walls. The Calico Critters are a soft and playful decorative touch sitting on a shelf, as well as a toy baby can play with later. Soft ecru bedding with either a regular crib or a darling round crib adds a soft touch. All items shown below are available for purchase from Amazon.

Decorating a Room In a Space Theme

My boys recently moved to a new room in the house, which was a great opportunity for a new decorating spree. They are old enough to voice an opinion now, so coming to an agreement for their shared room wasn't easy. But one thing they do agree on is Star Wars. So a space theme room with Star Wars decor seemed like the best choice.

Originally, I really wanted to go all out and make the room look like the interior of the Death Star. I envisioned stenciling or using some sort of metal cutouts on the walls. But in the end, I toned it down a bit. For one thing, the boys really wanted huge decals of Darth Vader and Han Solo on the walls, and these ended up taking up quite a lot of wall space. Besides that, after painting over the murals I painted just five years ago in their former bedroom, I decided it might be best to conserve some time and energy.

So instead, I painted two walls gray like the interior of a spaceship, and two black like the night sky, using chalkboard paint - like they are in their space ship looking out at the sky.

In the spaceship part, I dressed up some of their furniture to look like consoles that could be found in a spaceship. I used a Closetmaid cubicles console, along with gray fabric drawers and white and gray rubbermaid storage drawers, for storage of toys. Other touches were a small white cabinet that we had already, and a small table and desk covered with metallic contact paper. Darth Vader and Hans Solo were then placed stategically around the furniture.

The sky portion was covered with many inexpensive planet and
outer space wall stickers. I was really impressed with the way this turned out, and best of all the boys were able to do most of it themselves, so we all felt like they had a part in decorating their room.

My boys have a wooden bunk bed for safety's sake - we worry about a ladder. If I had more flexibility, I would have chosen a more spaceship bunk kind of look, either a metal bunk bed, loft or single bed like those shown in my product listings. All these products will work in a space theme room and are available for purchase from Amazon.