Bennett's Dinosaur Bedroom Makeover

For Bennett’s 5th birthday we felt like we should give Bennett’s room an upgrade! Kevin has wanted to give Bennett the guest room (or second largest bedroom after the primary bedroom), and I always thought it was better to leave that for full size adults when they come to visit. (Insert eye roll). Because we have our family and friends come and stay maybe once a quarter. It was more frequent when the babies were little little and before Covid. But, as the kids are home more, we use our spaces totally differently and it was time to give this guy some more space to play!

I got to work to create a mood board for Bennett’s big boy dinosaur room. I love to use Canva to create these. I am so visual, and it really helps pull the game plan together. I wanted to make sure the room still felt put together, and not just like dinosaurs threw up everywhere. I wanted the final design to still feel and look good, and fun for Bennett too!

We (Kev and I) got so excited to makeover Bennett’s room for his 5th Birthday! Bennett has stayed in a few bunk beds in his day and they’re always so fun. Since he’s older I wasn’t nervous about having him sleep on the top bunk. And he we thought it would be fun to have a sleepover with cousins and friends, there is not another baby on the way, just in case you were curious. HA! We love Ikea furniture (not putting it together) - the style is simple and classic and affordable. What’s not to love! We were going to get the white Ikea bunk beds, but they kept selling out of them. So I scoured Amazon and Facebook Marketplace to find a bunk bed that fit our style - and we lucked out! I’d been on the look out for months and you just never know what’s going to pop up, and one morning I happened to look and found this set for $50! Can you believe it!? I couldn’t! And the best part - is it happened to be listed by one of Kevin’s friends from work. And he was pumped to know it was going to us! They’ve been so fun and Bennett loves to sleep on the top and bottom bunk. It’s just so cute!

As for deciding on the design, I just scoured the web for all the Dinosaur bedding options. I love to start at Target - I know it will be affordable, and cute! I also checked Ikea and Amazon too. They have really cute options too. But I didn’t want the design to be too bold, too colorful, or ugly. Ha! So when I spotted this dinosaur bedding at Target - I knew it was perfect and light and would look cute! I love to pattern mix and loved these spotted sheets. And wanted to style out the bedding and picked out these green quilts for added warmth too! I went wild with the pillows (I mean who does'n’t) The sheets and comforter came with pillow cases, I added in the grey square pillows from Bennett’s old room. I’ve had my eye on these furry pillows forever and have been dying to add them to a room, and knew it would be so fun for this space! Bennett loves them!

I knew I wanted to mix up the art in a new way - than how I had it hung in Bennett’s old room. I added a few pieces of art in the window nook. And a few of the bigger pieces over the dresser.

The lego table really had no great place to go - so we just put it in the window nook for now.

The reading nook with the orange chair is probably my favorite part of the room. My mom gave me this orange chair in college. And we’ve had it ever since and have moved it all around this house and I am so glad we’ve held onto it. The bookcase / shelving I saw on the Rambling Redhead and it’s more industrial than my style is, but I just loved it. It was sold out constantly and thankfully found one on Facebook Marketplace! I know! I could'n’t believe it either! The white floor lamp is an Ikea find that was in Bennett’s old room too.

When we got everything moved into the room, I immediately got the itch to paint the room. But, I knew that I didn’t have a good color that I would want the entire room in. So, I thought it would be fun to paint and decorate the closet doors! I picked up a few green swatches and had Bennett help me pick the color, Sherwin Williams Dill. I found the white Dinosaur decals on Amazon and thought they’d be a fun pop on the green doors. I tried to find simple handles at Lowe’s - but the screws were too short on the options I liked. So, I went on the hunt for a more “dinosaur” themed handle - but all the options are what I would call “too obvious” and not cute. I once heard Mallory Nikolaus mention how when she’s designing her son’s bedrooms - she thinks about it as if she’s in the scene of whatever the theme is…and not just too branded and I think this ensures good scale and design that isn’t too much. I hope that makes sense. So, when I found the oval marble knobs and was so pumped - because I think they look like Dinosaur eggs! Right!? Like, they’re one of my favorite details in the room. I love when something magical just happens like that!

As for the styling of the dresser, I wanted to not include a mirror. I wanted to make sure we added had fun with the art from Bennett’s old room. I added a piece of artwork of Bennett’s in this light wood white matte frame. It’s a newer style to me and I love how fresh it looks. The lamp I pulled in from the guest room. I love the color teal and gold details. The wood dinosaur light was a fun find from Target. The acrylic dinosaur light up lamp is a fun find our babysitter got B and we love it! It changes colors and you can switch out the dinosaurs too. So, Bennett loves that!

Bedding:

Comforter: Target

Sheets: Target

Quilt: Target

Grey Pillow: HomeGoods / similar here

Furry Pillow: Target

Bunk Beds: Facebook Marketplace / similar here

Window:

Pillows: Old Target / similar here, here, here, and here

Gold curtain rod: Target

Gold rings: Target

Navy black out curtains: Target

Artwork: Thrifted / similar here, here, and here

Lego Table and chairs: Rhea Lana / similar here

Stuffed Dinosaurs: Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus

Reading Nook:

Chair: Thrifted

Lamp: Ikea

Banner: DIY / similar here

Bookshelf: Facebook Marketplace / similar here

Woven basket: Ross / similar here

Closet:

Door color: Sherwin Williams Dill

Dinosaur Decals: Amazon

Handles: Hobby Lobby

Closet rod: Target

Dresser Wall:

Dresser: Ikea

Lamp: Homegoods / similar here

Large canvas: Burlington Coat Factory / similar here

Wood and white matte frame: Target

Forest Painting: Thrifted / similar here

Wood B: Harp Design Co.

Macorme: old Target / similar here

Stuffed Bear: Costco

Wood Dinosaur Light: Target

Wood Trex: Gifted / similar here

Orange B: gifted

Dinosaur Light: Amazon

Hamper: HomeGoods / similar here

It was a labor of love to put this room together for Bennett, and I absolutely love how it came together! He loves it! We all love playing in here and it’s the absolute best! What do you think? Are you into a themed room? Would you makeover your babes room over into Dino room?

I encourage you to make your home you! Have fun with your style and go for it! Try new things and fill out the spaces to enjoy!

xo,