Home | Theo's Room

I've been meaning to share photos of Theo's space for some time, but each time I kept telling myself it wasn't right yet (I still really want a felt ball rug, haha). But I know if I wait any longer, I'll never do it, so here are some pictures of his little room - prepare to be overwhelmed with photographs!




Not surprisingly, Theo's room was the first room I set up after we moved in. He spends most of his time in here sleeping and we hang out in the lounge room with him a lot, but I have been meaning to take him in there to play more often. Theo is quite content to explore the contents of the room while I sit with a book or my phone on the couch but it is fun to get down and play too.




The room is quite dark usually and with the blinds lowered is almost completely blacked out which is excellent for helping him to get to sleep during the day. It doesn't make great light for taking photos though, so I apologise for the graininess. One of the books I read when I was pregnant said that a black-out curtain was their number 1 essential item for a baby - it does help!





Just about everything in this room has been bought secondhand. It was important to me to buy most things second hand, firstly because it suits my pocket, secondly because I like the items better than items I see new, and thirdly, if you can get baby items second hand instead of new, why not? The hyper-consumerist nature of baby items makes me cringe - it must be a very lucrative industry (a basic 'nappy bin' - essentially a bucket with a lid - costs $25, but a regular bucket, without a lid costs $1?). When I can remember, I'll try to mention what I paid for each item - I hope this might show that you don't have to spend a lot of money to create a fun, practical space for your child.




One of my favourite parts of the room would have to be the lockers, which I store bedding in. I bought them when I was about 20 weeks pregnant, repainted them and built shelves in them. They were pretty beaten up when I bought them (from a second hand store in my current suburb) - the bottom of them is a bit rusty and I keep them sitting on a rug to make sure they don't hurt the floorboards. They're also missing one side because somebody had replaced the original side with chipboard and then they sat outside at the second hand shop in the rain and of course, it got all water-logged and horrible. I enjoyed ripping off that chipboard very much! I have been meaning to fix the side and attach a piece of painted ply, but I'm not entirely sure how yet. I think I bartered the guy at the shop down to $60 but then had to pay $25 to get them delivered - I have seen them go for a lot more, so I guess I did okay. They're a bit impractical really because the doors don't open easily or without a great deal of noise and they store a relatively small amount. Thankfully this room has a built in wardrobe for practicality - there's a lot of junk in there! The cute cat embroidery hoop is by my friend Ella. The typewriter print is by Lola's Room and was a gift from Allana. The tiny food prints are by Pugly Pixel.




I saw this little purple number and its two matching arm chairs at a second hand store in my suburb and went home and spent several hours trying to justify buying them. Eventually I gave in - they set me back $100 and the guy delivered them for free which was great. One of the armchairs is in our bedroom (for, you know, throwing clothes on) and the other is in my studio nook at uni (for sitting drinking tea and playing on my phone). The gorgeous ice cream truck cushion was a gift from McKean Studio - love those guys! The sweet yellow coat was a gift from Marguerite.




Most of the prints on the walls were thrifted. Theo's favourites are the ones with the cats on them - he shrieks at them loudly. I think I probably paid a max of ten dollars for each print.




I bought the sideboard for $10 and it looked hideous - peeling faux-wood laminate. I primed it and gave it several coats of paint and it came up pretty well. The Dr Seuss themed bunting was a gift from my sister.





Holly gave me this cute hanging dog that she got when we went on our opshopping trip. I made the felt ball garland (remember when I wanted to make a felt ball rug?).




The tiny wooden houses in this photo are from my childhood home. I can remember playing with them when I was very small. The weasel drawing is by Megan McKean and was a gift (Weasel is an affectionate nickname I have for my husband).

I am a little obsessed with Gumtree (if you're not in Australia, it's a bit like Craig's List). I found Theo's cot on it and we picked it up from Hobart. The lady who we bought it from said that it had been in her family for some time and that the eldest person to use it was now in their fifties. She painted it and designed and applied the decals (based on Tasmanian flora). It comes with a change table that we sit on top of the cot which works really well. C's parents paid for the cot and I think it was about $150.



I love anything with tiny compartments. I found this little shelf at an opshop and spray painted it black and then collected tiny animals to go in it. I think I paid a dollar for it and probably a total of $5 on the animals.




A lady I work with gave me her children's huge collection of Dr Seuss books. I am so grateful - they're some of my favourite books and Dr Seuss' first name was Theo!

I am quite interested in aspects of the Montessori education approach and one recommendation is that things be down on the child's level, so that they can access them easily. Theo like to pull the books and toys off his bookshelf and play with them. When he is older might get him a bed that is closer to the ground that he can get in and out of by himself.

Our house has three bedrooms but one we use as an office, so when the time comes that we have another baby, we'll probably have he/she in our room with us for the first few months and then probably have the two children share a room. I hope that while they're small this will work okay, but later (pending that we're still in this house) one of them can use our studio (detached from the house) as a bedroom - I know when I was a teenager I would have loved it.

As he gets older I hope he'll start adding his own touches to his room. I can't wait to start giving him painting and drawing tools - then I'll add some of his artworks. At the moment he just loves to be in there playing with all the things!