Grey Boy Bedroom: A Tween Boy’s Room Makeover

When we moved into our house last summer, our top priority was to decorate the boys bedrooms. I wanted to make their rooms ‘special’ for them so that the new house quickly felt like home. Our older boys bedroom needed the least amount of work – just decorating really, so he got to go first. His room also had a fuschia pink accent wall that he was very keen to be rid of!

Bedroom before decorating with pink feature wall.

The Client’s brief…

Oldest boy was 3 last time we decorated his room, so I had carte-blanche to decorate as I wanted. However he is now nearly 9 and full of opinions as to what he likes and what he wants! I had ideas of my own, as I was keen to ensure we created a room that would last him until his teenage years. Between us we created a mood board called ‘Grey Boy Bedroom Ideas’ using pictures from Pinterest. Here are some of the ideas:

collage of grey boy bedroom ideas assembled from pinterest.

So we were after something a bit more grown up, nothing too ‘themey’, with splashes of colour here and there. We also wanted to keep the bedroom furniture he has – a Stuva loft bed from Ikea (customised to be a lower height) along with the accompanying desk, and some Kallax shelves.

Grey boy bedroom ideas…

Older boy was very keen on having very dark grey or even black walls – I said no – far too gloomy! So we compromised on a mid-grey (Warm Pewter – Dulux) on 2 of the walls, and a light beige / grey on the other 2 walls (Egyptian Cotton – Dulux). We went for the Dulux ‘Easycare Washable and Tough’ paint, so hopefully it will stand up to wear and tear. I was very sceptical about the colours. I thought it would look like a cloudy grey day in his bedroom all the time…but he was determined! As it turns out, older boy has good taste:

re-vamped grey  boy bedroom
Grey boy bedroom ideas - finished bedroom makeover with grey walls and blind and ikea furniture.

The grey looks much more grown-up and sophisticated, blueish without being cold.

The Stuva drawer fronts and desk legs are bright blue, so we picked this colour up in the bedding (from Dunelm). The bedding also had turquoise in it which matched the rug that we already had. The yellow stripe in the bedding gave an extra zing of colour.

image showing the bright colours in the bedding of renovated grey boys bedroom.

Finishing Touches

Older boy decided he would prefer a blind to curtains, and picked this grey geometric design from Blinds 2 Go.

We put shelves above the desk to display the all-important Lego models on. These were from Argos. Older boy was concerned that the room not look too ‘matchy matchy’ so he chose the slightly ‘industrial’ looking lampshade from Next.

Grey boy bedroom ideas - grey metal lampshade suitable for boys bedroom.

We still have a few finishing touches to do, including putting up this Dr Zeuss quote:

Grey boy bedroom ideas - Grey picture frame with dr zeuss quote.

I also found this great picture frame from Amazon, that lets you slide A4 pictures in and out. This lets Older boy chop and change and display his favourite artwork of the day as he chooses:

Older boy is delighted with his new room. I think he feels really proud that he helped to design it. I was surprised and impressed how clear his ideas were about how he wanted it to look and feel. Maybe I have a young interior designer in the making! Check out my revamp of my younger son’s bedroom here.