Approximately seven years ago I took in my first residential decorating job: a boy’s nursery. Scared to death that the new clients would utter words like “jungle mural” or “baseball bat decal,” I was amazed if they preferred a few colorful nods to the Manhattan skyline (both dad and mom were from NYC, then drifted south to raise a household). Why only a few nods? Well, motifs and references go much farther in kids’ rooms than does smacking them over the head with explosions of firetrucks and tiaras. The perfect example: Charlie Kopp’s nursery.
When mother Alyssa and dad Dan looked at colors for their tot’s digs, equally preferred taupe and orange to more expected combos like brown and blue. The taupe was tame enough to operate with any colour, and the orange was gender-neutral. If Charlie one day receives a sibling, then the distance could be equally fit for a little sister or sister.
To fill out the distance, Alyssa chosen for a plethora of unique textures and a consistent owl motif. Dan certainly had his say in the room’s decoration too; the handy daddy made a few pieces from scratch and worked alongside Alyssa to refurbish an old hand-me-down into a one-of-a-kind table.
Take a peek at the hoot that is Charlie’s owl-tastic nursery. Maybe some of the ideas will make it in your personal Houzz ideabooks. As far as baseball-bat-and-firetruck background is concerned, here is a tip: Just say no.
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First up is the sleepy place which friends and family can’t get enough, especially since daddy created the walnut “Charlie” name plate himself. Alyssa and Dan agreed to go more modern with their crib picked up from Babies R Us as well as their graphic brown/taupe/orange bedding out of Litto Kids. The shrub decal was part of a set from an Etsy seller. There is also a teency weency bird involved, but he migrated to a different area of the area because you’ll see later.
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Meet Charlie, an observant fellow very concerned with the positioning of his books and — because the expression on his face in this picture shows — the internal workings of professional manufacturing light. Mother Alyssa is a TV producer and dad Dan is a I.T. guy. This mix of abilities may explain (a) why he was so good with a camera and (b) his interest in all things technical.
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Once the walls became a neutral background, because of a Sherwin-Williams paint colour called Tony Taupe. Alyssa brought in pumpkin accents with linen drapery panels out of Pottery Barn paired with a utter white/taupe print out of IKEA. The brown corduroy rocker has been a money-saver picked up from Babies R Us.
Personally, my favourite kinds of savers are (a) ones who leave more money in my pocket and (b) Lifesavers, the candies, but just the red ones. I will go out of my way not to do as much as touch these nasty yellow ones — blech. Just in case anyone was wondering what type of savers I like here amidst a decorating article about a small boy’s nursery.
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See that triangular dining table sitting pretty next to the window? Daddy Dan made that. When most dads love sitting on the couch and watching TV shows involving dudes chasing each other with guns and driving fast cars, this dad heads down to his workshop and also whittles first pieces of furniture for his son. Just sayin’.
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Two things I especially enjoy about Charlie’s space are (a) the fact that it promotes children to be kind to others (as suggested by the adorable graphic artwork styled with IKEA’s RIBBA frame) and (b)) that’s plenty of owls.
Why? Well for you, I favor type children to awful ones, and 2, owls are super cool and athletic graphic shapes babies can easily identify. Speaking of identifying things, the white plate as well as the orange box are both from IKEA.
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Not only is this a wooden name plate sporting Charlie’s title, but it’s a wooden name plate wearing his own name that was created by his paternal grandfather. Certainly, The Kopp family must be known for (a) their intense productivity and (b) a fascination with wood.
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Back to the theme that is aviary. Something I particularly enjoy about Alyssa’s decorating abilities is her juxtaposition of organic and handmade things paired together with the mass-produced, made-by-machines-and-computers types.
This pairing of birds is the perfect example. See that little plastic man atop the doorway molding? Although tons of sticker manufacturers carry birds these days, he is an Etsy score.
Oh and this first owl artwork, you wanna know about that? Too bad. I have to go to lunch now. But you can read about it in another caption box anyway.
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TV manufacturer Avelino Pombo generates lifestyle-based string during the day, then paints birds at night. Wait, now that I think of it, owls are not the only motif occurring in this area; there are also traces of TV producers during its DNA. Not only is Alyssa one, so is Avelino so am I. Maybe the three of us should open up an Etsy shop where we sell owls, name plates and authentic furniture, then shoot it all as a reality show.
But I digress. If you adore the Pombo artwork as far as we do, you can research bringing one house yourself here.
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I know what you’re thinking: Decorative blocks in a kids’ space, how revolutionary, right? Well, Dan made them out of scrap lumber that otherwise could have ended up in a landfill. That rather changes the angle just a little bit, wouldn’t you say?
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Back to mass-produced things paired with much more one-of-a-kind ones. The periwinkle/blue elephant is a handmade children’s toy out of Asia awarded to Alyssa by her former co-worker/friend, designer/architect Vern Yip.
Included in Charlie’s collection of books are Alyssa’s old Shel Silverstein classics. If you are unfamiliar with the job of Shel Silverstein, well then I’m sorry. People who do know of his job may be familiar with a single Mrs. McTwitter the Babysitter who might be a little bit mad since she believes the real job duties of a sitter are to literally sit ON the infant.
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Rather than buying a brand new table, Alyssa grabbed a mid-century modern hand-me-down from her family in Tennessee, then she and Dan gave it an update by painting the insets of this door fronts glistening white. The stainless steel hardware and modern furniture legs were also added.
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Not only does the hand-me-down look pretty, but it is packed with storage for everything Charlie could need from baby-changing has to blankets and towels.
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This image is exactly what it is: a picture of a photograph of Charlie framed in a stainless steel frame.
You know the saying, “Never work with kids or animals”? Well, that’s hogwash. This whole shoot focused in an 18-month-old and owls. And guess what? It was a entire blast to write and shoot.
PS: Any idea how difficult it was not to end this ideabook with the phrase “hoot”? Torturous.
Another Pint-Sized Design: Olivia’s Pinkalicious Kid’s Room