Please tell me that this would be an enormous waste of money

[equiliteral]

I am seriously considering this wallpaper and fabric for DS2's room. He is a couple of weeks short of 2. He's going to grow out of it fairly quickly isn't he? And insist that it's babyish and needs changed? But at the moment he is Thomas obsessed, and I'm dreaming of a gorgeous 50s / vintage inspired semi-tasteful (in so far as a Thomas themed room can be tasteful) little boy's room with gingham curtains and beautifully handmade (by me... possibly not quite so beautiful in reality as I'm a still novice with a sewing machine) quilts and cushions.

He does need his room decorated - it's very much a baby's nursery still - and DS1 has a proper and nicely decorated big boy's room so I feel that we should do the same for DS2. But I might as well just stand there flushing fivers down the loo, yes?

How much will it cost you?

I'd probably go with painting the walls and making the Thomas accessories if it was me :)

Also - if you have the cash without 'going without' it's one thing, if you aren't going to be able to eat for a month it's quite another

Well we could still eat, but it just seems an enormous amount to spend on a room which he'll probably grow out of in a cople of years max. Am thinking possibly one wall of paper (one of the smaller end walls) and a few accessories without going Thomas overboard, and making curtains that are neutral enough that I can decorate round them when Thomas is no longer viewed as the very best thing ever by DS2.

As much as my son adores Thomas, I have stayed away from doing his room in specific Thomas trains.

Instead I have bought generic train/car/bus/plane etc things so his whole room is all vehicles. I can't imagine he'll outgrow it any time soon.

Although the duvet cover Granny just sent is dinosaurs... [bugrin]

I think it's a lovely idea!

Why don't you go for neutral walls , maybe a Thomas-blue feature wall, and make quilts, cushions and curtains reversible, one side neutral, one side Thomas?

Like that you might get a bit more wear once Thomas is losing his attraction. I am pretty sure you will be able to sell your lovely handmade Thomas things on once your ds has outgrown them.

that fabric is really pretty
personally I try to avoid character/nursery themed wallpapers as I only redecorate as infrequently as I can get away with
but a duvet cover and curtains are easy enough to update.

It depends on how much it costs altogether. If you really like it and can afford it and don't mind redecorating in two or three years then go ahead. Neutral walls is a good idea. Character themed wallpaper does date.

Thank you - plain (or possibly general vehicle themed.. will see what I can find) walls does seem like the way to go (however gorgeous the wallpaper is!). Then I can fully indulge my Thomas fantasy with lots of lovely accessories - the idea of making one side neutral is brilliant DieWilde, that should make sure that they have a little more longevity. And I will use your "I can sell them on" argument with DH (although in reality I'm so sentimental that I will probably keep them in a cupboard forever for future generations, like I have done with everything else I have ever made for my boys...).

Why not look into wall stickers?

I want to decorate the front bedroom for dc2 as a nursery. It needs completely renovating but plaster and old lining paper will last a few more years, we're thinking paint with calm colours, neutral blackout curtains and some wall stickers . The carpet is hideous but new so we'll wait for small children to trash it before replacing.

Look on eBay for fabric and wallpaper, particularly if you don't need large quantities. You can get some fab bargains - I recently got some beautiful indigo/dark blue fabric (that they also do in thomas the tank engine blue) that's a Sanderson one called Ooti. Should have been £65/metre - I paid £15/metre. It's one of those slightly ethnic striped/splodged designs that works for youngsters as well as smart or ethnic-y grown up rooms. I know I haven't described it very well and I can't post a link from my phone but it's worth liking at.

If you have got fabrics or paper that you love then set up eBay searches that report daily so you can see when stuff comes in. It's not quite like a shop when everything is available all the time but if you can wait a month or so, loads of stuff turns up.

Also think plain walls with stickers sound nice, whether you have one or two Walls in a different colour.

If you were to paint then use these wall decals like these (there are loads of different ones to choose from) www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thomas-The-Tank-engine-Wall-Stickers-Decor-Decal-Mural-Art-Boys-Nursery-Bedroom-/281045088702?pt=UK_Wallpaper&hash=item416f97b9be

They remove easily- so you can swap them out for something else when his interests change.

Yeah, that is a massive waste of money, will be very short lived.

It will be ok for a minimum 5 yrs in my experience. I am lazy enough that that doesn't seem long enough, but I think most people would redecorate after 5-7 yrs anyway. So I say go For Thomas.

Thanks all, Ebay is a good idea. The stickers are good too in theory although appeal to me far less than the nice fabric / wallpaper (although I suspect that DS2 would love them!), which I have convinced myself is semi-tasteful. I've always given character themed stuff a very wide berth, but somehow this range seemed quite nice?! I like decorating (and DH is pretty handy with paper / painting so we don't need to get professionals in), and as long as it will do a couple of years I'm happy to go ahead.