Making Space

After we found out we were having a boy, I was really excited to create a nursery for Owen. I want to remember what his bedroom looked like, despite the fact that six weeks into his life we have spent approximately two hours in the room!

The inspiration for the nursery came from one of my favorite poems, "Birches" by Robert Frost. I teach this poem every year, and I think I like it a little more each year. I chose three excerpts from the poem that I have always connected to childhood and innocence and all of the good stuff that I associate with being a kid. From there, I found a birch tree stencil and chose the main colors (orange, navy and grey). We got to work on painting the stencil wall, and I printed the lines from the poem to hang on the wall.

Yes, it took as long to paint that wall as you would imagine. 

"I like to think some boy's been swinging them."
"One could do worse than be a swinger of birches."
"Earth's the right place for love. I don't know where it's likely to go better."

Cody and I also wanted to incorporate travel into the room in some way. We have traveled a lot over the past three years as we have tried to get pregnant. One of the reoccurring events in our explorations has always been the hope that one day we could experience new places with our child. We hope that Owen will learn to love and appreciate travelling. We collected all sorts of stuff from our favorite places: Icelandic trolls, a bicycle to represent Amsterdam, and a print of the Golden Gate Bridge. I had other ideas that I simply ran out of time to include.

The last component of the room involved lots of books. I love books. I want Owen to love to read. Kids who read are smart! I know this to be true. My parents always read to my brother and me. I want Owen to remember Cody and I reading him books one day.

In the end, I was really happy with the finished product.