{decorating with style} Mood Board: Vintage Preppy Little Man's Lounge

UPDATE: This mood board was the winner, and the room is now complete. Tour the completed Vintage Preppy Little Man's Lounge.

To quickly bring you up to speed, we are in the process of deciding how to decorate Beckett's big boy room - a room he will move in to right around the time he turns two years old, and which will allow Cooper to then move into the nursery.  We have lots of ideas for Beckett's room, so I am compiling a few different mood boards to help us make the decision.  I shared the first of these mood boards earlier this week {Beach Bum Big Boy Room}.

I'm super excited to share this next mood board with you!  I call the design concept the Vintage Preppy Lounge, and my husband fondly refers to it as the Little Gentleman's Quarters (GQ).



Sources // Denver Art // Lack Wall Shelf // Crosley Turntable // Lounger Chair // Vintage Industrial Letters // Retro Stereo // Tremont Dresser // Houndstooth Rug // tie image credit // Vintage Suitcases // Coffee Play Table // Numbered Cubes // Expedit Bookshelf // Suiting Alphabet Pillows

I have always been a fan of argyle {as if my blog background didn't already give that away}, so I am pumped about the idea of making argyle a major feature in Beckett's big boy room.  And when I say major - I'm talking like an entire wall!  Yes, we just might be that crazy...

If we decide to go with the Vintage Preppy room concept, I really want to create a bit of a cozy library feel, but with everything scaled down to kid size.  I would love to do an entire wall of long, low bookshelves.  And since Beckett has a lot of books, but probably still not enough to fill that much bookcase space, I would like to use neutral cubical bins to store toys on the bookshelf as well.  The always reliable Ikea Expedit bookshelf would be a likely candidate for inexpensive shelving that could create a library like feel.  I envision something along the lines bookshelves in this inspiration room - but maybe twice as long:

Via Houzz
And if you are going to have a library, you have to have a comfortable place to read.  I saw this ADORABLE dark brown, button-tufted chaise lounger while shopping at Home Goods one day.  Get this - it's actually a pet bed.  But Beckett plopped himself down on it and it was the cutest thing.  Scott is actually the one who pointed out to me that the chair could just as easily be for a little boy rather than a giant dog.  Of course, if you don't buy something at Home Goods when you see it, it likely won't be there when you go back.  But Bed, Bath and Beyond sells these chairs as well {online only} - and I love those 20% coupons they send me every month!

I have always adored the "You Say Coffee, I Say Play Table" from Land of Nod.  {I love their product names almost as much as I love their products.}  I like the idea of putting this table right in the middle of Beckett's room.  It would be a perfect height for him to play at standing up right now, and as he gets older, it would be great for sitting around to play with trains or legos.  And the big pull out drawers on each side of the table would be the perfect place to stash all those trains/legos when not in use.


When I saw this amazing dresser while roaming through Arhaus one day I fell in love, but then I saw the price tag and we broke up just as quickly as we had gotten together.  But I think that an inexpensive dresser from Ikea or a thrift store find could easily be turned preppy and given a similar look with some simple DIY leather drawer pulls.


If we were to go in this Vintage Preppy direction, I would like to add in lots of masculine fabrics - specifically I have suiting fabrics in mind - like herringbone, tweed, pinstripes and houndstooth.  How great are these alphabet pillows made from men's suit fabrics that you can custom order through Etsy?  They are on the pricey side, but every fabric store sells fabrics in suiting patterns, so some DIY pillow covers would have a similar impact.    


You might be wondering, what's with the ties?  We'll, let's just say that if we go with this design plan for the room, you might see some men's ties showing up in unexpected ways...


I would also like to add some other sophisticated details to the room, like nail heads.  I hesitate to add a DIY nail head detail to a dresser or low piece of furniture where Beckett might be able to pull them out, but I like the idea of possibly adding nail head trim to fabric covered cornice boards for the window treatments.


I love this Denver art {this is where we live, in case you missed that...}, and I think a lot of colors in this print would be good colors to bring out in the room to compliment the many neutral tones of this design concept.


Finally, vintage suitcases or steamer trunks could serve as toy boxes, providing lots of additional storage and style in the room.


So, what do you think of the concept of a Vintage Preppy Little Man's Lounge?!  I envision a cozy place for reading, learning and playing - designed for a little boy, but with a timeless style to last for many years to come. Check back in early next week when I'll be sharing one more mood board with another potential big boy room design!

This design plan for the Vintage Preppy Little Man's Lounge ended up the winner! You'll find links to the final room reveal and all of the related projects below:



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