We started working on Harry’s new room this summer. We moved all the guest room furniture out, and my brother-in-law, at home from college, painted the room for us.
And then it sat.
We slowly added to it—an antique dresser that we painted, a bookcase, a Pottery Barn Anywhere chair—before finally getting a mattress at IKEA this fall. We’d set a date to move Harry out of his crib and into the bed, and then that weekend would go past us and we’d say, “Maybe next weekend.”
We’d go into his room to read books and get dressed. (I’d moved all his clothes in there so that I could hang baby clothes in the nursery.) But we always ended up putting him in his crib to sleep.
That happened for about 8 weekends in a row, until suddenly it was mid-November, and we knew we had to get him into his new room.
So (unbeknownest to us) three days before his baby sister was born, Harry moved out of his crib and into a twin bed.
The first night he did beautifully. We went through our normal routine (bath, PJs, books, sound machine), but we read the books in his bed instead of in the chair in the nursery. We talked about how he was to stay in his bed till mommy or daddy came to get him, and then we turned off the lights and closed the door.
The second night was just okay, and the third night he roamed his room and played (in the dark!) for hours before finally going to sleep.
I asked around and everyone said to just leave him. He wasn’t crying or scared, he was just awake and trying to read books. (In the dark!) This is what his ped told me at his 2-year visit too: at first their crib is their safe space and then it expands to their room. And it’s okay for him to wind down. (The issue is when they are leaving their room 800 times a night. Which we might run into once he figures out how to turn a doorknob.)
Eventually he fell asleep on the floor, and we transferred him to his bed.
He loves his bed, and his new room. I love it too!
It’s a bit plain for now, and there are no toys in it. (Just stuffed animals and board books.) I look forward to seeing how his room will evolve as he grows.
The view from the door:
That dresser was my grandmother’s. My mom sent it to me in 2010 when we moved into this house, and it was in our bonus room/studio where it stored a lot of my photography props. I’d wanted to paint it since last summer, and I’m actually glad I never got around to it, because I was planning to paint it white. The orange was a risk, but I love how it turned out!
We put the original hardware back on, and I just love it.
Above his dresser is the artwork that was in his nursery—his birth announcement (by MoisiePosies) and the two 10×10 wraps of Eller pictures.
(That’s his closet to the right.)
This fox bin from 3 Sprouts was the inspiration for the whole room. The bin and his Anywhere Chair (Pottery Barn) sit at the foot of his bed. I’m (still) working on a yarn-wrapped letter for this corner, but it’ll be 2013 (at the earliest) before that is finished.
Bookcase: Expedit from IKEA
The bins are also from 3 Sprouts.
The bed was a Craigslist find. My plan is to paint it white, but we ran out of warm weather before I got to it. We just have the mattress on slats (also purchased from IKEA). The duvet + sheets are Pottery Barn, and the pillows we found at Home Goods.
The art on the wall is my favorite part.
Top row (l-r):
Bear print — RiverLuna
Painted canvas — A Harry Price original
Dream catcher — Handmade by my friend Sarah (amazing, right?)
Navajo inspired print — Fancy That Design House
Bottom row (l-r):
Square painting — By AB Chao (circa 2001)
Eagle print — a gift
Map print — Naptime Diaries
All the frames are from Goodwill, and with the exception of the white one, I repainted them.
I love his room, and I hope it will grow with him to boyhood and perhaps beyond. I still can’t believe that both our front bedrooms are now occupied by our kids! God is good.
(And of course right now he is napping on the floor. Toddlers!)
