Moving On

Little Bro is moving out.  Not immediately, but soon.  He's got an accepted offer on a house two towns over, where my nephews live.  I hate to let him go but it's time.  His kids need a solid routine and Bro needs closure after his divorce.  On the plus side, I now have two kid rooms to decorate.  Bro hates painting and really doesn't enjoy putting rooms together, so it's a win/win.  I get to indulge myself shopping and decorating while Bro gets finished rooms for his boys.

Cubby's room is easy: he wants Minnesota Vikings decor.  Anything officially licensed by the NFL is pricey, but I found some deals on Amazon. So far I ordered a poster, a throw blanket, and a "Vikings Fan Cave" sign.  A while back Walker and I picked up a couple wooden chairs with upholstered seats at a neighbor's rummage sale - $5 for two chairs, major score - and I'm going to paint one up in purple and gold.  I need to hit the fabric store for the seat material.  I was thinking of going solid on the fabric and doing some cool tiger stripe with the paint but.....not so sure now.  I'm thinking less is more when it comes to a boy room.  Diva would love a wild chair but then, Diva has her own style. I need to learn to think like an almost twelve year old boy. 

Now Squeak's room will be more challenging.  He loves animals and his room already has a jungle animal wall paper border.  The border is pretty cool, not baby cartoon animals but realistic tigers and leopards and elephants and zebras.  The walls are done in a really nice faux painting technique that looks like marble in shades of tan.  The part I'm having trouble with is finding jungle decor that isn't too cartoony but also not too.....mature.  I don't want  leopard print sheets.  I'm thinking maybe a solid color comforter and maybe some animal posters or something.  Maybe a couple palm trees with some bright birds from the craft store wired in.  Squeak's room will take some research.  I can't wait!

I didn't want Miss Diva to feel left out, so I offered to "grow up" her room after the boys move out.  She liked the idea, but she was conflicted;  she doesn't want to get rid of her baby stuff.  We're going to take a look around and see if we can incorporate some new touches with what she already has.  Her room was put together when she was three years old.  I was surprised she doesn't want to start over.  Then again, she hasn't had much stability in her life to date.  Maybe her room at my house is her safety zone.  Nobody else in her world has stayed in the same place for six years.  I'm proud of her for giving up her room to her cousins over the last few months.  She hasn't logged a single complaint.  I think she's earned a few treats.