What is the paint color...love it!

A friend of mine put up a shelf about a foot or so down from the ceiling, all the way around the room, for her son's completed lego models. Looked very cool. In your room, I would think white would look great.

First -- add some vintage WWII reproduction posters above the sofa -- for color and texture. Hang one above the sofa -- and one above the chair.

THEN add dark brown wall shelves for the planes -- check basic ones at Target/Walmart etc. Try different sizes and hang them above the TV area and around the posters. OR you could have a custom shelf built in white to run around the top of the whole room. Are any of planes strong enough to hang from the ceiling with fishing line?

Add bamboo blinds in the windows. Add a swing-arm wall lamp beside the sofa.

Also -- consider having a radiator cover made for the room -- with a metal lattice area in the front -- and a metal lattice area along the top. Very handy!

P.S. My dad was a navigator in the RCAF -- and then joined Trans Canada Air Lines (which became Air Canada)! My brother built LOTS of model airplanes (and race cars!)

Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: art.com -- WWI posters

Hope the right photo from Pottery Barn pops up -- it is the one with the wall shelves above the dark table .... just for ideas ....

Plus you could always add any family photos from that era too! Always nice for family history .....

Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: PB -- Wall shelves

I would not use any sort of open shelving for the models, which no doubt took many hours to build. I would go "cheap" (relatively speaking!) with Ikea's Billy bookcase and attach the optional glass-front doors.

A few months with the models on open shelving and they'll be covered with dust. You don't want to have to keep feather-dusting them. And you want to protect them so your son can have them for years to come. You could go buy clear acrylic cases from a place like Michaels, but they are pretty costly.

You have plenty of space for a bookcase or two on the wall where there is now the floor lamp and armchair. Simply pull the armchair (or whatever replacement chair) out a few feet in front of it.

If more than 2 boys are going to be hanging out in the room (sons plus friends), I wouldn't even get a recliner. I'd get another sofa for more seating. And some beanbag chairs.

To jazz up the place, I might even suggest hanging a WWII plane kite in the room!

Thanks everyone!

SueB - the den is painted BM Buxton Blue, but it is not nearly as bright as it appears on my monitor. Whoa! (living room is BM Philadelphia Cream).

I like the idea of the shelves going around the room, but the window trim is only 7" from ceiling. Would it be Ok to put shelves lower than that, and stop and start at each window?

Jan - very interesting about your Dad! Mine was in a tank (yes he's built grandpa's tank) towards the very end of the war. My uncle was a paratrooper in Holland, so it's very cool that my son has these guys to talk to - there's not that many of them left. (My Mom had a brother that died in the Philippines). Thanks for the link!

The model-building son would love to make this a WWII themed room but the older son is very resistant to this idea.

Does anyone like the idea of putting the models in the living room?

PammyFay, we cross posted. I think you are right, these models need to be taken better care of. Maybe the billy bookcase would be best. I have one in my dining room for my gardening and cookbooks. I didn't know they came with doors.

Maybe I should start with that idea, and then look into shelving if the collection gets too large

Re: Models in the living room ....

Yes -- but only in a logical way! In other words -- clear one HALF of one of the bookshelves in the left-hand side living room fireplace. Add a couple of tanks and a photo or his grandad. THEN add books that pertain to the era OR echo the color of the tanks on the right-hand side of that shelf. Step back and look again to see if the display makes "sense" in the room.

Then do the same thing on the right-hand side of the living room shelves. Pick one shelf -- and clear the right-hand side of that shelf. Again -- add a tank or two AND an old photo that pertains to his grandad -- and the tanks. You can even stack some of the books horizontally -- and sit a tank on top of them.

As for the the boys' den -- Yes -- if Ikea shelves would fit in there -- then do add some of them! We have Billy bookshelves (just open ones -- no doors) here -- and find them incredibly handy!

We are just building my sons new room right now and part of the plan was figuring out a way to display all of this Bionicles (he has a crazy amount of them).

A little different from your options we are doing a single shelf, upper wall (about 1.5 feet from ceiling), and this shelf with encircle the whole room.

Please Note: Below link is NOT my house! Just off the net with a similier (yet not so nice) version of what we are going.

Haley

Here is a link that might be useful:

I agree with bestyears. One of my sons has such a display - open shelves around the room near the ceiling. Very effective, and it's high enough so that you don't bump your head on it.
I'd go with shelving to match the room trim, with invisible mounting brackets.