one room challenge week 1-gradys grown up bedroom

oh boy. *deep breath!

it's me. i'm baaaaaaaack!

how in the world did a week become 5 months? YIKES!

(by the way--thank you to all those who emailed me and messaged me on instagram about my...um...absence!
i did not plan to take such a long break, but i must admit that it was a bit therapeutic.
i HAVE been posting about all of my projects on instagram, so if you follow me, then you know that i have been as busy as ever.)

i am still NOT finished with my previous one room challenge space, my laundry room and mudroom. we had some major issues with the fabrication and installation of the cabinets, as well as the paneling. we are still dealing with a few details on some of the issues, which are holding us up from completion.
ugh. i dont even want to think about it. it has been so frustrating.

however, i am going to go out on a limb and promise that i will have not only the laundry room and mudroom but gradys room as well!
so...two reveals for the price of one? not bad, huh? *even if ONE of those reveals is 6 months late!

OK!! onto the good stuff.
for this round of the one room challenge, i am "officially" working on my son gradys room. he recently turned 12 and is super excited and opinionated about his bedroom.

here it is before:


for previous rounds, i transformed my teenage daughters bedroom:
(gradys room is actually a mirror of this room! same size, same everything.)






it started as this:

(you can  see more pictures of this project here)

in another previous round, i worked on my daughter charlottes room:

which  started out like this:

(you can read more about this project here)


as well as my mini office:

which started out here:

(you can read more about this project here)

gradys room is a complete BORE right now. yuck. i am falling asleep just looking at it!

 it is a large bedroom, which is wonderful, but everything in his room is too small for his current needs. he has sleeping in the same bed since he was 3. 

now that grady is 12, and has some thoughts on his new bedroom.

he wants his walls BLACK.
i know, i know. black walls.
trendy.
overdone.
everyones "sick to death" of seeing them.
but guess what?
i'm not.
and apparently, neither is my little man.


so, black walls it is!

other than that, i know i will be using a dresser that i scored from a sale at down east  last year for $240.




he definitely needs a bigger bed! i purchased this bed on clearance at jc penny over two years ago, and it has been sitting in my garage, just waiting for this moment. (i am glad that i bought it when i did, as it is no longer available.)




i know that i want to keep the room feeling simple and masculine. grady also wants a place to play video games in his room, so there will be a desk as well as a comfy chair to sit at.

i am thinking of using the herman miller aeron chair that we have had forever. i bought it as a college graduation gift for my husband, almost 17 years ago. (at the time, i was working for a design firm that specialized in systems furniture and owned the reproduction rights to herman millers designs, and so i got a great discount on it!)



i will keep the overhead light fixture, (the z gallerie sputnik chandelier), his table lamp and the nightstand, but will most likely try to paint or update the night stand in some way.





anyway...
i hope you will forgive me for completely checking out and disappearing from my blog for several months. it was actually good for me to "get away" for a while. and while disappearing in the middle of a project is SO LAME, the absence has refreshed me and i am ready to share with you all the things that i have been working on for the last few months!


lets DO this!
:)