When we moved into our new home last year, James had officially graduated from toddler to little boy. He’s now seven years old, and when designing his bedroom, I wanted to keep that in mind. I wanted his room to feel fun and playful and still reflect his young age, but I wanted it to be something he could also grow into as he got bigger. It no longer made sense for it to look like a nursery or toddler sanctuary, so I started researching 7 year old boy bedroom ideas. We have been playing a bit of musical chairs with the kids’ bedrooms since moving in, as Brooks graduated from our room and Charlotte and James have insisted on sleeping together and while we had an au pair living with us and tried to figure out a good WFH set-up. Now, a year in, we’ve sort of settled on whose room is whose, but Charlotte and James are still sleeping in the same room. We’ll probably deliberately bunk up two of the kids always, especially if we have another. I like the idea of kids sharing a room — I think it makes them grow closer and teaches them a lot about sharing a space that’s useful later in life. And it’s also practical, allowing us to have a guest room and office set up that works for grandparent visits and working from home. But we also have boy-girl-boy that are each spaced out 2-3 years, so knowing which combo will work best is a bit hard. We have a playroom where we keep the kids’ toys and the rest have migrated to the family room, so we don’t let the kids keep toys in their room, just books. (Otherwise they’d never sleep tbh.) So we just use their rooms for their clothes and sleep, so having them share a room isn’t a big deal, but it does make decorating hard.
We decided that even though Charlotte insists on sleeping in James’ room (and I think he would be upset if we moved her out truth be told), we were going to make the decor reflect more 7 year old boy bedroom ideas. The room is big enough to fit two beds, and eventually, we might have the boys share it. Plus, I wanted to do a more feminine wallpaper in another room for Charlotte. So we decided to design the room more towards James but haven’t done paper or painting yet (the walls are currently the same white they were painted when we moved in) in case we decide to move things around in a year or two. I really loved this Katie Ridder print that we used for a window treatment in his last bedroom, so when I found pillows in the print on Facebook Marketplace for a steal, I scooped them up. I wanted upholstered headboards for James’ twin beds, but I wanted a pattern that could work with pink too if we made it a boy/girl room, so I went with a blue and white stripe. I decided to accent the blue and white striped headboards with navy to bring a more masculine touch and tie into the boats painting that was a piece we inherited (perhaps borrowed, who can keep track anymore?) from Andy’s parents and has followed us around to apartments and houses over the years. We have a temporary dresser we ordered from Wayfair when we first moved in as a placeholder because his room is light on closet space and I couldn’t look at clothes on the floor while we decided on the bedroom decor (which took me months so it was well worth it) and it’s held up while I look for something great for the space. I didn’t want to invest in anything expensive while we decided on the room scheme,. but I think an oak or dark wood piece would add some nice contrast to the white bookshelf and desk that’s between the beds (which we may move out, depending on what we do for the dresser). The rug is an Amazon find, the roman shades we got here, the mirror is old Restoration Hardware sourced at the outlet, and the laundry bag is old Pottery Barn Kids but looks like they don’t make it anymore.
Even though it’s still a work in progress, I thought I’d share James’ big boy room in case you’re looking for 7 year old boy bedroom ideas. I love how the boats print really makes it shine, but all the blues also play off each other nicely and yet, we could easily turn this room into something else if we decide to move Charlotte and Brooks in here or just give Charlotte reign of it. Of course, it’s still a work in progress and I want a new chair for the corner, dresser, and nightstand or desk. I’m also thinking of painting it a different color (or wallpapering it, of course) and want to replace the fan light. But for now, I’m am happy with James’ boats bedroom.
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