My husband and I love design and architecture, so when we found out we had a future little engineer on the way, we decided to give him give the perfect construction and design themed nursery.
A Craftsman tool chest has been on my husband's wish list for quite some time. When Greg moved from Arizona to California for our relationship years ago, he had to leave behind his large set of tools. So whenever we walk by a tool chest at a home improvement store, Greg always mentions that I can get him a new one the next time I am in need of a gift for him. Well one day this gave me an idea for the nursery - to give Travis a "Craftsman-inspired" dresser and changing table. And what workbench is not complete without a peg board for your tools (or in this case, your diaper-changing tools)!
Here is the inspiration - a Craftsman 4 Drawer Cabinet:
And here is our dresser version (before and after):
I came up with the idea of the dresser and since I was very pregnant at the time, Greg was in charge of creating it by using our existing Shabby Chic dresser. I will have to do an entire post dedicated to the dresser makeover, but the end result was impeccable. Greg came up with the idea of using metal channels as drawer pulls and we matched the paint as close as we could to the Craftsman red.
I had started on a search for construction themed nursery art and accessories, but I found the options were very limited. I did not want to fill the room with cartoon-like dump trucks. I wanted pieces that had more to do with building and architecture, so I ended up creating a lot of the art myself.
I made the "Travis" sign in Photoshop and had it printed on canvas. The images in the letters are architectural structures from photographs I took on our 2011 Around the World Trip. I also made the colorful construction themed prints, framed them and displayed them vertically. My favorite is the "Stud Finder" that has detected "Travis" if you look closely.
Besides being Travis' nursery, this room is still my office and our guest room. See my earlier post about our murphy-bed desk from when this was just a home-office & guest room, not a nursery AND home-office AND guest room.
I added the navy decal to frame the murphy bed wall and I also hand painted the numbers on the storage boxes. I love the customized Construction Backhoe Throw Pillow I found from Caramel Expressions on Etsy and the rainbow chevron blanket from Kristen's Coverlets, also on Etsy.
I filled the bookshelves with bright objects and construction books and toys. The truck on the top of the shelf is Travis' great-grandfather, Ivan's truck from when he was a little boy in the 1920's.
We loved creating the room, but we love the little guy who now sleeps in it even more. Sleeps in it...did you hear that Travis?
Crib Bedding - Pottery Barn Kids
Recliner - Little Castle Monterrey Recliner in Riviera Charcoal
Rug - Alexa Moroccan Trellis Rug from Overstock.com
Crib - Ikea Gulliver
Chevron storage cubes - Pottery Barn Kids
Backhoe "Travis" Pillow - Caramel Expressions (Etsy)
Chevron Rainbow Blanket - Kristen's Coverlets (Etsy)
"Travis" sign - Vanessa Shaffer Designs
"Craftsman" themed dresser & peg board - Vanessa Shaffer Designs
