And this is how the other half lives, Oscar’s room.
When we moved Oscar requested green for his room. After many failed greens we ended up with Benjamin Moore’s Jalapeno Pepper. It’s not for the faint of heart but we love it. And Oscar is over the moon for it. He’s a huge fan of green these days. Everything has to be green… the green straw, the green lifesaver, the green spoon, etc. And this is why he says babies don’t like green. Green is for big boys.
When we walked through this house we picked out which would be Oscar’s room right away. It had these great built in drawers with a big long counter desktop and great shutters. Looked like a little boys room. The built ins aren’t actually built in but two pieces that we were able to take out and paint. Everything that didn’t get jalapeno’d got a bright coat of white. The dingy countertop we spruced up with some woodgrain contact paper.
above is Oscar’s new favorite stuffed, a polar bear from Ikea and our new favorite Jay Ryan poster (from a project Tim was on at work). below a close up of the shutters that I redid in some great flannel fabric that was the lining of a vintage boy scout sleeping bag that I found at the thrift store.
Oscar got himself a new big boy bed, a twin from Ikea. He took to it right away and only fell out of it once! or twice. On his new bed is the sewing project that almost killed me. The duvet cover I was working on for him back at the apartment. It got put on the backburner and I started it up again last week determined to finish it before the baby got here. Wrangling with a project this size, on the floor, at 100 weeks pregnant was a nightmare. Pretty much the most unpleasant sewing experience I’ve ever had. Well, except for my wedding dress. That will always win. But this was a close second. And it’s too bad because I was so into it in the beginning. Tim and I worked on all the vehicles together and picked out the fabrics and I had such high hopes for it. Now all I see are its imperfections and wonky puckers. But its saving grace, Oscar LOVES it! He shows it off to everyone who comes over and he talks on how soft the cars are and excitedly points out that there are cars on the other side (the one facing the wall) too! And then shows them how there are VW BUSES on the underside. So that, of course, more than makes it a successful project for me. That kept it from being dragged out to the driveway and run over with the car.
some vehicles from the other side… winnebago below and convertible here.
Here are his new shelves (ikea) with some awesome new striped cubbies (ikea).
The most exciting addition here is the fisher price record player I got Oscar on ebay. He really loves it, funny. It was a crapshoot but I guess we’re raising a luddite. We’ve been searching the thrift stores for some new records. He’s not as excited about my old Sleeping Beauty record as I was. His favorite is this busted up 45 of Big Rock Candy Mountain. That starts playing around 6:30 am at full volume.
Big boys also get their own bookshelves. Grandpa made him these awesome library style bookshelves and it was so fun to finally unpack the book boxes and get all his favorites bedside.
Ok, just a few more things… Oscar’s new old lamp. Again he’s really into this. He gets very excited now when the mail lady brings ebay packages.
and his “sad polar bear” print… actually “do you know what I mean” by marisa haedike
and phew! that’s Oscar’s room. all pics here. yes, all posts from now on will end with phew!
outstanding! what a fantastic room. that duvet is brilliant.
Wow! Another great room!
holy cow! it’s great. a big room for a big boy indeed. and lots of style for mama.
I’ve been wanting library bookshelves like that for my son’s room. I’m officially jealous of yours. The room looks fabulous.
Man- I could of sworn you guys just moved in! Cripes- new paint & all. I LOVE Oscar’s room. My most favorite are the bookshelves- totally awesome. Lucky Ocsar!
What a lucky boy! I think the duvet is adorable.
Perfect, perfect green. I love it. Very inspirational.
Wow! I wish I had kids so I would have an excuse to copy this right down to the letter.
(OK, maybe not the horrible quilting experience, but everything else :))
Oscar is a lucky boy 🙂
That is a really cute room! So much fun to be had in there. And the cuteness level got pushed over the edge with Oscar’s finger pointing at the AWESOME duvet cover!!! Also – I had that Fisher Price record player when I was a kid… it’s all coming back to me now… 🙂
The room looks great. I was so excited to see the quilt though as I had read your post a while back and was always wondering what had happened with it. I Love it.
Wow. It looks wonderful, love the green walls. Nice work with the record player, too – that gave me a flashback to about 1975!
If they ever sell bottles of “Hillary Lang Creativity,” I’ll be the first in line. Wow…seriously…wow.
The room is great and that bookcase is absolutely wonderful.
Great room. I love, love, love the green. My favorite color, too – I get to do my kitchen in green and will have to remember the Jalapeno Pepper.
I wish this was my room. I love the green of the room.
so fresh & lovely!
So amazingly cute. I love it.
Love, love, LOVE Oscar’s room! Perfection!
Wow! I can’t believe how organized you are with a baby so, on the way…I’m impressed…it all looks great — belongs in a magazine spread!
Holy crap! Sorry- it’s just too good.
And now that you seem to be getting all settled in: let there be baby. 🙂
I am in complete awe at all you guys have managed to get done, so close to baby day. It is gorgeous! You should email the cookie blog, cause the two rooms need to be on their blog, they really do. Perfect color, just perfect. You deserve a whew!
please please please come to my house and decorate. after the baby of course!
Oh jeez. It’s really a wonderful room. Oscar’s enthusiasm is wonderful to hear about.
IKEA sells a bed rail that slides onto the sides of the bed for toddlers. We had to buy one for my daughter’s IKEA bed. I actually ended up finding it in the “as-is” section and only had to pay $2 for it.
Wow! I’m totally in awe of your children’s room. So creatively arranged. That duvet cover has got to be the best I’ve ever seen!
Oscar has great taste — love, love that jalapeno green. I’m turning our very small & unused guest room into a playroom someday, and I already know I want it green — maybe this exact green. It’s all just so clean (in the modern sense) and doggone fun.
What an inspiration for those of us trying to create cool, retro type rooms for our little boys – there is so much cute stuff for little girls, but I always have trouble finding ideas for my son. You are so original! Now for cool boys clothes….
Can I sleep over? Great details. I love everything about it!
This is the most wonderful boy’s room ever! The lining from the Boy Scout sleeping bag is perfect, and I am so in love with the duvet cover (despite the difficulties in its creation!)!
Brilliant! The green and white look so fresh and clean together. Oscar is a lucky boy.
You know you’re going to have to check in here everyday now or we will all be thinking “Ooh, I wonder if the baby has arrived?”!
Another fantastic room. The jalapeno pepper works great and the bedcover – wow! I can see why Oscar wants to show everyone. Your rooms are so inspiring – makes me want to decorate 🙂
I love it! Wow!
love, love, love the green!
love, love, love, LOVE that quilt!
wow.
Once again a beautiful room. Feel like adopting a 23 year old? I have always wanted such a cohesive and well decorated bedroom!
hillary, you should be patting yourself on the back. both of your children have beautiful, well thought out, charming rooms!
The perfect big boy room! I love that there’s no sight of “Cars” or “spongebob” in the decor. What a lucky little guy you have.
And as for the FP record player (which I had too and used to play the cardboard records you got in Wendy’s Kids Meals on), at least he hasn’t got his hands on a 45 of “Good Morning” off the Sgt Pepper’s album. That would be a great 6:30 wake up call.
The duvet is AMAZING. What a fabulous room.
absolutely astounding. i can’t believe you just moved in and managed to get all this done. it’s so well thought out and creative and oh i could go on and on
love the vintage additions and great job on the quilt
again- oh my!
Oscar’s room is so swanky!!! I love the green. I may have to steal that for something and as usual every little thing in it is perfect! I can just picture him laying on his cute little duvet reading book… or playing on that great built in desk… so great.
I love Oscar’s green room! My son loves green too, but his is more of a green hi-liter color. Time for a change I think.
The record player is a great find, LOVE the duvet, and I’m a big fan of Marisa’s polar bears.
Oscar is a very lucky “big boy”.
The green is great! My best friend in high school had that exact same record player and we used to listen to Bikini Kill records on it at tinny maximum volume…something I don’t think Oscar will be doing anytime soon. But maybe he’d like the Muppets disco album, which was another favorite.
Can I move into Oscar’s room? I love that. We are in the process of redoing my daughter’s room and you’ve given me some ideas. thank you.
Gaaah! Absolutely love it all.
Can I move in Hillary? It’s all so gorgeous! June Baby and Oscar have the nicest children’s rooms I have ever seen outside of a book! You must be nesting to have done so much in such a short space of time. I feel like a bad mother! I must get Lily’s room organised.
Oh God, that is frikkin gorgeous. Can I move in?
Love the shutters, LOVE the quilt! My little guy has a green room too, almost as bold.
I too have been looking for a FP record player and am kicking myself for turning one down at a swap meet for 15 bucks many years ago. Until then he’s going to have to leave daddy’s gemini alone.
Awesome.
100 weeks pregnant! bwahahahaha! I have felt like that before … of course when I was 100 weeks pregnant, I just layed on the couch and ate ice cream and yelled at people to Bring.Me.MORE.CHOCOLATE.NOW!!
But YOU make duvet covers and unpack books and paint rooms. You are a hero.
And the room is just lovely. I want to live at your house.
I have three boys ranging from 3 yrs. old to 7 yrs. old and their rooms have never! been this clean. How do you do it? This room is perfect!!! I wish you were closer so I could pay you to come decorate and pay Oscar to clean!
Thanks for sharing again.
I. Love. Your. House.
That may have been a “Phew” posting, but it was worth every word and picture! Oh my goodness! I am green with envy! he he. Ok, so it’s great. I think it’s great that Oscar’s room is so neat and tidy, and so stylish! My parents never wanted to decorate our rooms as kids, because, well, we were kids. Bummer. Not with my kids! Their rooms may not be neat and tidy, but at least they’ve been painted a nice color, and some thought has been put into it!
And that record player–it brought back memories! My older brother had one of those! And the chair is SOO cute! Oh! And the POLAR BEARS! SO CUUUTE!!!!
The rooms look great. The duvet is adorable and I’m crazy about the mini-quilts. I just had a baby two weeks ago and I can’t believe everything you’ve done at the end of your 100 week pregnancy. So productive and creative!
I love how you see the potential in objects like the lining of an old sleeping bag. The room is fantastic and I so remember loving my fisher price record player too! It’s very empowering to be your own DJ.
seriously amazing! seriously you have our permission to take a b.r.e.a.k. and the room, well the room is money! 🙂
It is absolutely beautiful! I love that green. Did you choose it after you got the poster? It matches so perfectly! I love IKEA too. Just love!
This room is drop dead gorgeous! My teen son picked a similar color for his room (Martini Olive by Behr). Not as nice as your green, and his room is no where near as nice as you son’s room! I’m going to have to show him your pics! Beautiful Hillary! Why you don’t have your own show on HGTV is beyond me!
What fantastic design and taste! Oscar is a very lucky boy! Great job.
ACK! It is all so very wonderful. And green is a big boy color, indeed.
I just cant get up early enough to beat all theese kids to the posts! Anyway Oscars room is great, i love the duvet, sweet little cars, oscars a little car guy, Cute! And i must ask..Has a polar bear replaced Kanga? Can a bear from the artic do that to a kangoroo? Oh yeah, oscar has some sweet kicks.
i want a room that cute.
wow. just wow. I can’t believe being pregnant and getting all that done. I’m very impressed. Everything is so pretty and organized. I have a 4 yr old and a almost 1 yr old boys and their room is covered in cars and more cars. I think there’s a floor in there but I’m not sure anymore. I drool over rooms like you’ve created!!!!
Wow! How old is Oscar? He’s got great taste. Also…I really want to see that wedding dress!
you’ve done it again! I can’t get over the fact that you’ve JUST moved in and your 100wks pregnant. You must be juiced up on some serious nesting hormones! 🙂
Oh, crap, it’s super-great. And don’t make me laught so much when I’m eating my bagel.
Talk to you later. Don’t have that baby before I get back.
I just love this room. I think I really like the openness of the room. We are currently working on this but as thrift shoppers we tend to collect a lot of junk.
You are a decorating genius! Fabulous room for a big boy. The duvet cover is wonderful too 🙂
oh yeah, crap– dare i put a holy in front of it? you are in the big W now. it’s so rad. i’m not going to let sam see the pictures as he’ll probably start lobbying for a new mommy.
Looks great Hillary. Those built-ins rock– yu must have been jumping up and down when you found that house. And the duvet, perfect. Our big boy room is green too. Check out my flickr set when you get a chance, you just may see a little “wee” in there.
http://tinyurl.com/2mch8l
I had that same stepping stool as a child (sit down, step up!), but all the paint is long gone from it due to use. I just wish I had the amazing cool bedroom to go with it like Oscar does! It’s amazing what you put together… even more so for being so pregnant while doing it.
I love that quilt. You did a great job. I would love to reproduce your son’s entire bedroom someday when I have a son. Wow.
I am so amazed that you’ve decorated your whole house already! Oh to have less children and be able to actually focus on my house!! I need to begin a quilt like that for my son, but with robot appliques like the Robot doll I made him from your pattern–It was a huge success. We will use the pattern for some and he will draw some–he may be 10 by the time I finish it!
Simply perfect!
You are such a great mother. Oscar’s room is really wonderful. I see so many loving touches all over the room. Keep it up girl!
okay, do my girls just have way too many toys? or are the rest of oscars playthings stuffed away out of camera sight? granted, i have two girls sharing a room about that same size, but it is stuffed! i love the spacious, open look in there. oh, and by the way, my kitchen is that same color! i love it!
wow! where do i start…. it’s beautiful and perfect!… i’m speechless.
I do like that green, although it’s giving me flashbacks to primary school for some reason.
I love the book case. My friend’s dad made a similar one for her son’s room. It’s such a great idea. I don’t know whether we’ll have enough wall space to do one for my daughter sadly.
This is the sweetest room — I love it all! It sounds like Oscar really loves the duvet cover, so whatever worry it may have caused is probably worth it. And it looks great to me, too.
The duvet is GREAT and worth whatever headaches it caused 🙂 Love the room, thanks for sharing. Best wishes for a speedy and wonderful delivery in the next week or so–we’re all looking forward to photos of Junebaby.
i love your blog. i couldn’t resist finally leaving a comment after this post. oscar’s room has me so inspired! the green walls are perfect for a growing boy! you are amazingly talented. what a lucky boy and soon to be junebaby. i too am patiently awaiting her arrival. happy delivery!
love, lindsay
Hands down that is THE coolest boy’s room EVER! Heck, I’d love to have that room! Your skill and knack for design is always so impressive.
what a lovely room for a little boy, you have lucky children! we went for green and yellow for ours, and my daughter finally has the pink boudoir she dreamt of for years : )
I just about fell over when I saw his room. What a great color! Love it! LOVE THE DUVET COVER TOO! It’s fantastic! Where we live now is only an hour and a half from Ikea. I haven’t been yet, but will have to make a trip very soon.
Love the color! What a cool little boy’s room – his friends will be green with envy.
Wow, the duvet cover looks amazing. What a lucky little boy!
And isn’t IKEA just grand?
Oh my, that’s so cute. I adore those library shelves!
This is so wonderful!! So COOL! I always wonder, “What if when I have kids I have a boy- what on earth will I do with a boy??” haha This was the perfect wake up call that boys can be just as fun as all that girl stuff. And that green is perfect!
I recently saw on decor8 that you are in Illinois? I somehow had no idea!
-Caitlin
That duvet cover is absolutely adorable — even if it did feel like it would kill you! If your son loves it — that is the only compliment you need. Although, I will say, I would love a pattern for that Winnebago applique! What a hoot — reminds me of the old metal model Winnie I used to play with at my grandmother’s house.
Hang in there — all this decorating may have a purpose, I know my water broke the day I finished my daughter’s room!
That has got to be the best kid’s room I have ever seen. Oscar is a very lucky boy. Makes me what to go rip the Disney Princesses off the wall right now!
Take care, and rest that belly!
I know exactly how you feel, crawling around on the floor trying to finish a quilt whilst being so big and pregnant elevators are afraid of you.
It was worth it though, what a wonderful room. Fantastic job.
Now that is the most PERFECT boys room that I have ever seen, I love it to bits!
Wish it was my room, that desk is amazing =)
I can’t believe you made your own wedding dress!!! Is there anything you can’t do? Um, is it too much to ask for you to post a picture of it???
Wonderful room, your home is an inspiration to me. Your new wee one will love this bedroom created for her. Art is alive in all that you have done.
Beautiful room! It’s almost the same green my youngest son has in his – can’t remember the name, but our painter called it Guacamole!
And again, what a wonderful room! and euh..I would like to see that wedding dress too sometime?
Oscar’s room is amazing! I love the duvet. A little boy’s dream with all of the cool cars, trucks and vans. 🙂
Speaking of records, do you know about this site? http://www.kiddierecords.com It isn’t as nice as having the vinyl in your own hands, but if you love old children’s records, it definitely is fun to listen. Maybe something to keep Oscar happy while mom feeds the baby.
What a beautiful room! It’s so good to see an imaginative little boy’s room for a change – little boys seem to often miss out on the cute baby things…
Also, I love the library book shelves – I have been looking for some of those for our own little bean!
Can big girls have rooms like this too???
What a gorgeous room! Takes my breath away. I am inspired to add some things to my son’s room.
Such a cute room, so inspiring!
That’s the best lookin’ kids room I have ever seen. I’m totally jealous because I wish it were mine. Congrats on the new baby.
I love this room. I love the green!
what a great way to personalise your little boy’s room 🙂
I love the green! Possibly because it’s almost identical to the colour of my kitchen. 🙂
What a lovely room, and very inspiring because we’re about to move our toddler into his first big-boy room, which we have yet to furnish and decorate. I love the “built-in” work area. I may just have to steal that idea. It’s the sincerest form of flattery, dontcha know. 😉
Hi Hillary! As you already know, I’m wild about this room! Thanks so much to you and Oscar for giving the little polar bear such a wee wonderful new home! I blogged about you today 🙂
I have no kids yet, but I’m filing this away for the future…I am in love with the library bookshelf, the quilt on the bed and the cute red chair. Beautiful job!!
wow. love the room!! inspires me to do my son’s room.. like, TODAY! 🙂
I love the green in Oscar’s room. Could you share what color and brand paint you used? I would like to paint my little boy’s room.
Thanks.
I keep coming back to this room. So well done.
Every time I’m in the thrift store I think of your amazing curtains made from the sleeping bag lining and sneeze my way through the piles of textiles.
Brilliant, every bit of it!
I’ve had this post bookmarked since you first wrote it, anticipating wanting to blatantly copy it for our baby’s room, assuming we had a boy. I’m 33ish weeks now with our son, and have discovered (after two girls) that boy things are HARD to come by–so his crib bedding will be ripped off from your AMAZING duvet for Oscar. Do you mind if I ask you whether all this is hand appliqued or by machine? We’re going for a little more of a “travel” thing in his space, so there’ll likely be an airplane involved, and I’m using a pre-made navy blue bumper that I thrifted for $3, so I’m trying to decide if I should even bother with the machine… Thanks for the inspiration!!
Wow…I came across your page on google and I must say I LOVE this room! It would be perfect for my 3 year old son! I do not sew or anything but I want that duvet! Wonderful, wonderful job!! 🙂
I LOVE this room! Just the inspiration I was looking for. What is the name of the shelving unit from Ikea? Also, can I do a little blurb about Oscar’s room on my blog?
Thanks, Rosalinda Birdsong for weewonderfuls.com