Where the wild things are

The entire room is inspired by the Maurice Sendak book, “Where the Wild Things Are”. I wanted my son to have a space he can grow with, encourages his imagination, play, adventure, and of course, reading! Nothing encapsulates all those things more than the childhood book that I grew up with, “Where the Wild Things Are”.
My family and friends helped bring my vision to life with my mom making our son’s name, “Mac” above the closet using pages from the book and my Aunt, cutting out the silhouettes of the iconic characters. The mural was done by my very talented friend, Amber Bambler, https://www.amberbambler.com/, which really brought the room together and brought a coziness that one can only find through love and imagination.
My biggest piece of advice is to incorporate use of color, the old with the new, and try to put your own special touches from your childhood into the nursery. Have fun with your design and don’t be afraid to chose bold color choices!

I’m a museum educator who uses children’s books to teach with weekly in the art museum. So when it came time to decorate my own child’s nursery, I couldn’t resist putting a few of my favorites on the walls. My husband, an engineer (we’re the perfect art and science mix), chose a solar system mobile. We had fun tying the rest of the room together with minty walls and pops of gray, white, and gold. Now we’re just waiting on this bump to fully bake for the room to be complete.

I have always loved the book “Where the Wild Things Are” so when I found out I was having a boy I knew I wanted to theme the nursery after one of my favorite books. Once I started planning the room out I knew I did not want to the room to be to theme orientated, I wanted a subtle hint of the book. The first thing I chose was the navy blue crib which inspired the built in book shelves and the rest of the color scheme. I also knew I wanted one wall with wall paper and I thought the birch wood look made the room feels cozy and woodsy which was perfect for my theme! For the last details of the rooms I wanted a pop of color so I chose yellow to brighten up the room a little bit.

My youngest was turning four and I thought, this is it if I want one more party that I get to choose the theme I had better go for it! I really loved the wild things theme but everything I was seeing was staying true to the book colors. There were some great parties that had already been done and I didn’t want it to look like something everyone had already seen so I dreamed up a modern version! I contacted a local artist to do a custom piece, and really loved the way it turned out! The party activity was painting a sail boat just like the one Max sailed in the book. The birthday boy had a great time and was on a sugar high for two days!

Where The Wild Things Are inspired first birthday party.

I have always loved parties based on books, and since Where the Wild Things Are is one of my all-time favorite children’s books, I knew it had to be our theme for Graham’s first birthday. I’ve actually had this theme in mind ever since I was pregnant with him and purchased a print for his nursery that includes a line from the book.
 

I was asked to turn a small white room into an enchanting and magical forest based on the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are.