"Heavy Metal Cat Party" Bedroom Reveal

In the “Year of the Bedroom,” I’ve finished the second bedroom in our house for the year!  The “Heavy Metal Cat Party” room worked out very well for our second pre-teen, and it’s a far cry from their sibling’s “Dinosaur Garden” bedroom.  I love how their personalities shine in their own spaces, and how their individual needs are able to be met.

I did start this one a little early in my original timeline, for the One Room Challenge, I had planned on completely revamping my sister’s primary suite.  For the first four weeks, we completely redid her closet, and then I shifted back to my house while she wrapped up her Master’s Degree.
To see where we started on the bedroom, head here!  And don’t miss the other wrap ups for the One Room Challenge.  Big thanks to the ORC sponsor, Apartment Therapy.

While I didn’t make structural changes in this room like I have in the other bedroom here, the closet at my sister’s, or the little kids’ bedroom… I did underestimate how much work it would take to shift this room so drastically…. It turns out, preteens aren’t the cleanest people.  So, there was a lot more cleaning than I anticipated (so many Legos!  And rocks!  Why so many rocks!?).  Add in the wallpaper fiasco… and it filled the whole four weeks easily.

Now, we have the cleanest room in the house, a happy cat, and an elated kid.  I really tried to make this a space that would work well for now, but can adapt in the future too.

Color Scheme

When the kid and I first talked about color, all they wanted was purple and black.  Then purple and blue… then just purple.  I landed on using an analogous color palette with three different purple and blue tones.  By varying the tone, I used each to help define areas throughout the room.

I started with splitting the room not quite in half to give the lofted bed a deep purple nook.  I went with Sherwin Williams “Plummy” (6558). With the loft, this is really two areas, both give this kid a dark, calming space to retreat and reflect or hang out with friends.  And of course, to sleep.  By painting the bed the same color, it visually disappears into the walls, and still provides some definition to the spaces.

The base color for the rest of the room is Sherwin Williams “Upward” (6239), their Color of the Year.  It provides the ideal balance of blue with a hint of purple.  Washing across both the ceilings and walls with this color lifts the short ceilings and provides a soft base throughout the room.

To give emphasis and define the corners, I added some additional color blocking with Sherwin Williams “Dusty Heather” (9073).  The midtone purple bridges the difference between the light and dark tones, and it defines the corners as their own spaces.  By bringing it onto the desk as well, the desk becomes part of that corner without getting lost along the dark painted bed.

Materials

While some of the materials we had were on hand, this also became a study in how to use Ikea pieces.  One of my favorites is the half-table-turned-desk in the office nook.  It was the last rescue from the hall tree that we disassembled for their sibling’s room (the other pieces are the closet door and wall hooks), and fits perfectly in the space between the bed and the wall.  The shelves we’ve had for a long time - originally we used these in our front closet, and along with the loft bed we got these second hand.

The Ikea shoe cabinet was almost an addition out of necessity, as he needed some kind of dresser, and this can store what he needs without projecting very far from the wall.  I considered cutting the feet off and installing it below the loft, but this worked out well next to the window and the closet.  Plus, it gives him a place to display has gems and trinkets.  I added the mini-greenhouse so he could have the display without it being rearranged by the cat.

With the purples on the walls, I really committed to keeping the rest of the items in the room black and white.  That started with the cat prints.  The pillowcase was from a school friend, and the discontinued Ikea patterned pillow was from my sister.  I tracked down a lot of cat furniture that fit the black and white, and juxtaposed it against the Chasing Paper Smitten Kitten Wallpaper.

Cat Corner

For the cat corner, we really committed to keeping the cat happy, comfortable, and entertained.  I ordered two sets of wall-mounted cat furniture to keep the floorspace in the small room free, and I used toggle bolts to make sure these were truly secure before letting the cat jump around.

I had a few priorities while ordering:
1) The cat corner needed to truly be floor to ceiling
2) I wanted a bridge and stairs.
3) It needed a feeding station to prevent lost bowls and tipped water.

Once I was getting ready to install everything, I played around with the layout.  My goal was to get it mostly onto the wallpaper, with a little overflow onto the purple.  By going around the exercise wheel and the new litter box bench, it fits purrrfectly as part of the room.

Music Lounge

Under the loft, I created a music lounge that lets the kid practice guitar, relax and read, or hang out with us or his friends.  We got two Nolmyra chairs from Ikea for a few reasons: these are mesh and easy to clean, these were a good budget pick, these are armless so guitar practice isn’t harder, and these are short enough that adults can sit down on these without hitting the loft.  It was a big criteria to manage.

For now, I have his guitar hung in the lounge, and there is plenty of wallspace to expand as desired.  Between the lounge and the bed, he has a lot of good options for relaxing in a calm, dark space.  He also has easy control over lighting with a dimmer on the ceiling light and three different bulbs from a standing lamp facing the desk, the bed, and the lounge.  Overall, this is a really adaptive space for this kid and his cat to enjoy.

Sources

Paint:

• Paint mixed in Valspar Signature or Sherwin Williams Emerald
• Colors include: Sherwin Williams Upward, Dusty Heather, and Plummy with Tricorn Black for cat furniture

Wallpaper: Chasing Paper Smitten Kitten
Bed:

• Loft is modified from Ikea Mydal bunkbed
• Sheets are from Ikea, color discontinued
• Square bed pillow is Svartpoppel from Ikea
• Blankets were on hand

Lounge:

• Chairs: Nolmyra from Ikea
• Chair pillows: red pillow was on hand, discontinued cat pillow, cat cushion, and round pillow (black is discontinued) from Ikea
• Guitar Hanger from Amazon

Desk Area:

• Desk: salvage
• Shelves: on hand
• Gold skull from Amazon
• Desk chair is a modular set up from Ikea with Eldberget/Malskar both in black
• Geode Bookends from Amazon

Dressing Area:

• Shoe Cabinet is Hemnes from Ikea
• Mini-Greenhouse/display case is Akerbar from Ikea
• Star Globe Nightlight is Pillowfort from Target
• Pillowfort Sunrise Alarm Clock from Target

Cat Corner: 

• Cat Tree with Bridge from Amazon
• Cat Feeding Station with Stairs from Amazon
• Cat Exercise Wheel by Vevor from Home Depot
• Litter Box Bench from Amazon

Rug: Svallerup from Ikea
Air Purifier: Fornuftig from Ikea