A wild theme helped our son settle in
When it came to moving her son, Arlo, from his nursery to a larger room, Lisa Weaver created a jungle-inspired scheme to make the change as easy as possible for him
Faux foliage, soft toy animals and a jungle wall mural helped Lisa Weaver create a safari-themed room for her son
Having moved in seven years ago, Lisa Weaver, 40, an interior designer, and her husband, James, had already spent a lot of time extending and decorating their four-bedroom, end-of-terrace home in St Albans, Hertfordshire, before they had their son Arlo, aged four. However, with the arrival of their second son, Charlie, now 18 months, they realised they needed to refresh the bedrooms again so Arlo could move out of his original room into a larger space.
‘Our main bedroom was on the top floor and the other bedroom was used as a home office, so Arlo was originally in the small box room. When I knew Charlie was on the way, we needed to move Arlo into the larger third room,’ says Lisa. ‘I knew it wouldn’t be easy as he loved his little box room, and I didn’t want him to be jealous of the new baby having his old room.’ To make it as appealing to him as possible, they were inspired by his love of animals – and the fact he’d amassed hundreds of jungle soft toys, from snakes to lions, over the years – to make his new, age-appropriate room one he couldn’t wait to move into.
STEP ONE Lisa decided to get Arlo as involved as a four-year-old could be in designing the room, fully aware that he’d ask for real-life animals in his room, rather than toy ones. ‘I discussed the ideas with him and suggested things that would work and we could easily achieve. I love the colour green and the jungle-themed room would help bring the outside in. And I’m always up for a bit of extra creativity,’ says Lisa.
As Arlo was happy with the concept, they got started on clearing the room of old boxes and junk. Luckily, they could keep the original, white-washed floorboards, which had only been fitted in the last year or so. ‘I didn’t feel the need to change the flooring, as it was in great condition – and, as needed in all kid’s rooms, the wooden floor would make it easier to keep clean,’ admits Lisa. The walls were stripped and washed down, and everything was painted white, which would make it an easier surface to work on.
STEP TWO Now the room was a blank canvas, Lisa could start putting the scheme together. ‘I started to make a mood board and found a jungle wall mural, but after getting the sample I felt it was a bit too lime green. While I wanted a jungle theme, I didn’t want it to feel too young, babyish or nursery-like
– I wanted the room to appeal to all ages so
he could have it for a while and not outgrow it.’ With this in mind, Lisa searched several websites and found a more muted, darker green wall mural from an Etsy seller called Moons and Flowers, which has leopards, trees and vines. Lisa decided this would work as a statement wall, and picked out one of the greens from the design to paint the other walls in. ‘Three Farm Green from Little Greene really gave the room a warming feel without feeling too dark, complemented the mural and pulled the scheme together. I love that it feels cosy but not gloomy,’ she says.
STEP THREE Lisa wanted Arlo’s transition from a cot to a child’s bed to be easy for him. ‘I had been quite anxious about this and had been putting it off,’ says Lisa, ‘but I found one of these really cool house beds, which wasn’t too high, so if he did fall out it’s not too far. Arlo also liked the idea of living in the jungle and seeing all the animals from his bed. Being such a fan of The Jungle
Book and Mowgli, he was super keen.’ Once the bed was assembled, Lisa entwined lots of greenery around the poles, and toy snakes around the bases. She decided on a full-sized adult wardrobe in pine, which had been left in the house by the previous owners. ‘It’s really sturdy and I was thinking of painting it, but the wood works well for a jungle look,’ she says. ‘Storage is essential in any child’s room, so I grabbed some Kallax shelving from IKEA and used rattan baskets and doors to hide away his books and toys, which keeps everything in its place and out of view.’
STEP FOUR The room now felt functional and had all the storage needed, so Lisa wanted to add the fun finishing touches. ‘I’ve lots of old gold mirrors and frames, which I used on the chimney breast wall. I kept the mirror in one, but used the rest to frame letters, a plush lion’s head and animal prints, and it really made a feature of the wall,’ enthuses Lisa. She stuck to the green theme with some heavy velvet curtains and softened the look with lots of rattan accessories, including the decorative round floor rug. ‘With my creative hat on, I dressed up an old lamp shade with some artificial leaves I had bought in IKEA for a fun update.’ She also added some tall wooden giraffes she’d picked up on her travels pre-children, and then filled the room with lots of Arlo’s soft toys.
Now expecting their third child, they’ll have more decorating to do to accommodate the new arrival. ‘Arlo absolutely loves his room, and the transition from baby to toddler room was made so much easier,’ says Lisa. ‘I now have to come up with another theme, as at some point we’ll have to move Charlie into a bigger room, once the new baby arrives.’