McQueen’s Steelers Squash

Confused?

It’s just my pathetic attempt at a clever title to introduce this post about Seth’s new room.

Months ago, I asked him if he wanted a “camo” room or a “race car” room, and I actually expected him to want the camo room, since I told him that we’d do green walls for that.  But, he opted for the race car room, instead.

And off to the races we went.  Or the drawing board, as the case might be.

We’d already picked out his IKEA bunk beds, and we’d inherited a dresser from Gramp-e’s new house, so working with black furniture put me on the right track to narrow down paint colors.  I landed on Valspar’s Spring Squash:

Is it yellow?  Is it orange?  Who knows!  But I knew it’d be perfect.  Especially when paired with black furniture, red curtains, red/black/white bedding, and race car appropriate checkered flags!

Of course, a tiny nod back to his nursery…

The view from the doorway…The one window is just off camera across from the bed, and the dresser is immediately to the left in this shot.  Also, the duvet cover and sheets are both IKEA finds.

A rug from Target that I originally purchased to go in our basement half-bath (which Jim is turning into Steelers domain), but it was too plush for the door to clear, so Seth inherited it, and you can’t argue the perfection.

A simple shelf from IKEA (that I hung myself!!!  and it’s level!!!) to hold a few favorite things: his birthday sampler from a my grandmother; wooden toys handcrafted by Jim’s grandfather; a checkered flag memo board, and, of course, a picture of Seth and Tennessee BFF Gage.
 

   
Some of my favorite things that brought the room’s theme together were the race suit (a $4 Once Upon A Child find) and an official NASCAR crew jacket that was a gift from Grandma.
 
The top bunk sports Seth’s extra Cars pillow and a racing blanket (free from one of Gramma’s rental properties), and his flea market “S” (painted green at his insistence) hangs above.
 
Above the dresser are the framed prints that show where Seth and Duncan’s stars (from the International Star Registry) can be found; the lamp was Jim’s in a former life; the car bank was a gift from Seth’s baby shower; the classic alarm clock was another IKEA find, as was the pop-up hamper.  While I’m referencing every little thing in this picture, I’ll just go ahead and tell you that the orange bean bag was a bridal shower gift from my sweet friend Melissa, and that the framed bee hanging from the dresser knob is from Seth’s first trip to the library.

 
Grr.  The Cars poster.  Here is the back story on this….

This was the photo that actually inspired the whole room idea:

These are some of Seth’s cars, lined up on our front sidewalk, ready to run the World Grand Prix for the bazillionth time this summer.  I knew I could get it blown up to poster size, and I began to build the room around this photo.  But, then I found the car poster at Walmart for only $5, and that was just way easier – not to mention that now we have a reference for all the cars’ names.

But…Seth is now afraid of the “bad” cars on the poster, and every night, he asks us to cover the poster up so the bad cars can’t see him.  Sigh.  We’re working through this.

Moving on…

Seth’s coat rack fit perfectly over the bottom bunk, which is much more ideal than over the door (that it is designed for), because Seth can actually reach the hooks!

And last but not least…some love from Tiff placed in a prominent place to be seen every day.

I would eventually like to do some red and black detailing on the walls (stripes, maybe?) and we are looking to put diamond plate inserts in the the head- and footboard panels, and I want to incorporate some more checkered flags, but for now….we are all loving Seth’s race car room, and it doesn’t hurt that the colors are going to give way to a Steelers motif when he outgrows this.

If you see anything out there in blogland or around Pinterest that you think I need to see to incorporate into Seth’s room, please link up in the comments!

And one more thing….here is a link to my “Seth’s room” pinboard if you want to take a look at some of the initial and future inspiration: http://pinterest.com/msg_writerchic/seth-s-big-boy-room-circa-summer-2012/

Do y’all like it?  Ka-chow!