
My five year old has the heart of an explorer and a real love for mountains and camping, just like his mommy. So naturally, I am encouraging this love and wanted to inspire him with a simple and comfortable space. Though there is SO much more that I could do, I am just honestly tapped out physically and financially with this one at the moment. I wanted to make Liam’s bedroom a special and calming place for him where he can go and read or draw in peace. His bedroom before was a mismatched colorful array of furniture and art that I had just thrown together a couple years ago. I wanted a little space that felt more curated and special. A room that Liam and I enjoy being in. Liam’s love for the outdoors was the inspiration for this mountain themed boys bedroom.
After a few weeks of painting, hanging, ordering and rearranging… I am pretty happy with the finished room!
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Let’s first start off with the BEFORE photos…
The space felt cramped and there was just a lot going on. I was using an old shelf that was once a shoe rack (notice how it’s leaning?! Yikes) for the books. We had found the dresser (that we used as a nightstand) in the clearance section of IKEA for $12. The teepee is from Land of Nod and though it’s adorable, the bedroom is just too small for it. We decided to keep it in his bedroom for now, just propped up in the corner. That way the teepee becomes novel again when we set it up for him.
The bedroom wasn’t terrible but I definitely didn’t enjoy it, and Liam really didn’t either. He has a large playroom in the basement so all of his toys are there. This room is just for sleeping and reading and when he wants to quietly draw. I watch kids in my home full time so Liam has to share everything, all the time. Which is just fine, of course, but I wanted to make sure he had his own space too. A space he didn’t have to share and that the other kiddos couldn’t go into if he didn’t want them to.
If I could paint the walls, Oh the things I could do ! But, alas, we are in a rental!
We did a few simple DIYs to this room such as adding faux wood peel and stick laminate to the back of the bookshelf we bought from Wayfair and painted the IKEA dresser/nightstand with a satin enamel white paint I already had. Then added some of that left-over stick on faux wood planks. (instructions at the end of this post)
I made the black and white yarn wall hanging a couple years ago and it seemed to fit right into the gallery wall. I tried using the nails that were already in the wall from the previous art so we wouldn’t have as many holes to cover up before we move out of this rental!










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I contemplated making curtains for his windows but a few things deferred me. 1. He is a rough and tough boy that may decide swinging from the curtains is a great idea 2. Hanging curtains means drilling more holes in the wall and 3. I couldn’t decide on a fabric anyways! So for now, the windows will stay as they are. If we owned this home, the carpet would be ripped out for hard woods, the walls would be painted etc… sigh. Some day!
The frame for the poster
I bought two pieces of poplar from Home Depot that were already cut into the width I wanted. Nathan used a saw to cut the two pieces in half and then I stained them with an ebony wood stain. I only did one light coat because I didn’t want them too dark. I wanted a rustic feel to it. Once the four pieces of wood were dry I then used wood gorilla glue to glue the two pieces and the paper together. (Photos at the bottom of this post for instructions) The top piece I also glued in some twine I already had to hang it by. This was SO incredibly easy and I just love the way it turned out!
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The dresser
The trick to these is making sure you are measuring at least three times to make sure it is exact. We used a box cutter to scour the top of the laminate and then just bent it back and forth until it cracked. I spent a total of $20 on these and still have a couple left over. I got mine from Home Depot but it looks like if you need a smaller quantity like I did, they are cheaper on Amazon.
The bookcase
These peel and stick laminate pieces are pretty self explanatory but I wanted to share a couple quick tips. First off, make sure you are laying them out how you like with the paper backing still on so that you can move them around and play with the different patterns of the grain. Once we had it the way we liked it, we did one piece at a time and really moved slowly. This is much easier with two people ! Then you want to make sure you are pushing the pieces all the way together so they are sitting flush with each other. We did end up with one tiny sliver of white showing through and just used a fine tip permanent marker to cover it up. You can’t even notice it now! What’s great about these laminate faux wood planks is that they come in several different stains so you can really personalize your piece to fit your space. You can really do this to any bookcase, too! This one was so easy because the back of the bookcase is just a cheap piece of cardboard and not solid wood.
Links to products I bought (or similar!):

I love this theme! Super cute!
Thank you !
I absolutely love this theme! It is so unique. Very cute for a little one!
Thank you so much !
I love this theme! My baby boy is 2, so not quite old enough for his own room, but I would love to do a mountain theme like this! We live in the Pacific Northwest and we can’t get enough of the mountains, trees, and beautiful lakes. About 10% of my son’s clothing has some sort of mountain pattern or reference, so this would be perfect for him 🙂
Yes how perfect !! We live in CO but LOVE the PNW !❤️
Such a creative space for a little adventurer! I especially love the mountain shelf and the rug!
Thank you so much!! 🤗
This is so cute!! We’re redoing my son’s bedroom now that he has a “big boy bed” and are doing a similar theme! We have a little cabin bed, a campfire light, and some mountains on the walls. I love the mountain shelves! I’m going to have to look into one or two of those to fill his walls!
That sounds adorable ! I wish we could paint ! A mountain mural would be so fun. The shelves are just beautiful I highly recommend them ! Adam did a beautiful job building them
This is a very unique idea for a room theme. I really like it!
This is so cute!! Will certainly keep in mind if I have a little boy ij the future 🙂
Turned out great Nat! It looks so grown up now, and I’m sure Liam loves having his own adventurer space. 😊
Thanks Allison! Yes he loves it !
I love this theme and the decorations you have! The camp fire nightlight is so cool!
Thank you !!
This is adorable!!
This definitely makes me want to have a boy! 💚
A true ‘big boy’ room! I love the old school desk and his own comfy reading chair:)
Thank you ! Yes I love the desk too ! It’s the perfect size so he will eventually need a larger one but I love that this one has storage.
Feeling the new Justin Timberlake “man of the woods” vibe. Like it!
Adorable mountain themed bedroom that’s actually unisex! My daughter and husband would love this room.
Thank you ! I know I would have loved it when I was little too!
This is adorable ! Perfect for kids .. I love the lantern !
I love this space mama!! We love all things nature for my son, this is great inspo for his big boy room! I’m from the Mom Bloggers Unite FB group- shared and followed you on twitter!
Yay ! Thank you so much !! ❤️❤️
This is super cute! I love how you bring nature into the room so naturally. The Melissa and Doug tray filled with random nature pieces is a great idea!
Thank you so much !! I really appreciate that ! ❤️ their wood packaging is the best. We use them all over the house !
What a beautiful and well thought out room! Love it!
Thank you very much !! ❤️❤️
I love it!! Rugged chic ❤ Good job mama!!
Thank you so much !
That is such a cute room I love the black and white!
Thank you so much !
Just love the cohesiveness of this theme, right down to the details. Mountains, wild animals and nature – everywhere!! Good job!!
Thank you !!🤗
I absolutely love this room! My boys would love it 🙂
This theme is adorable!! I love the mountain shelf! I know my son would love to put rocks and feathers on it that he has collected.
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