I blinked and my baby turned into a toddler. It’s hard to believe it has been three years since we revealed Blake’s Walk in the Park Nursery. I put off transitioning his nursery for as long as I possibly could, but the time has finally come to switch from nursery to big boy room. The moment is bittersweet—it’s the first time we have not had a crib in our home in over seven years. It also closes the baby chapter of our lives (insert tear here).
Since Blake is officially three and has very strong opinions, as any three-year-old does, I knew we would have to collaborate together on this project. Anyone who has a three-year-old knows this is no easy task. We each had our own vision for the room. Blake wanted dinosaurs—only dinosaurs—and I wanted to keep the modern look of the room. From there, “Dinosaur World” was born.
There were so many pieces that I loved in his nursery, so I really didn’t want to change a lot. Luckily, that made the transformation both easy and affordable. We started with the obvious—removing the crib. We replaced it with a loft bed from Charleston-based Maxtrix Kids. I cannot rave about this bed or company enough; their furniture literally grows with your child! Not only does it have a sleek look, but I love the extra fun element it adds to room. How many kids can say they have a slide in their room?
Now keep in mind that Matrix recommends their lofted beds for kids six and up, but our family decided Blake was ready at the lower height setting. Because he is our youngest, I feel like he’s always two steps ahead trying to keep up with the big kids. He is only three, but in his mind, he is seven like his sister. So when Addi got a bunk bed, he insisted he needed one too. We weren’t comfortable with a full blown bunk bed, so we compromised on the loft. He’s an expert climber, and it just felt right.
Because the room is on the small side, selecting the loft gave us the option to add a reading nook to the room, and we moved the ladder to the end of the bed to maximize the space. This is by far Blake and my favorite place to snuggle up for story time. As I said above, Maxtrix Kids’ collections are designed to grow with your child—as Blake gets bigger, we can actually make the bed taller. That way, we can add a desk underneath when we enter the school years.
X Marks the Book Cabby | Flor Tiles Rug
Project Nursery Sights & Sounds Projector
Of course, dinosaur world would not be complete without the perfect dinosaur bedding. The retro reptiles added the perfect amount of roar to the room.
Dino Quilt | Dino Pillows | Dino Sheets
We kept the original library wall but just updated the books. We were also able to keep the iconic Bahama Blue dresser from Newport Cottages to keep that pop of color.
Don’t Forget to Be Awesome | Peace
After many heart to heart discussions with Blake, we settled on a design that fulfilled his love for dinosaurs and still stayed within my design limits. While a little piece of me will always be sad to say goodbye to the baby stage of life, our family couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter and the adventures it will be filled with.
Images by Stacey Michel
Products and/or samples were received but all the opinions are my own.
