Jack Be Quick: A Boy’s Room Makeover + Shop The Look

Welcome to another special guest post by my dear friend Orlando Soria, the creative director of the L.A. Homepolish team and the founder of Hommemaker blog. We don’t work together every day anymore but our addiction to each other hasn’t waned. So, every now and again we simply must collaborate even if its just a guest post by him here on the blog. Take it away, Landy.

Dear Emily,

When I was a little boy I constantly redecorated my bedroom. I painted it blue, then purple, then white. I forced my mom to make me Mickey Mouse curtains to match my Mickey Mouse bedspread. Basically every year I gave my room a makeover that made it unrecognizable. But I learned recently that not all little boys like to redecorate their rooms every year. Some little boys hire fancy interior designers with hard-to-pronounce names (like me) to come in and decorate their bedrooms. And you know what, thank God. Because little kids’ rooms are so fun.

You saw my megatransformation of the girl’s bedroom at my La Habra Heights clients house a few weeks ago. Today I’m sharing the makeover I did on the same family’s little boy’s room, which is actually what started the whole kids’ rooms makeover process (a new “big boy” bedroom was his birthday present”… I know, this family is so cute it like hurts my teeth to think about how sweet they are).

I tried my best to make these before pics look garbagey, but honestly the bedroom was pretty cute before we started. Yes, the color scheme lacked direction and was full of my least favorite color (red), but I would have LOVED this bedroom as a little boy. The only issue is that the bed wasn’t a big boy bed, and the rest of the furniture needed some updating (don’t worry, the family donated all this furniture, so some other happy kids are using it now).

Click through to see the afters

Like me, Jack is the youngest son in the family (yes, I’m revealing his name because it’s literally written on the wall). And, like me, he got the smaller of the bedrooms, with the trickier layout. I had a tiny bedroom growing up while my siblings had much bigger ones. But when the time came and they went off to college, I kept my tiny room because I think there’s something kind of cozy and wonderful about small spaces. Jack’s room has the same cozy feel my bedroom had and overlooks the pool and the beautiful countryside.

I wanted to make a big splash color-wise, but as y0u may remember, these clients are terrified of wall color and let out blood-curdling screams while running around in circles every time I mentioned painting the walls a non-white color. That’s where this awesome Blik wall decal came in. If you haven’t checked out this company you totally should. They have tons of fun decals that you can plop on the wall and if you get sick of them you can just tear them off later. [Turns to camera: CAN I HAVE MY MONEY NOW?] … [JK I totally paid for the wall decal and am receiving no sponsorship from them for this mention. Oh wait no my clients paid for it. Anyway, why are you still reading this? It’s in brackets. It’s like not even important].

We decided on an upholstered daybed that would take Jack into his tween years. To give it some playfulness, I sourced bright, graphic bedding.

The rug provides a nice color splash on the ground while giving Jack a super soft place to throw his toys all over. If it were my rug I would just spend all day rubbing my face on it because it’s so soft.

Like his totally trendy and awesome sister, Jack inherited some Avedon Beatles prints for his bedroom, which I hung above his mid-century-inspired dresser. I am obsessed with mobiles. Like not regular baby mobiles but Calder-y mobiles. So I wanted to put them all over. But because Jack’s parents were trying to take his bedroom decor out of babyland and sometimes even Calder-y mobiles can look babyesque, we decided on these totally grown up/terrifying arrow hangings. Which give the room some whimsey and movement. Speaking of whimsey, HOW MUCH DO YOU HATE WHIMSEY? I should never be allowed to talk again for using that word just now.

I’ve been wanting to use this simple white bookcase for a long time. It’s perfect for displaying books and objects because the little out compartments allow for display of cool toys.

Don’t you want to squeeze that elephant so hard his stuffing pops out? (I do).

Like we did with the bed, we went super simple on the dresser. We wanted something he could keep into his teens, so these simple wood pieces fit the bill. Also, all those little birds make chirping noises when you squeeze them, so the whole time we were shooting it sounded like a bird massacre. Which naturally made me want to run around screaming like Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” whilst pretending to bat birds away from my head.

Better, right?

Oh my god HOW HAVE WE NOT TALKED ABOUT THE CHAIR YET??? I’ve been dying to use this chair forever because, like me, it’s so adorable, green, and accessible. I feel like it has a totally deco vibe. Like I could see a flapper sitting on it in her dressing room right before she runs out to the dance floor to dance the jitterbug while being like SAY MISTER, HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE TITANIC? I can also imagine it in some crazy 80s Kelly Wearstler interior with splatter painted walls and Kelly Wearstler, like, standing their in a ballgown serving ironic hot dogs to her kids while posing for a photo. Clearly, I’ve thought quite a bit about this chair.

I’m hoping this family gives birth to another baby so I can decorate its nursery or that the kids get totally tired of their rooms and want another makeover in six months. In the meantime, PUT DOWN THE IRONIC HOT DOG YOU’RE EATING AND REPLICATE THIS LOOK BY READING THIS INCREDIBLY INFORMATIVE ‘SHOP THE POST’!

1. Geometric Wall Decal, 2. Upholstered Daybed, 3. Duvet Cover, 4. Accordion Wood Side Table, 5. Aqua Rug, 6. Door Accent Color (Benjamin Moore Seaweed), 7. Arrows Mobile, 8. Mid-Century Dresser, 9. Richard Avedon Beatles Poster, 10. Metal Wall Letters, 11. White Lacquer Bookcase, 12. Green Velvet Swivel Chair, 13. Aqua Felt Storage Bin, 14. Navy Cashmere Throw.

Love,
Orlando

PS: But wait! There’s more! Read more coverage about Jack’s makeover on Homepolish Magazine!

Photographs by Tessa Neustadt Courtesy Homepolish