Big Boy Police Room!

Hello!

Today is (part) of the Big. Boy. Room Reveal.  Yep, Lil' A is almost 6!  SIX!  VI!!  Seis!  Want me to keep going?  Six (that's French for six...).

And, as an almost 6 year old, he is so mature now, that he NEEDED a room as BIG as he is!  So, instead of a baby room, he now has a big boy room!  He's practically in college... no wait, I think he may be looking to start a career - as a Policeman/FBI/Game Warden/Sheriff, hence, the Law Enforcement themed room.

Lil' A's baby room was woodland themed.  It was brown and tan with a little brick red, olive green and BROWN thrown in for good measure.  It was the same color/bedding/theme from his nursery that has gradually grown with him except we took out the crib, threw in a toddler bed and then his loft bed, which should (cross fingers) last until he's a teen?  But enough talking about his new room, let me show you the bazillion pictures of it!

When I asked Lil' A what he wanted for a Big Boy room, he said he wanted a Police Station.  With a jail.  Hmmm.  And he picked out navy blue, black, white and gray for his colors.  I could work with those and off we went!  I started off with a striped navy and white wall, I was thinking of the cop phrase, thin blue line, when I decided on the stripes and I love the way it turned out.  And while I couldn't figure a way to do a jail, I decided to use a silver Sharpie and draw thin vertical lines to look like jail bars.  He was cool with this.

I've been loving the Marquee Light trend and I'm super fortunate to be around a ton of talented, skilled people that I can totally take advantage of; so I asked a friend if he knew how to make a marquee sign and  a few weeks later, I picked up this awesomeness that adds so much official fun to Lil' A's room!

I've also been feeling the industrial look and figured a Police Station is probably pretty industrial looking with the steel desks, handcuffs, file cabinets, jail cells, so I decided to go with an open shelving system around Lil' A's desk (I still need to make something for above the desk - hopefully tomorrow?).  I initially wanted pipes for the hardware/brackets but after pricing it all out, we went with a metal shelving system from Home Depot.  We purchased the wood for the shelves, had the helpful worker from Home Depot cut them down and then we stained them a dark brown (trying to match his desk).  Best part of the staining process - it has a protecting sealant coat included in the stain!  That cut down on the time frame dramatically for only a few dollars more!

My favorite thing about Lil A's room is all the personal touches.  My Dad is a Retired Ontario Police Officer, my Grandpa Lloyd was an Ontario Police Mounted Police Officer, my Father-in-Law was a Retired San Bernardino County Marshall/Sheriff and my Brother-in-Law is a SBC Sheriff...  so I basically ransacked numerous family members homes and jacked all of the law enforcement memorabilia I could find to put on Lil' A's shelves!  We even have a photo of all the Grandpas in uniform on each of the shelves along with different tactical equipment, coffee mugs and even my Dad's old badge.

And although it's definitely a Police themed room, we couldn't leave out all of Adams Angels Baseball collection, so we did a display of his signed baseballs, signed batters gloves, signed Braves hat and the ticket from his first game (he was around 4 months old)... Yep, I keep saying "signed" because I can't read all the autographs but it's my goal to figure it all out and slide the correct names in the label holders!

And since he requested a Police Station, I did my best to give him a Police Station Loft Bed - I'll share more about the Police Station tomorrow.

Above Lil' A's loft bed, we hung a basket to hold books since we normally read each night at bed time - the basket helps keep the book clutter down (like books in stacks on the chest... or stacks that had fallen behind the chest and under the chair...).  The Police Parking sign was my Dad's... I'm sure it's a copy, because I know he'd never take city property... EVER. The two framed photographs of vintage police cars are from Saint & Sailor on Etsy - which I highly recommend!

This painting is another favorite of mine, which we hung over Adam's rocking chair.  The painting is of my Father-in-Laws locker at the Sheriff's Station.  I love all of the details, our last name at the top of the locker, his shoe cleaner tool box with the names of his family scratched into the wood... it's an amazing, completely personal and custom piece that will be a treasure as Lil' A grows.

And last, I used a leather belt connector as the tie-backs for Lil' A's curtains (which are lined and only $10 at Target!), which were my Father-in-Laws.

Phew!  So many photos - thanks for baring with me!  I am just so excited about Lil' A's room - it is so personal to me, has so many pieces of our family that I feel like he's always being looked out for while he dreams, plays, grows...

Let me know what you think - if you have any questions about any of the DIY - like painting crisp, clean lines on a textured wall or the cost of the shelving unit, I'm happy to give you an answer if I know it or can find it!

Have a great day!

Andrea