If you are looking for a bedroom theme for a toddler or preschool-aged boy, you might consider an auto and airplane theme.

When our twin boys were toddlers, they loved cars and trucks and airplanes. Basically anything that moved and had an engine in it! We decided it would be fun to decorate their bedroom with an auto and airplane theme.

My husband was excited because this was their first "big boy" bedroom. He decided he was willing to put in the time it would take to paint a wall mural. Sounds hard, but it really isn't when you use a paint-by-number wall mural kit. It is a lot of work, expect it to take up a weekend of your time, but it is very easy to do and well worth the effort! You can buy these paint-by-number wall mural kits from Wallnutz.com. They have many different do-it-yourself walll murals to choose from, the one we chose is the "transportation" mural. The outline and carbon paper come with the kit. You just tape it on the wall and trace over the outline. The carbon paper makes a print of the image on the wall. You then follow the paint-by-number instructions to fill in the colors. The paint doesn't come with the kit, but it does tell you what colors to buy.

We painted the mural on two of the walls of our boys' room. It made it look like the "road" was winding from wall to wall and had several cars and a truck driving on the road and a plane flying in the sky. You can paint the other walls a coordinating color, but we just left them a neutral beige color that looked great with the reds, blues, and greens in the wall mural.

To further accessorize the room, we bought a play mat that had roads on it for our boys to play on with their toy cars. We found it at Lowe's.

At Target I purchased some inexpensive artwork to hang on the walls. These pieces are wood, and are approximately 12-inch square. Each square features a different vehicle. One had an airplane on it, one a boat, one a car, and one a dumptruck. They look like they were handpainted and look like we paid a lot more than we did for them! They were a great addition to the room.

One year when we were going camping we stopped at a little store that sold collectibles and found some great byplanes you can hang from the ceiling. My husband immediately fell in love with them and had to have them for our boys' room. One picked out a yellow one, and the other one a red one. They look great hanging in their room. I have seen these antique looking airplanes at other collectible stores, so I think they are not too hard to find.

At Target I found some inexpensive navy blue curtains to finish off the room.

Here is a breakdown of our auto and airplane-themed room:

Transportation mural and paint - $75
Play mat - $20
Curtains and rod - $50
Pictures - $60
Airplanes - $85
Toy organizer - $60

Total: $350

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, gardening, organizing tips, home decorating, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.