Sawyer & Aspen's Nest

The finishing touches have finally been made, and after over a year of working on it, the nest for my little birds is complete.

Here's a little tour:

thoughts on the process:

Just because I have a boy and a girl, didn't mean I wanted to get stuck decorating their room with yellow and green (aren't most of the "unisex" things you find those colors? ugh!) SO. I opted for a pale yellow, gold, gray, and then splash of ballet pink and robin's egg blue. This room is our happy place - it gets the best light in the house, and I love how calming it is to hang out with my two little kidlets in their little nest (we gave them the Master bedroom since we spend way more time playing in their room than in ours).

I sold a few items we didn't need/use anymore on Craigslist and used the money to splurge on a couple of things (dwell crib sheet for Aspen, knock-off Eames rocker, and the ultra cool Roadster car,new bookshelf, and a fresh coat of ceiling paint).

UPDATE SEPT 2011: by request, I am including the paint colors - the room itself is "Lily" by Sherwin Williams. The play kitchen is "Robin's Egg" by Benjamin Moore. ;)

A few special pieces in the room were made by family friends - the Modern English Alphabet print was designed and then color-customized to my color palette by our insanely talented friend, Jeanie Nelson, of The Papernut on Etsy. (You should really check out her shop! and her letter-pressed wedding announcements!)

The retro play kitchen...well...this one is a treasure. A serious treasure. It will be an heirloom, for sure, in our family. I did some work for some wonderful family friends - The Flanders Family (they really are just like family) and in return, they built this for us. I had been gathering and collecting the supplies for months (tracking down mini bar faucet on ebay, splurging my birthday gift cert. for the anthro knobs, picking out the perfect color, etc.) but about two days before Jacob and I were going to rent the equipment to try our hand at wood-working, we came up with the trade arrangement and it could've have been better timing! I was getting really nervous about the prospect of me and Jacob with nailguns in our hands. So, I did their family photos while in Oregon in July, and then Dan built it - he even designed the refrigerator from scratch and from a picture in my mind I had, and did it just perfect! Lori painted it. My mom delivered it a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend I spent an HOUR in the fabric store picking out the perfect fabric for the sink skirt and then I stayed up REALLY late one night last week sewing away at the sink skirt and little tea towel. I never had a play kitchen growing up, so I have to admit, this is just as much for me as it is for the kids. I am SO in love with it! It is just perfect! I can never thank the Flanders enough for this special treasure. I spent many many hours babysitting their children as they grew, so it is extra special that they made this for my own children. (thanks you two!)

I had thought about printing an image of each of my children, or one of them together, on a large, gallery-wrapped canvas, but then decided against it. You would think, for someone who takes lots of photos, I would have more on the wall. But I actually think it's a little strange to have big pictures of yourself hanging by your bed. I don't want to encourage narcissism or anything. I wanted to keep things simple. So I printed just their silhouettes and a little reminder of who's children I am really raising nearby (I am a Child of God). I did a 5x7 more recent one of each of them, just to have a print on the wall, with a little reminder for them (Love one Another.)

This is their room, and also the room we spend lots of time playing in. My goal was clean lines, contemporary, minimal, yet with personal touches. Not only did I do a lot of it myself, or have a few pieces from special family friends (my sister Jamie made the ceramic piggy bank and the crocheted teddy bear on the shelf) but there are a couple of pieces from my childhood there, too. Most of the little golden books are mine (well, my twin sisters, too, but she doesn't mind...) and the vintage golden book encyclopedias were my Grandmothers that she gave to me when I had Sawyer (funny enough, he has loved reading through those encyclopedias - as un-"PC" as they are, since he was a year old! He seriously has them memorized.)

I made: Sawyer's toddler bedding & bird pillow, the bird mobile and prints, painted the birdhouses, the fabric poms above Aspen's crib, her blankie, the silhouettes, and then I pulled a bunch of "wishes" that I have for my children together from other sources and designed the print that hangs adjacent to the rocking chair(last photo). I tried really hard not to over-do the birds. I wanted it to be part of the room, but birds are a bit trendy right now and I tried to use them more as a soft touch to the room rather than the primary "theme". If there is a "theme" I wanted it to be "come, relax, be yourself, and play here with us. Feel free to dream and let your imagination run for a while, or just sit and read with us. Or sleep for a bit and dream sweetly." I wanted them to feel surrounded by "things" that were carefully placed, carefully thought of, and made with love.

Which, it was.

I had fun doing all the little things that made this room complete, but what really makes it complete, are the two little people sharing it. Oh, how I love my Sawyer and my Aspen!