Use the blue in accents not on the wall. The blue paint color will overwhelm the room.

I agree!! .. it won't be much blue with the window on that wall, and won't be such a pain to repaint when he tires of it! Thanks for your feedback.

Hi Sherdye -- I really want to indulge the musical artist I'm sensing in this room! I love the artwork that he chose, too. And is that Monster from the Muppets on the drums? Love that -- grew to love the Muppets in recent years through laughs with my own son.

If you can stand it, I'd love to see the walls in your grey, with some crazy color splashes of the blue, and a hint of the other brights from the art, eminating from behind the picture, the drums, the guitar, the tv, and perhaps the bed for balance. You might have to put the drums on another wall and hang the guitar elsewhere to spread the color around. And be ready to re-paint should you ever sell!

If this is just too much, then I'd go all grey, with a band of about 1' of the blue, again eminating from behind the art, going horizontally around the room. It could have a stripe of yellow with a pinstripe of the bright red centered along it. Enjoy this kid's creativity! :)

Sounds like you know my kid! My husband is a musician too and YESSSS that is Monster, thanks for noticing! ha. Since you sound so on point, let me run this by you. He wants his name in graffiti on the wall ..... I told him no to hiring a g. artist, but found decals on etsy that were red turquoise yellow and it looked REALLY cool. Can you see the vision?! (he's not a hip hop kid, nothing wrong with that, but I don't want it to feel rapper, more like URBAN!)

I need to spread the color around for sure ... I can't figure out how to add more pictures to this post, but I had a few more that would help understand the room. Behind the bed is a big window / 2nd floor so it's got a fat, awesome tree top view! Thanks for commenting positively. Posting pictures initially feels scary!

Love the graffitti idea! I'd suggest a comprimise on the paint color, by going with a grey shade that has some blue in it. Southern exposure means this room could actually take alot of color, and I think the greys you have now could use the depth to keep from looking washed out.

While I don't normally love them for adult spaces, you can't really go wrong with a decal for a kid's room, and etsy has some great choices. I've got a few in my son's room; he's around the same age as yours.

I'd also find him some cool accessories:
http://fab.com/inspiration/speaker-pillow

I wonder how the bed might look turned under the art...?

Barnhart, I like like idea too. Moving the bed under the art.....and hanging the guitar on the wall just to the left of the window. Drums could live under the window perhaps. Love the gray color for walls with graftiti in cool colors from the art as well.

My daughter wanted an orange room, so I did an accent wall (which I don't normally like). It's great, because the room reads orange, but it doesn't make me feel crazy. I think this approach would work really well here too. The gray walls have an urban feel, and will give the room a little more edge, which I think your son will ultimately appreciate, and will make the blue even cooler.
I think the decals are a great idea too, because you know he'll want something different in a couple of years. I love his choice of art!
It's going to be a really cool room! He's a lucky kid to have a mom who respects who he is, and his vision for his space.

Also you may want to check out Wall Juice.....they are like wall tattoos kind of...here is an example showing marilyn, but i would imagine something could be done like Jim Morrison, or any other music icon....This might be a good graphic to put on a wall somewhere in the room as well. With one of your reds or blues or even black against the gray wall. Just another idea.
Not sure how expensive they are, but you can always search online and find a similiar type graphic, print it out on your computer and then project it onto the wall and pencil the outline. Then just paint inside the lines...

Great idea to choose the artwork first and to decorate the room around it! It would be much harder to do it the other way around. Your son has a good eye and picked a nice piece. I suggest to let artwork be the main accent on this wall. If you must have decals, make sure they do not distract too much from the artwork. And I agree with BW Interiors that the wall color should not compete with the blue in artwork.... Raisa

A great first day in the Houzz!!! Valued all these comments. Barnhart Gallery- just moved bed and drums! Looks great. 3 walls will be SW Light French Gray and wall with two closet doors will have SW Major Blue (on the wall he will face while in bed!). Mpoulsom great idea on guitar on window wall! He digs that idea. I have a few days off before Easter weekend and we are going to knock this out!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/120987782/full-colour-personalised-graffiti-name?ref=sr_gallery_14&ga_search_query=graffiti+name+decal&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_spelling_corrected=graffitti+name+decal&ga_search_type=all

Sherdye -- that looks great! without a headboard, I'm wondering now whether a huge stripe just larger than the width of the bed in blue could create the feel of one. You could stop just above the painting, framing it out, continue to the ceiling, or continue across the ceiling and down the other (grey) wall across from the bed -- so four grey walls with one big stripe of blue from behind the bed, across the ceiling and down the other wall. and maybe the other wall is where the decal would go against the blue.

Anyway, nice job so far!

looks great there...the bed that is!
p.s. I actually HAVE an electric guitar hanging on my wall in the living room on a skinny wall and it looks great! ;) I am an artist and kind of a music freak myself. Go figure.

Good evening Sherdye,
Turning the bed was a great decision. Your son's graffiti decal idea is brilliant and done in a black would add a touch of urban edginess on his grey walls. Is your blue color being pulled from the cityscape art? That blue color would certainly dominate the room; it may be better used on a wall that the art is not on. We always love seeing parent child collaboration. You have a lucky son!
- Kelly

Hi Kelly .. yes, the blue is pulled from the cityscape art! GREAT idea to suggest black for the graffiti. I'll have to do a little digging to see if I can find that somewhere. The blue would be on the closet wall (not pictured) and there are two closet doors, and the door to enter the room on that wall, so it would be much blue at all. It's a 10x12 room. Thanks for your feedback and nice words re: lucky son! :)

Sherdye,
Really like how the room is coming together and the move of the bed to the other wall. Like the graffiti idea as well - think it will work great with the picture! One thing you could possibly do is download a graffiti font for a typeface to work from. Here's a site with dowloadable graffiti fonts:
http://cooltext.com/Fonts-Graffiti

I think all the walls gray, and the blue he picked out on the wall where the bed is. I would also suggest painting the dresser to add some fun. I also really like the graffiti idea since your son is into music