Camping Themed Boy's Room

I have been having the best time meeting most of my favorite bloggers at Blissdom. 

Dear sweet home & DIY bloggers, y'all really rock!

A few of those rockin' women bloggers:
Sandra (Sawdust & Paper Scraps), Rhoda (Southern Hospitality), Shaunna (Perfectly Imperfect), Ashley (Pure + Lovely), Erin (Two Story Cottage) and Layla (TheLetteredCottage)

So I met, Layla from The Lettered Cottage – I know seriously – Layla! She is a real sweetheart and very down-to-earth gal. Anyway, she sent out a request for ideas for kids rooms. She and her cute hubby (don't tell her I said that) are on the road to adoption and want to put together a room for their little one(s).

I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new when I say that Layla and Kevin don't need any help with design ideas. Their bungalow is "to die for!" But, when a blogger asks for ideas, one must comply.

And because, who doesn't love a good before and after. Here is my son's bedroom shortly after we moved into our home.

Pretty boring, huh? Poor guy didn't even have a bed frame. But, frankly, it let me sleep better at night knowing he wouldn't roll out of bed.  Hey, Layla, they roll out of bed until a little after 4 yrs. old. But, I know you won't be buying bunk beds anytime soon ;-).

Two plus years later and we moved beyond the rolling out of bed phase AND something divine happened. I met a "real" mural artist and it was like finding a clone of myself! I promptly hired my clone to help me paint a mural in my son's room.

A beautiful woodland and mountain theme!

Tom Barber (mural artist in Raleigh, NC) painted most of the background and I painted the animals (because that is my illustration specialty.)

I bought some corner rounded shelves at Home Depot and installed them in the corner where Tom painted a big tree.

A perfect spot to curl up with a good book.

The closet is my son's super secret hideaway.

When you open the door you are met by a tent.

Pretty Handsome Son can either close it up or secure the tent flaps on the sides with the velcro tie backs.

The tree is made from some crepe myrtle branches that we had to trim from our trees out front.

The lantern in the tree was an old oil lantern. I drilled a hole in the bottom and inserted a candelabra light kit. It is the perfect amount of light for him to read stories by.

I used a larger branch for the curtain rod. And tied the rod to the shelf with some rope knots.

And I had to add this adorable bird that my son made in preschool. No kids room is complete without his or her artwork.

He sleeps soundly under the light up moon on the wall.

The bookshelf was re-painted and I mod podged old US Geological Survey maps onto the back.

I wish I had a room like this when I was a child. Heck, when he outgrows it (which I hope he never does), I'll move in to his room!

Before:

After:

Bedding from Target Woolrich collection.