Room Research and Inspiration!

The boys are getting split up.  The Prince HATES sharing with his 2 younger brothers (one snores and one has night terrors so I can't really blame him).  This requires some ingenuity and creativity from us.  See, the 3 boys are/were sharing the master bedroom as it is the biggest in the house.  That meant they also have their own bathroom and that "boy bathroom smell" (eeeew!) was contained to their "wing" of the house.  The King and I share the smallest bedroom (we don't really need more space than that anyway) and our Princess is across the hall from us.  So where to put the Prince in his own room.

I had a brainstorm and it is going to work out just great.  We moved the Prince into a corner of the living room.  We are going to be building a "wall" that will be about 8 foot tall but won't go to the ceiling to give him some air flow in there.  It will be a small (aka tiny) room but he is thrilled.  For now he is just sleeping in the living room.  Hopefully, we'll get his walls built soon.

But all this moving rooms means I am going to work on some decorating.  So I've been perusing Pinterest (duh!) for ideas.  The 2 little boys want a Superhero Room and I am totally on board with that.  The Prince wants his room to be like a hunting cabin and that is great too (we'll even use old barn siding on the wall we are building).  It really shows each of their personalities well.  

I've found some excellent blogs and ideas and I've enjoyed checking them all out....but I struggle with something....let me show you some of my FAVORITE pictures.  

Check out this totally awesome skyline and toy shelf!  I've already used those boxes as inspiration and made my boys some.  But why aren't hers overfilled and spilling over? And the top of the low shelf is empty... I just don't understand.
(photo from here)

And check out this kick butt bedroom!  I love the wall art (which is painted on a hollow core door-COOL!) and the bed is great for little guys. Oh and on her blog you can see the pillows on the bed which I am totally going to make.
 It is just SO CLEAN!   There aren't even any dirty underwear on the floor!   HOW? HOW do you do that?
(photo from here)

How does one have a play room that looks like this?  I love the colors, the  white (WHITE!) poof and the birdcages.
But where are the toys, the legos to impale my feet on, and the stains on the carpet?
(photo from here)

So how do I bring these ideas into fruition in my home?  I mean there are 6 of us.  Four of us are under 10 years old.  One of those 4 is a toddler and the other three are ALL boy!  We live, play, and homeschool here.  I will never, ever, ever, (seriously, EVER!) say that I am the world's greatest housekeeper.  But these bee-you-ti-ful rooms are a little too perfect for me.  I am not stupid and know they were cleaned up and "posed" for photos....but lets be real.  No child's room looks like this if that child is actually living there.  

So I'm going to take the ideas I like (cause there are a few that are just too cool to pass up) and brush off the nagging little voice that tells me I need to clean my house more often so it looks like a magazine (or blog) because just like I will never look like a photoshopped model neither will my home look like a "posed" home in a magazine or blog.

However, I guess it is time to stop writing and go pick up some toys!  Or maybe the Princess and I will read some books or color?  :)