When Ella was on her way, we needed to convert the guest room to her nursery. We made the decision to keep Taylor in his same room, to try and minimize the crazy amount of changes coming with the arrival of a new babe. But that meant she was getting the bigger room and bigger closet. I worried that I was teeing up a sibling argument right off the bat, so I wanted to find a couple of ways to make special the room change from baby to big boy. Although, now, after knowing Miss E’s personality, we would have been in a world of hurt had we not given her the bigger room and closet. I also wanted to think of a design that would last for several years. Character-themed rooms, no matter how fun, can be risky. Those of you with young kids know that what is their “absolute favorite” can differ from one week to the next (and that applies to food, clothes and superheroes).  You can put together a pretty spectacular Batman room, and have Spiderman become much cooler before the Pottery Barn Kids bill arrives. The shelf lines the perimeter of T’s room.  It’s nice and high (probably about 3 feet from the ceiling – less in some areas, as the ceiling is sloped), which is ideal for keeping out of kids’ reach and therefore keeping organized. The trophies are from Taylor’s grandpa, uncle and mommy (me – just in case that’s not clear). Some big advantages to using these in Taylor’s room:

• Free
• Nostalgic
• My personal favorite: a really fun way to give my husband grief. I have Taylor regularly ask him things like “why don’t you have any trophies, daddy?” or “why was mommy so much better at sports than you?” It’s quite amusing to leverage kids’ innocence when making fun of your partner.

I always assumed that the tennis racquets were my dad’s in his youth. However, looking closely at the handle of this one, let’s hope not. I do know that the glove was my brother’s first.

Pottery Barn Kids bed, side table, frames and lamp

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That golf picture was taken when T was 14 months old. My heart hurts when I stop and think of how fast he moved from little boy to big kid.

The day is coming where I won’t be able to mix cute ducks and mice into the décor.
 

This is a tiny storage area in T’s room that we used as a small closet for housing luggage, extra bedding, and other random items, prior to changing over his room from baby to big boy.  I don’t think Taylor, at that time, ever knew there was anything behind the door (which is also tiny – about 4′ x 4′).  We finished the space with simple beadboard and character decals to make it a fun hiding space/reading nook. One day close to E’s arrival we had him open the door to find what you see above.  Definitely a memory I will never forget.

Reality Check. Except for the shelves (they really do stay organized), Taylor’s room does NOT look like this. Photographs, like having house guests, can do wonders for tidying up a space.