Elizabeth Smith

Since he could walk, my son has been OBSESSED with garbage trucks. I admittedly cringe at the idea of an overly “themey” room, and especially when garbage trucks of all things are the theme (ha!), but I think we made it work when we moved him from his nursery to his big kid room and big boy bed! I love that the wall color (SW “Iron Ore”) is an unexpected dramatic hue for a child’s room, but mixed with several pops of color and details that are near and dear to my two-and-a-half-year-old’s heart, this space has become one of my favorites in the house!  From newspapers stuffed into his lamp to blowing up a photo of his with “his” neighborhood truck on an engineer’s print, I love how we incorporate his favorite things in here (trash, essentially!), while keeping it stylish! See more at www.lifeinyellow.com!

A January birthday in Iowa of course means celebrating indoors. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t bring the outdoors in. Between painting with pinecones, scooping and dumping ingredients to make our own trail mix, chucking marshmallows into a bear’s mouth, and munching on hot dogs , Camp Crew was a raging success!
Every camper went home with a canteen and a bag of gear ( flashlight, whistle, and adhesive glow stars…so even if they didn’t get to at the party, they can sleep under the stars!) My husband built the A-frame tent and I used the Target bear as a muse to paint a piece of plywood for the marshmallow toss. The afternoon was a perfect way to wear out a clan of two-year-olds!

I didn’t have the luxury of nesting slowly, as we were in a tiny apartment while I was expecting and building this home. We moved in when my son was four weeks old, just in time to transition him to his crib! Without going too “theme-ish” (especially with the name CREW!) I wanted to pull together a look and feel that wasn’t too specific. It began with the sailboat mobile (the one and only item my husband fell pretty hard for!) and the room grew around that. The coordinates above his changing table are the coordinates of the hospital in which he was born, and the small watercolor print was created by a close friend. The wall color is Sherwin Williams “Sea Salt”.
Decorating without the actual space to reference meant there were a couple of surprises. Like it hadn’t clicked for me that when considering wall space and furniture arrangement, his double closet doors weren’t the folding kind — they were full size, swing-open doors. I love that style so much more, but it ate up some space along the south wall! Crew’s nursery was the first room we put together when we moved in and it instantly helped us feel we were settled in our home!