My fiance was absolutely convinced that the little human she was growing was a baby girl, however when she showed up at my office after receiving the results of our harmony test, holding a bag full of blue items, I was absolutely shocked that we had a little boy on the way. With that, she gave me 100% freedom to choose and design our little boy’s nursery, and being someone who spends a great deal of time in the woods, I knew that an outdoor adventure theme was the perfect pairing.

Given that this nursery was put together in the midst of a pandemic, with stores closed everywhere, it pushed the limits of my creativity by both having to shop for items online, looking for used items to refurbish on our local marketplace, and also sourcing some natural materials to make the decor pieces I couldn’t find, such as the handmade snowshoes, the stone inukshuk, the birch feet to make the apple crate side table, and the real piece of a small tree to create the corner accent to hang the lantern.

It’s not the way I typically like to design a room, being able to go into stores, pair and group items together for size, colour, and texture, and to be able to see and feel the perfect pieces, but it was so enjoyable to push the bounds and end up with something truly one of a kind.

I would encourage anyone looking to create the perfect outdoor adventure space to await your little ones arrival, or updating a current nursery, to get creative and don’t be afraid to incorporate natural materials. There’s something very calming about a light colour pallette, and natural materials juxtaposed against the softness of textures like the faux fur rugs.

And don’t forget the sentimental pieces that may not necessarily fit the exact confines of your chosen theme, but it’s really important to us to that these were included in the overall design. The photo of his grandfather who he won’t get to meet, a tin firetruck to represent the 3 generations of firefighters in his family, his big sisters baby footprint on the stone sitting on his shelf, the plaque from his great grandfathers time as a Newfoundland Ranger… They’re small items, that hold a lot of weight in his new little haven and we look forward to telling him why they were so carefully chosen for his room.

Most of all, don’t be afraid to experiment. I had no idea if the rustic natural wood curtain rod would be the right fit for the room, or that some sawn birch would make the ideal feet to turn an apple crate into a side table, but playing is the most fun part of being creative. Use your imagination, and there’s no limit to what you might create!