The Nest

A long-awaited post...

When we found out we were having a boy we began planning his nest. We decided on gray for the walls and ceiling (ceiling being one shade darker), dark furniture and the theme: World War II airplanes.

The last element was based on a favorite past time of Austin's. From a very young age he could identify most planes from this genre, whether he found them in books or saw them in the sky at air shows. As he got older and his dexterity improved Austin and his father would purchase model airplane kits to paint and assemble.

We actually found a few of the their finished products in storage recently and thought we would include them in the decor. Austin suspended them from the ceiling here...

The plane you see sitting on top of the hutch is actually a model of the plane my grandfather rode in during WWII. He was the gunner in the ball at the base of the plane. A big thanks to Jon and Joy for the very meaningful gift.

To add a special touch to the room, Austin decided he wanted to give our little guy a gift. He spent his spare time during the Christmas holiday painting and assembling a Dauntless Dive Bomber to place on the shelf. He did a great job and it was super-fun to watch him complete it, piece by piece, with love (and yes, he hand painted ALL the pieces, including the little guys in and around the plane.)

We found some art work on Etsy, really cool graphic prints by a guy in California. So we purchased and framed three different images of WWII planes and hung them above the crib.

The bedding was an adventure. My dear friend, Callie, helped me hunt down the perfect fabric - and then she sewed the bumper and bedskirt for us!! Very talented and definitely made with love. She also surprised us with the fabulous pillow, too!

We included some lego friends of Austin's (another favorite past-time as a child!):

Sweet books and friends from family...

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the glider. This one has a story. The original glider we ordered was supposed to be red but upon arrival we found the color was the most awful shade of red you've ever seen. Something closer to orange. Needless to say I couldn't stand to look at it. We returned it for a small loss and found this FABULOUS glider at a small boutique in Richardson, where the lovely store owner was willing to sell us the floor model. And we were so grateful too as this meant we didn't have to order one and wait six to eight weeks!

Austin and I really enjoyed the process of pulling the room together and are super happy with how it turned out. Here are just a couple of other shots...enjoy!