A boy's book-filled room

Lately, I've been thinking my son's room is due for a make-over. Let's go in and take a look.



My husband and I chose the paint colors for our son's room before he was born, opting for a gender-neutral yellow since we decided not to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl. Almost on a whim, my husband said he would like to paint one wall red. I agreed, and the red wall that first greets us upon entering the room has since become a favorite feature of mine.



As my son has gotten older, I've tried to add toys and items that reflect his interests, like this replica rocket ship and vintage Babar book sets and toys.



By far, my son's favorite feature is his reading chair, which he recently moved on his own one night to a spot in front of his bed. This minor redecorating is what got me thinking we may be due for some changes.



This was the scene that greeted me the morning after he moved his chair.

"Hey, did you move your chair by yourself?" I asked him.

"Yes," my son responded.

"Oh, OK. Uh, why did do you that?"

"Well, I was thinking of trying different things."

Huh?! On the one hand, I'm proud of my little decorator. On the other, he's four years old! What "different things" does he need to try with the furniture in his room?

Well, I guess it's my job to figure it out. First of all, we may need to consolidate his books. Yes, this is a recurring problem for us since we have so many books, at least five hundred children's books spread out on bookcases and other holders (baskets, boxes, etc.) in my kids' bedrooms, our family room and kitchen.



This red box holds the current crop of reading books next to my son's chair, though he has a large bookcase anchoring one corner of the room.



This is what this part of his room looked like before he moved his reading chair.
From the start, I always knew my kids' rooms had to have one thing in addition to a crib. A bookcase, preferably one that could hold lots and lots of books. What I didn't bargain for is that the bookcase would look so messy and lack the kind of decorative appeal I'd hoped for with so many books jammed on it.



It's still a mystery to me why he moved the chair in the first place, away from the bookcase and from one of two lamps in the room. Lighting is a problem since we need it to read, but we also need it to be out of reach of my two very curious kids.

Safety is always a concern, especially since we live in an area with a high probability for earthquakes.



So, how to clean up the bookcase without purging too many books? Perhaps include more decorative touches, like this vintage See's Candies container and wooden abacus?



What to do about so many books that my son loves to spend hours deciphering?



I should mention that I'm not too fond of themed rooms and have simply filled the room mostly with things that my son loves, like this Land of Nod transportation quilt.



But now I see that the books have really taken over the room. My solution has been to buy more furniture to house all those books, like this Company Kids bench that I use as a sort of bookcase.



OK, this is a little embarassing to show, but there's even a bookcase in his closet, which houses his train books and a couple sets of Sesame Street encyclopedias. To be fair, it was an $11 sale find that I bought at Target because it was a "firehouse" bookcase.

So there you have it, folks. In this reorganization, I would like to streamline the book storage, make the artwork more spiffy and, hopefully, also showcase his artwork and other creations.

Any ideas you may have are welcome. Meanwhile, I'm off to check my magazines and favorite blogs for ideas. And, of course, to quiz my son on what he would like his room to look like after our reorganization.