Rocky Barnes’ Boys’ Bedroom Refresh
It was SUCH a pleasure getting to work with Rocky Barnes and Matt Cooper to turn their sons’ bedroom into a vibrant play space. Their room was already in great shape design-wise (hello whimsical mushroom decor and built-in plaster cubbies), but needed a better toy selection and organizational system. Here’s how we transformed the space!
Storage Swaps
As always, we started with a big toy purge. Fewer stuffies, fewer cars, fewer problems! The biggest change we made organizationally was finding a better home for their cars, trains, trucks and tracks. We used a small (but mighty) area beneath the dresser to host dino and train tracks on shallow trays. We also purchased larger canvas caddie/hampers to disguise long ramps (read more about these below!) and house Hot Wheels, monster trucks and other assorted tracks.
Magnet Arch
Rocky and Matt wanted to include elements that would encourage the development of literacy skills, so we did so in our favorite way… a magnet wall! Few 5-year-olds look forward to sitting down with a phonics workbook, BUT a magnet wall with colorful letters and numbers in their own bedroom? That’s hard to pass up! Including letters in a child’s environment in a“no pressure way” makes them 100x more inviting.
DIY Ramps
While traditional car tracks/ramps have one main objective, when you provide children with a selection of PVC pipes, HVAC hoses, cardboard tubes etc, they are forced to problem solve. Is the pipe at a steep enough angle? The HVAC hose has ridges- will small cars be able to roll down? How about the bigger ones? When “knots” come up during play, children learn so much from having to respond to them.
The Real Thing vs The Toy Version
We are strong advocates of “giving kids the real thing.” Toy piano? Give them an actual instrument! Kiddie binoculars? Offer a functioning pair and watch a hike become 10x more appealing. We did just this in their room. We knew the boys, especially their younger son, Charlie, really enjoy dramatic play, so wanted to take his pretend play scenarios to the next level. We sourced an old fashioned phone (“old,” as in the kind many of us grew up with ;)), keyboard and binoculars. We even put together our very own doctor/vet kits complete with real medical instruments for “healing” stuffies and loved ones.
Big Ticket Items
We included a few bigger toys in the room that we have been LOVING lately!
Superspace- Just picture giant Magna-Tiles! Not only are they a blast to build with, the resulting fort/car/spaceship is a great venue for dramatic play. They are a bit large to store, but so worth it! We want our own set :)
Stapelstein- These elements are the epitome of an open-ended material (our fav thing to offer children!). These can be used in endless ways! They can be stacked, sat on, stepped across in a game of the floor is lava, spun around with a kiddo inside, sorted into, and on and on! Children don’t have the same lens as adults and find so many uses for one object.
