Hellobee

When Little Stroller moved to his big new bedroom this summer, he enthusiastically requested an orange room with “choo-choo flags.” I planned to reuse as much as possible from his navy & white nursery since I had spent so much time sewing before his arrival, so we decided on a navy, orange & white color scheme. There’s really only one orange fan in this house, so rather than paint the entire room a blinding orange, I decided on an orange ceiling. Judging from his reaction, it was just what he envisioned!

However, the crisp orange ceiling (Benjamin Moore Sweet Orange – not too bright, but not flesh colored) made the walls look a bit dingy and too pale. I hadn’t planned to repaint the walls, especially in the middle of my second trimester, so I just went one shade darker than their previous color from “Seafoam” to “Ocean Air.” Going just one shade darker meant I only had to roll on one coat and still got great coverage using a high quality paint.

Sewing “choo-choo flags,” which is Little S speak for the pennant flags hanging over the lap pool we frequented this summer, proved to be a much bigger project. Little S and I chose about a dozen different navy or orange fabrics from both my fabric stash and online and bought 1/2 yard of each. I made a cardstock triangle template that would maximize the number of flags from each piece of fabric and got to work cutting. And sewing. And turning. Then I made a gazillion miles of bias tape from a couple of yards of navy polka dot fabric from my stash. Then I sewed some more. And over two months later we had choochoo flags long enough to span the entire perimeter of Little S’s orange bedroom. They were the crowning touch, tying everything together. I call them his choo-choo flag crown molding. We love them.

Come check out Little S’s big orange bedroom!

As you walk into Little S’s room his bed, bookshelf and toy cubes line the wall opposite the door. We hung the navy curtains from his nursery on rods we made from electrical conduit. Cheap and easy!

His bookshelf is a hand-me-down from a friend’s grandparents that spent the last five years in our shed and the previous four in a storage unit. It was in really rough shape and ready for donation years ago, but a few coats of white paint were just what the doctor ordered. A sheepskin rug from Mr. Strollers’s grandparents thrown in front makes this a cozy spot for Little S to curl up with whatever book he’s compulsively reading over and over that week.

We transitioned from a crib to a big boy bed several weeks ago when Little S finally said he was ready (I had asked him periodically if he wanted the side off his crib and he’d always said no). He spent a few nights in my parents’ camper with my dad at the beginning of October so I told him that PawPaw said he was ready because he’d done so well sleeping on the big bed next to him.

He absolutely loves his bed and is so good about his new-found big boy responsibility. He only gets up to use the potty then runs right back into bed again until his “green light” goes on at 7am – he just follows the “rules from PawPaw’s camper,” which I totally made up after we got home. Shhh don’t tell. He doesn’t even get up to steal toys from his cubes, knock on wood. The cubes are on the to-paint list, but at this point I think that project will have to wait until spring.

In his nursery, Little Stroller’s rocking chair nook was my favorite part of the room. It is in here too. We still use his rocking chair at least twice a day to read books together. I love that he loves to read with us.

The floating shelf above the rocking chair is a new addition that was a local mom’s network find. Someone was selling five Ikea shelves for $10 a while ago, so I snagged them. Once it was cool enough to paint outside, I lined them up on the porch and rolled on a few coats of white paint. We were going to use all five in baby’s room, but I realized that having one high, out of reach shelf for trinkets from when he was a baby would be perfect for Little Stroller’s room too.

We let Little S decide where to hang all his decorations including his floating shelf and he chose above the chair so he could see his “little things” from his bed.

We hung his alphabet name print from Made by Girl above his dresser and his original elephant artwork painted by my best friend above his bed.

Little Stroller asked for his elephant mobile to hang in the corner by his toys and his “mine baby picture” birth announcement next to his closet. And because I spent to much time knitting it, but never actually had him wear it, I hung his elephant sweater on his closet door from the same elephant hook it hung from in his nursery.

Near his door we hung the coolest owl head carving that Mr. S brought back from Argentina earlier this year. I always ask him to choose souvenirs that are handmade locally; 60 countries later and this tribal artwork is the best he’s ever brought home.

The alphabet tapestry from Bahrain that hung behind Little Stroller’s nursery door is still pretty cool too, of course. Little S chose the same behind the door location in his new room too.

In both kids’ rooms on the wall behind the door Little S and I made a set of seven rainbow boat cleat hooks just like we have in our mudroom. I took out all the cans of spray paint from the mudroom project and Little S chose seven colors for himself and seven for baby. Once the paint dried he arranged them on their hanging boards and then Mr. S hung them at Little S height and mommy height. It’s the perfect spot to hang PJs and clothes that aren’t yet ready for the wash.

Little Stroller absolutely loves his “or-ree room.” As he was getting into bed after we had hung all his artwork he hugged me and said, “thank you my special room, mommy.” Melt my heart.