Tangerine Dreaming

Remember how I told you that my sister, Lissa, was having a baby?  Guess what- it's a girl!  And Lissa has decided on incorporating tangerine into the nursery.  An idea I love, and which has had me dreaming in tangerine.

So when I saw Finn's nursery over on Lillie's Blog, I had to share a few peeks.  I think the soothing gray and pops of tangerinne are so fresh. 

Check out the entire room here.

Yellow Stripes

When I saw this picture of a yellow, striped nursery ceiling on ohdeedoh last year, I bookmarked it in my mind.  I hope to do something similar when Baby #2 arrives.  Last night, when I discovered this print on Olive Manna, I had to order it. Won't it be a perfect addition?

I think I will stash it away until the time comes for yellow stripes on the ceiling.

Serena and Lily

There are so many things I love about Serena and Lily. First, their crib bedding. I searched long and hard to find Tate's crib bedding, and absolutely love what we bought from Serena and Lily. In particular, now that we have had it for 9 months, I can attest that it is incredibly durable and incredibly high-quality. It washes up so well. It still looks new. The second thing I love is their Bazaar. Occasionally (and I have seen no rhyme or reason to exactly when, which makes it even more compelling and interesting to me), they sell unique, one-of-a-kind items from around the world. These items are sold first-come, first-serve, and the Bazaar is only open a few days. They have one open right now, in fact. Check it out. But right now there are two things, in particular, that I want from Serena and Lily. First, I have been searching high and low for some kind of toy box to put underneath Tate's pirate ship. I wanted something rustic. My first thought had been a treasure chest, but I felt that would be falling into a theme more than I wanted. So when I stumbled upon these carts, I was ecstatic. They are perfect. Rustic but with a touch of modern with the bright orange castings (which match the other orange accents in Tate's room). Organic and completely functional. And I love the two sizes. Each one is slightly different and each is handmade. Also, happily, they don't have lids. I think most people want lids so that toys are hidden away, but Tate has such gorgeous, old-fashioned wooden cars and trucks, beautiful stuffed animals, hardcover books- all things I would love to be able to see. The second thing I love, however silly, is these (faux) leather animal bookends. So cute.

The hippo is my favorite.

P.S. I am back on Idle Hands today posting one more time as a guest blogger. What do you think about extreme knitting?

Frazier and Wing

I just love these paper mobiles and wall hangings by Frazier & Wing. They make me so happy. I can easily see them hanging in a nursery or a teenager's bedroom (or, for that matter, my bedroom), which makes them perfect for babies. Because as I am learning, the cliche is true- they really do grow up so fast!

Also, I just learned that the artist is collaborating with DwellStudio to make mobiles that match their crib bedding. Genius!

CB2 Hopscotch Rug

I found it! After months of searching, I have finally found the rug I want for Tate's bedroom. It has been a long and harrowing search. A rug is necessary, because the floors are a little squeaky, and I want a soft place for him to sit and play with his toys. I wanted something that matched the feel of the room, and I was immediately drawn to big, fluffy, white ones. But given the 120 lb. black dog, that seemed like a bad idea. So I have been looking for a vacuum-able one that matched the room and made me happy.

And I stumbled across this one, from CB2.

Isn't it great? Normally CB2 is a little too modern for my taste, and as they show this rug, in a living room, I don't love it. But for Tate's kids room? Perfect! I love how the chalk lines are similar to the chalk tree Zach drew on his wall.

Now I just need to count my pennies until we can afford it, and I think we can officially call his room finished.

Sweet Prints

I am loving these prints by Lineaongrata. Aren't they just so sweet? I love the soft, dreamy quality to them. They would look great framed in a kids room or nursery.

Which ones would you buy? I am drawn towards the rain and umbrella ones- perfect for here in Portland.

By Land or By Sea

The nursery is 99% finished! I say 99% because the bookcases we ordered are on back order until July. A number of people have tried to make me feel better about this, namely by stating that 1) I won't be reading to the baby until July anyway, and 2) that the baby won't notice whether the bookcases are there or not. But this does not make me feel better because 1) naive or not, I do believe I will read to the baby before July, I do, I do! and 2) I will notice that the bookcases aren't there (and let's be honest, decorating the nursery is more about the mom and dad than the baby anyway, right?).

But on to the good news, and all the things I love about the nursery. First of all, this blabla mobile just arrived today, and was the perfect finishing touch. I don't think that we could have had a nursery without birds somewhere, given how much Zach loves them. And this mobile is so beautifully made- all hand-knit, and the yarn they use is so soft.
http://www.blablakids.com/
The theme for the nursery is By Land or By Sea. This is the "by land" side. We got much inspiration from the Serena and Lily bedding we ordered, as well as their catalogue. Per their design suggestion, Zach drew the tree with chalk. You can also see the gorgeous zebra wood fronts to the drawers on the crib and changing table.

Zach hung shelves for toys and knick-knacks. Decorative items include a wooden airplane from good friend Kristen, pictures of Mom and Dad (of course!), a rocking horse from Grandma, plants, pots, bath stuff, books and more little fun items (can you tell Zach is a sucker for hedgehogs?). At some point, I think we will add blocks.

The changing table matches the crib, and the changing table top will pop off to turn it into a little boy dresser when the time comes.

And inside the drawers- our cloth diapers, all washed and folded (and adorably named "bummis"), and all sorts of tiny clothes.

And when you look at the wall across from the crib, you see the "by sea" side of the nursery. From his crib, the baby will be able to gaze across at his pirate ship, attached to the wall by a shelf that Zach designed, built, painted, and secured.

Now imagine two of these bookshelves on either side of the pirate ship (in place of the "stroller as art" installation we currently have happening, and behind the little orange reading chair).

www.potterybarnkids.com

The second baby shower we had thrown for us a few weeks ago was a gorgeous "bring-a-book" shower, which was so. lovely. And it felt so me. It was old-fashioned in its design, with cut crystal nut bowls and candy bowls, and cupcakes, and bookplates as favors for all the guests. One of my favorite parts was the quote on the invitation. It was so perfect: "it is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Isn't that a perfect sentiment? Needless to say, the shower stocked our library, so once the bookcases arrive, we can display all our beautiful books and the nursery will be totally complete. But I love how it is coming along. I feel that the design adage of "buy what you love and it will all come together" has really been the case with the little man's room.

Non-Nursery Room Nursery Room Furniture

I love the idea of non-nursery room furniture in the nursery. Things that can grow and adapt as your child grows seems so appealing. While my mom was visiting, we snatched up this piece from Pottery Barn for an incredible bargain. When we saw it, we immediately thought "drawings!". Unlike its original purpose (which was a photo display), it seemed perfect for a little boys room- to hang his drawings, clip leaves he collects out on nature walks, to hold seasonal decorations (I already have visions of the University of Southern California pennant that we can clip to it during college football season). For now, we are using it to display some of the congratulation cards we received when we announced we were pregnant. I think the idea of displaying art in an unusual (and organized) way in a nursery is very appealing. Other ideas- what about a red grosgrain ribbon draped across the wall with wooden clothespins displaying drawings and photographs? Or a row of old-fashioned wooden clipboards hung by nails across the nursery room wall? In other non-nursery nursery ideas, this one comes from Zach. Are you familiar with Tibetan prayer flags, friends? Featuring different prayers, the flags come in a variety of colors, and I love the idea of swagging them across the ceiling of a nursery. Traditionally, the flags are hung outside, and the belief is that the wind carries the prayers through the mountains and down to the people. Such a beautiful perspective. Wouldn't it be nice to have your baby showered with prayers every morning?

Perfectly Impractical

Friends, our first baby is due in just a few months now, and you would think we would be focusing on practical necessities. After all, it is our first baby. People still refer to the baby nursery as the “alcohol room” due to its previous incarnation as the room where we line up all the champagne glasses and beverage buckets at our annual Christmas party. Clearly, transitioning the alcohol room into a nursery is going to require some necessary equipment. Cribs, changing tables, onesies, thermometers… and doesn’t the hospital require a car seat to take the baby home in? To this point, Zach and I have focused on the non-necessities (well, to us they are necessities, but they aren’t very practical). Books, books and more books… the baby’s library is already well-established, from his first sushi book (thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, the baby will recognize maki maki at a very young age) to this year’s Caldecott winner, we have been snapping up books almost every time we go out shopping. But I have to admit that this weekend, I reached the height of impracticality. But it is such perfect impracticality, the kind where you have stumbled across something so wonderful and so perfect that you make a deal with yourself that you will abstain from Starbucks indefinitely just so that you can justify buying it. So what could it be? What nursery room addition could be just that fantastic? Well, here it is…

Like wreckage that we discovered buried deep into the Atlantic, the moment I saw this pirate ship metal sculpture, it just screamed “boy nursery”. And then, when I looked at it again, it screamed “sophisticated 40 year old man’s apartment” and then, when I looked again, it was “cool 14 year old’s bedroom” and suddenly, I realized that this pirate ship accomplished what no boy name we have discussed so far seems able to- to grow with our son through all his stages and ages. The only problem? It was over $800, friends. And with the new sofa and the new carpet and the various house repairs we have been doing in anticipation of the little guy, there really was no justifiable reason to purchase such an unnecessary object. (For, as Zach pointed out when I called him to get his opinion, “Little boys typically like to touch things, not look at sculpture”). But on the other hand, as my mom pointed out, there seems to be such a need as a mom to create a story, a history, for our children. And what better story could there be then “before you were even born, we picked out your first piece of art.” And if I didn’t buy it, I could imagine a day, perhaps in 5 or 6 years, when all of a sudden our son has a surging interest in Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and as he sits reading the story in his room, I would reflect back and kick myself for not having purchased that one-of-a-kind pirate ship. It was that kind of thing. When I knew that future Janelle would regret current Janelle’s practicality if I passed it up.

So thanks to owner Matthew at Cielo (the beautiful little shop in Portland where we found the pirate ship, amongst about $10,000 worth of other things I would have happily purchased), who I think could see me practically split in two as future Janelle (“buy it! buy it!”) and current Janelle (with Zach on her shoulder “There are so many other practical things we need!”) fought with one another, we were able to take the ship home. In what I believe is his understanding that certain one-of-a-kind pieces in his shop just belong to someone, and that this pirate ship belonged to me, Matthew worked with me until we came to a place where I could afford to walk out the door with the ship, feeling good about the purchase and perfectly happy to drive it home and show Zach (who, for the record, also loves it). So there it is, friends. He doesn’t have a stroller, a carseat, or a name. But our son has his first piece of sculpture. And I hope that it does travel with him throughout his journey of life. That when he is little, he dreams about where it came from, and the pirate wars fought upon the high seas. And when he is a teenager, he dreams about where it could take him, far away from home for adventures that will fulfill his most secret dreams. And that when he is a man, he wonders about the artist, the person who crafted such a detailed representation of a ship, and how much passion he must have had for the project. It is our first real gift to you, little man. P.S. We also walked out of Cielo with this adorable orange chair.

Thank you Matthew! It will be the perfect reading chair for our little one to consume all those books we have already bought him!