The Coolest Whale and LEGO Kids Bedroom

How do you decorate your kids’ bedroom when they are well past the nursery stage? THIS is how! Check out our Whale and LEGO kids bedroom. The kids LOVE it!

(Thank you Minted.com for providing us with the awesome art work for this cool kids bedroom. The opinions stated are 100% mine.)

It’s been ten years, nine months and 3 days since only two people slept in our bed. From the time we became parents, and once we realized that baby and mama slept better together, our king size bed has been home to a slew of our offspring. There may have been a night or two without little feet in our faces and diaper-clad butts on our pillows. But otherwise, we have for the better part of our marriage, slept in a bed we lovingly refer to as a “clown car”.

But all of this is about to change! My husband recently informed me that I can no longer refer to our two youngest as “the babies” since they are 5 and 3 years old. Apparently, once kids hit the official “big boy” stage, they are supposed to sleep in their own beds. Who knew? But as luck would have it, the “big boys” are ready to break out of the nest and move into a small bedroom we have off the master bedroom.

They picked out the “theme” for their room, and together we found the specific decor, which was such a fun experience.

Sadly (in my eyes, not my husband’s) the kids are embracing their own space and look forward to going to bed in their big boy room, although they do tend to migrate into our bed at odd hours throughout the night.

Their room before was a collection of left-over decorations from past boy rooms and random items I needed to store “temporarily”. It quickly became a catch-all for broken LEGO sets, stuffed animals and books I was too lazy to carry up stairs to put away. But not any more… and I am SO excited to share this revamped boy’s bedroom with you.

In the past, our kids’ rooms haven’t been worthy of a blog post, but I am actually willing to share this one with the public and that says quite a bit!

Our Cool Whale and LEGO Kids Bedroom:

The wall decorations:

Wall art from Minted: (I am debating whether or not I should type in all caps here, I am THAT excited about these two pictures!) When we decided on the theme for the room, I immediately went onto Minted.com to check out their selection of art work that would be appropriate for a kid’s room, without looking too childish. (As we both know, kids grow up way too quickly, and I would love for them to cherish these pieces for years to come!)

The map of Seattle titled: “I Love Seattle” simply couldn’t be better. It’s fun, funky, colorful and obviously spot-on for our whales in the Pacific North West theme. The kids love to look at it and point to the places they have been and find where their grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins live.

The picture of the Orca has the most captivating shades of blue. The water color effect in the drawing gives you a sense of being surrounded by water. The depth is stunning.

When I ordered the pictures, I had the choice of frame size and color. Personally, I thought a simple black metal frame would last us through many stages of the boys’ lives. However, Minted offered an incredible selection of widths, borders and textures.

Both pieces were shipped securely and the map of Seattle came with a certificate of authenticity since it’s a numbered piece, which makes it just that much cooler.

Next time you need unique artwork for your home, check out minted.com – I am sure it will be the last place you look – because they will have exactly what you are looking for.

BRIK Wall: Did you SEE the awesome LEGO-compatible BRIK wall? The kids each got two adhesive plates on their wall.

Jansen asked if he could get a picture of Batman, so I ordered the bricks directly from BRIK. They have countless designs on their site already for you to purchase the necessary bricks, which is such a fun design idea. These BRIK walls are great for building with LEGO in their beds. (Warning: if you think stepping on a LEGO is painful, try sleeping on one!)

Paper Trax Speedway (adhesive car ramps): These innovative paper wall tracks are so much fun for car-loving kids.

It’s a great opportunity to talk about STEM with the kids and discuss gravity. Our kids have spent hours standing in their beds watching the cars flying down the ramps. These paper tracks make a great birthday present too.

The beds:

The kids sleep in twin-over-twin bunk beds that have been taken apart. Neither of them were comfortable sleeping in the top bunk yet, so this is a safer solution. We have two sets of these bunk beds from Costco and just love them. They are durable, stable and safe with rails on both sides of the top bunk.

Bedding:

Whale blanket: THIS blanket is my favorite for SO many reasons. I own three blankets with different designs from this artist – because they are just THAT awesome. These blankets are so soft, they instantly have become the kids’ “blankies”. The whale is so perfect for our Pacific North West theme, but you have to check out the tropical flowers and other sea creatures in her ETSY shop.

LEGO Blanket: This awesome heirloom quality blanket was made by my mom – and it’s every bit as amazing as it looks. The kids love to snuggle with it – and I of course use it as a decoration. She has made one for two of the kids so far. You can find the instructions in this LEGO Blanket post.

Duvet and Sham: The construction truck themed duvet cover is from Potterybarn Kids. We have always loved their bedding because it lasts wash and wash, which is great when you have bedwetters! This bedding set from Amazon is also super cute, if your kids want whale-themed bedding.

Red sheets: These fun red sheets are made of jersey material, adding to their softness. The kids LOVE crawling into bed and snuggling in their sheets under their duvet.

Duvet: This is a wonderful purchase. It is 100% washable – again, an important feature with bed wetters in the house. It’s fairly light weight, yet warm and toasty when you need it to be – and hypo-allergenic, and of course it helped that the price was reasonable on Amazon.

The dresser:

The dresser is from Potterybarn Kids. It is the Catalina model, which matched our (unused) crib. I removed the changing table top and now we use it as a regular dresser for their clothes.

The DUPLO knobs: These are a MUST-HAVE for any LEGO-fan’s room, young or old. These knobs are sturdy and come with all the hardware attached. You simply just have to remove the old knobs, screw in the DUPLO knobs and that’s the end of that installation. They are such a great “finishing touch” to a kid’s room. They come in all the regular DUPLO brick colors.

Wood Name Blocks: I made these name letter blocks for each of the kids. They were so easy to create, once I found the perfect size blocks at Woodpecker Crafts on Amazon. The complete list of supplies and instructions are in this post about Ombre Letter Blocks.

Don’t forget to add a cute bedtime story, this one is (by far) the kids’ favorite. They know all the words and exactly the tone of voice I use on each page. We have read it so many times over the past few years that I will remember each and every page and picture until I am old and gray.

Our LEGO and Whale room wouldn’t be complete without a cuddly stuffed Orca whale as the chosen bedtime buddy. Both boys sleep with theirs, which of course helps when they realize that they no longer are in our bed!

Last, but not least – the best arrow in my quiver to keep the kids in their own beds at night, is our sound machine from Marpac. The humming sound/ white noise can be adjusted to your preference in volume and tone. I know first hand how effective this machine is, once i turn it on, I have to practically run out of their rooms, or else I will fall asleep in one of their beds. It also helps them not to wake up in the middle of the night – it’s a constant and soothing sound, cancelling all the household noises in a home.

There you have it, our LEGO and Pacific North West whale-inspired paradise for the kids, right here in our South Florida home.