The Lion’s Den: Leo’s Room

Our little Leo (my one year old) is finally getting a room of his own! We were trying to hold out until we could have both boys share a room, but parental sleep took priority and we just couldn’t wait any longer. Leo had to move out of our room.

I wanted the space to be bright and neutral, to look beautiful, but also to be playful and fun. It needed to be a space that could grow with him, but I also didn’t want to do too much to the room itself because it may very well get turned back into a guest room, if I can ever get the kids to share a room (read: sleep better at night so they won’t wake each other up #momproblems).

“The Lion’s Den” seemed like an obvious choice for a theme (his name is Leo, what else am I supposed to do?), and because I have a fair amount of lion things for him despite promising myself we wouldn’t go all lion-crazy with a name like Leo. I can’t help it, it’s all so freakin’ cute! Plus, I had seen this picture on Pinterest and it needed to be made.

Once I had the theme and overall aesthetic/feeling I wanted for the room nailed down, it was time to design. My jumping off point for the design was actually this super rad and huge pegboard wall. I had seen it on Vintage Revivals and been wanting to make one for a while, I just didn’t have a spot for it… until now. It was the perfect way to bring lots of personality and a massive impact to the room while still keeping it neutral, bright, and fun, aka, all the things I wanted.

Once I knew that almost one whole wall would be natural wood toned, I needed to design around that. I already had the crib, rocker and rocking bear from Oliver’s nursery, and the rug from the guest room that this room used to be, so it was really just adding in a few pieces and tying it all together with the theme/décor to make it feel fresh for Leo (ok let’s be honest, for me).

I made a few mood boards that included the furniture I had with different curtain/pouf options and got my husband to weigh in. Here’s the first one. While I love the really tonal look of this one, he wasn’t super on board with the color of the curtains.

Sources: rocker | crib | rug | curtains | pouf | rocking bear | rattan stool (similar)

Then I showed him this second option and we had a winner. He liked the touch of blue on the curtains, and I looooved the scale of those tassels (they are even more amazing in real life).

Sources: rocker | crib | rug | curtains | pouf | rocking bear | rattan stool (similar)

Now it was time to put it all together. I already had the wood in the garage for the peg boards. Like I mentioned, I was inspired by the Vintage Revivals ones, but I wanted to take them one step further to make them more jungle-y (that’s a word, no?), fitting for a lion’s den. Ironically, I was also inspired by Vintage Revivals on how I would do that (what can I say, the girl can do no wrong). She made this incredible wall in her kid’s room and I wanted that same depth effect with the layers of wood.

The plan was to make my version all natural wood though, and I went with hand drawn leaves for the design. I’m not gonna lie, making them was extremey time consuming, but creating giant art installations is like therapy for me. And every time I walk in there and see them I am so happy with how the wall turned out. Totally worth all the hours! I will post more on the process soon, but for now just enjoy some photos of them.

I also had to put the inspiration piece for the whole room in there. Remember that cute little crochet lion face from Pinterest? The only problem was that I don’t (correction: didn’t) know how to crochet, an integral piece of this puzzle. I have no idea what people did before Youtube. One quick trip to Michael’s for supplies and a “how to crochet in a circle for beginners” video watched on 0.25 speed later, and I had me a crocheted lion face and a whole slew of Christmas gift ideas for every single person I know (I mean, the possibilities are endless!).

I am seriously in love with how this room came together. It was very simple since I already had the main pieces, I just got to play with décor and styling, and some arts and crafts.

I still want to add a few of his baby pictures in there, and I need to organize the closet, but this is now maybe the most complete room in my house and I love being in there.

The handmade and personal touches make it so special, and I feel like it’s a room he will be able to enjoy for years (at least until both boys finally share a room and I get to design a whole ‘nother one…).

What’s your favorite part of this room? Would you try any of the diys??

Xo-

Selena