Its hard for me to imagine a place getting "full shade" followed by "full sun" in those time frames. Anyhow, there are lots of plants that do fine between light shade and several hours of sun that might do fine. I find meadow rue, celandine poppies, salvias, and rudbeckias to be pretty flexible plants in terms of sun conditions. Some cute rudbeckias (little black-eyed susans of some sort) that I dug a few years ago from the turkey creek landfill dig bloom for a long time in high shade, and I'd like to find more. Azaleas should be fine, but I'm sure I'm sure you can find a less "overused" shrub if you want.

I have looked into Speed Queens and they are not available in the part of Canada I am from. It is a shame that top loaders are on their way out. After using my sister in laws Frigidaire FL for 2 weeks while on vacation I decided that I would never own one. The smell of the clothing if left in the washer for 30 minutes or so was terrible. Musty. On a good note after looking this up on line several people have had the same problem. These people recently phoned Whirlpool and had a new computer module installed free. So, I thought, what the heck, after speaking to several Whirlpool people in Canada and USA I finally had them agree to send me out a tech to repair for free, parts and labour. So, we will hobble along until the next ordeal. Then I'll look at top loaders and hopefully find one before they are gone!

Lots of good ideas here. Thanks! Joann - thanks for the picture. That is what I was envisioning, but I like having an example. I never considered green as the main wall color, but I like the idea. I'll have to find a subtle green though. I don't want the color to be too loud. I love the image of the stripes provided by dawnp. That is very do-able for me. I will involve my son in the selection, after I've narrowed down the choices. He picked the bedding, but has told me that he wants rainbow walls (not gonna happen!). I think he'll like the stripes in the example from dawnp. Maybe I can find some nice tans and greens for the colors. Les - we originally had the furniture as you suggested, but when you entered the room the edge of the chest made it feel blocked. But I do like the idea of creating a space in the corner for activities. Once we paint I'll play with the furniture arrangement again. Maybe it would be better if I placed the chest against the wall to the left of the table, rather than on an angle. What do you think? I'm on the hunt for a small book shelf. I'll also look at removable decals that would be fun for the next few years, but can be removed as he gets older. I'll look at shagreen once I find my samples. Thanks bestyears. This is why I love this forum! I've been looking at his room for a year now without any direction. Now I have it! Thank you everyone. I'll keep checking back in case anyone else has further ideas or opinions.

ajsmama, thanks for your comments. the house was built in the 50s and the problem is not with the bedding touching the outlet but with it being only one of 2 outlets in the room, we will need to plug into it and it's an older outlet where the plugs sag out of it. My dh doesn't want the plugs from a light to be jammed against the bed, and since my son is only 3 1/2 we need a bedrail and a wall for him not to fall out so bed needs to be against wall...I guess we could have another outlet put in at some point, but not now. Polly929, I will be getting rid of the dresser soon and getting a long one to put in it's place against the wall the head of the bed in on. The curtains we have do come in red (Pottery Barn Kids)and you can't really tell but they are navy blue with colorful stitching in stipes. I just noticed they have curtains which match the bedding (see link) what do you think about that? Shannon01, the door is on the same wall as the bed. The closet wall is to the left of the door and the closet is not very long but takes up half of that wall. In the picture with the bookcase, the wall to the left is where the closet is, pretty much within inches of the left edge of photo. I like your ideas. I think I will keep the bed where it is. As for toy, we have a playroom so he doesn't really need any storage for them. Just books. And we just bought this bedding he picked out in January when he changed from a crib to a big boy bed. So that stays. Making a headboard out of the cards is a fantastic idea! Valinsv, thank you for considering the real reason behind my son's feelings. We actually have had a big year with lots of changes. We moved in October (just up the street, so same friends etc but still a move), I just had a baby, and he moved from a crib to a big boy bed. I'm with you in not wanting to make too many changes at once. The problem is that ever since we moved in here, his room has been in constant flux, now with the bed so I guess this is my last ditch effort to get it right. But I agree too much change is no good. So I think the biggest thing is the paint color. I will paint it a wheat/khaki. I will keep the bed where it is and move the animal cards down to make either a headboard or put on the wall next to his bed. And I will get a new longer dresser for safety reasons and put it next to his bed. But like you said, first the paint and then wait to see. We don't have room for a chair but we do cuddle up for a long while on his bed and talk and read at night. The problem is I don't feel warm and cozy in there, so there may be a real issue of design to address as well as being sensitive to is growing independence and feelings of fear. Wow. This has all become much more complex than when I began but it's good. I'm going to involve him in all of this too so that should help. So tell me what you all think of matching the curtains to the bedding? Here is a link that might be useful: Madras curtains