Grant's Dinosaur Room {Inspiration & Planning}

For quite a while now, I’ve been itching to make a few changes in Grant’s room.

In fact, when we switched him to his “big boy bed” back in August, my plan was to quickly add some built-ins to his room and make a ton of changes right away.

But, I kept putting it off because something felt off about my plan. I’ve learned to trust those instincts, so for the last 6 months or so, I’ve been ruminating on what the best course of action is in here.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally solved the problem I’ve been mulling over in my head, and I’m ready to dive in!

Today, I’m taking you on a little tour of the inspiration I’ve gathered for this room, the projects I plan to tackle, and what’s been holding me back all this time.

inspiration for Grant’s dinosaur room

Here’s a little collage of my ideas for this room. This obviously isn’t everything I plan to bring in, but it hits all the big points!

A few of the things you’ll see here are already in the room because I love the bones of what we have here. We just need to zhuzh it up a bit!

Collage of inspiration for a dinosaur room for a young boy

Dinosaur room Sources:

our plans

Now that you’ve seen the overall inspiration, let’s talk a little about how we’re planning to get there. Several of the elements are already in the room. I love the room we created when we did his nursery, but as he’s grown and our needs have changed, it’s time to refresh it a bit.

Here’s a rundown of all of the projects I plan to tackle in here over the next few weeks:

Built-in Bookcases

The biggest project I want to tackle in here is adding some built-in bookcases. I’ll be using IKEA Billy bookcases kind of like I did in Jackson’s nursery in our first house.

This is the project that held me up for so long because I couldn’t decide where to put them. Originally, my plan was to create a big set of built-ins on the wall by the window (seen in the photo below), and a bench under the window. The problem I kept coming back to was twofold:

It would limit any future placement of the bed. This wall is a great spot to place a bed, and having bookcases there would obviously impede that.
It creates an awkward space between his current bed and the bookshelves. I can’t scoot the bed toward the other wall because of his closet, so it would just be a weird, narrow gap that you would use to access the bookcases.

I decided that wasn’t going to work for me, and then I thought about placing them on the wall where his dresser is. The only problem with that is, it would eliminate any spot for a dresser!

After a lot of planning (and changing my mind a thousand times), I finally decided I’m going to be adding these bookcases in the corner next to his closet. I plan to push his bed to one side, then have the bookcases fill the other side of the room.

As you can see above, currently his bed is centered on the wall. I’ll be pushing it all the way to the right, and adding the built-ins to the spot on the left. This will eliminate a lot of dead space in his room and provide some much-needed book storage.

Once the bookcases are in, it’ll create a little nook in the corner by his closet, thanks to the tall sides on his bed. I’ll add a little chair over there and we’ll have a really sweet little spot for him to snuggle up and read!

It solves all my problems, doesn’t create any new ones, and I think it’ll look pretty darn cute.

Dinosaur Gallery Wall

The other big project I want to tackle in here is adding a gallery wall above his dresser. We hung the large elephant print when we first did this room because he was obsessed with elephants as a baby. He still loves them, but the dinosaur infatuation has definitely won out.

I’m picturing a big gallery wall covering this entire area full of cute, quirky dinosaur-related prints. It’ll be easy to swap out the pictures as he grows and his interests change, and I think it’ll add a lot of dimension to this side of the room.

New Display Ledges

I built some really cute book display ledges when he was a baby and, for the most part, they’ve held up great. However, thanks to him pulling on the front of them over and over and over, the front trim pieces on the ones he can reach have come off.

I haven’t decided yet if I’ll just replace the trim pieces or build entirely new ledges, but I do think I’ll be leaving these here! They don’t really work for books anymore (since his collection has grown so much), but he loves to display little toys and trinkets here and I think this could be a really fun, ever-evolving display space for him.

I picture little plants, maybe a mirror, small toys, and whatever other treasures we come across as we work.

Accessories + Details

And finally, I want to add some fresh accessories and details in here! We removed his old rug because the pile was too thick to work with the trundle on his new bed, and a lot of the other little accessories we had in here when he was younger (like the olive tree) just didn’t work as he turned into a rambunctious toddler.

I want to put some serious effort into making this room feel intentional, complete, and cozy in a way that really works for him at this phase of life. I’d like a new rug and maybe a plant or two now that he is less likely to destroy them. We’ll see where we land as we work here, but I right now his room is feeling pretty empty to me, so I want to put some serious effort in!

And that’s where we’re at for now!

He’s really excited that I’m going to be making some changes in his room, and I’m feeling really excited about having things a little more organized and a little less chaotic.

I’m getting started on the bookcase project this week, so stay tuned for the fun!

Grant’s Dinosaur Room {Inspiration & Planning}