One of my favorite parts of anticipating our baby boy (other than feeling those precious little kicks and hiccups) has been planning the nursery. It’s part preppy, part traditional and part geeky, just like us. Primary colors and plaids drove the underlying theme, with superheroes, antique toy trains and real wooden planes adding the true character.
It’s no surprise that we didn’t stray from the classic Pottery Barn Kids pieces for the crib and dresser. It’s not that we didn’t look elsewhere, but PB Kids was having a great deal on this style crib and we loved the simplicity. The dresser will be a great piece for him for years to come by removing the changing table slots. We drooled over the wing-back rocker but as it was about 2 student loan payments brand new, we opted for a used rocker being sold by a friend – perfect timing!
To create the bookshelf look, we purchased 6 floating shelves from Smart Furniture. These were by far the best value and had the lip to the edge to keep the books in place. We purchased them in white but it was a little too stark against our window trim, so we busted out our extra paint to ensure they matched perfectly. The sweet toy box came from the Land of Nods (Crate & Barrel’s children line); we chose the midnight blue bead board.
As for all the books, they were generously given to me from my baby shower guests with warm wishes to us and baby. I love having everyone’s favorite childhood books and we surprisingly received all the classics without many duplicates. I can’t wait to curl up with baby boy and share these classic stories.
Now for the really fun part – the artwork. We got the idea to display various superheroes with custom messages for each, but had a difficult time finding the right pieces and an artist that would incorporate the messages we wanted. Finally, we found a wonderful artist on Etsy out of Hong Kong that made these adorable prints. They do an amazing job and have a variety characters. She was happy to meet our request and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome. For Captain America we added the line “Be Brave,” for Superman – “Think of Others First,” for Hulk – “Be Strong and Smart,” and last but not least Super Woman – “Respect Your Mother.” The colors are so incredibly vivid!
We couldn’t have a boy’s room without a little Star Wars representation and we found this super talented artist in London recreating Star Wars scenes in an old school Winnie-the-Pooh/Christopher Robin style. They are truly unique and a great option to tie in Star Wars in a more childlike way. The print we choose was of baby chewie, titled “Every Adventure Starts With A Single Paw Print.”
We also found this super cute lamp from a local comic book store that adds just the right amount of dim lighting for those late night diaper changes.
Finally, we found this adorable mobile made of real wooden airplanes – which is harder than you would think to find – and the trains are antiques from Brandon’s mother’s childhood. They add just enough of that boy stuff touch to round out this eclectic and comfy nursery.
Now all we need is the safe arrival of baby…only 6 weeks to go!