So many times I get asked, “What if Mabrey had been a boy? What would the nursery look like then?” I thought it would be fun to turn my answer into a mood board and share it with you. Here we go. The nursery. Boy edition.

First off, the room’s layout would remain the same. It just works so I wouldn’t mess with it. There are so many items in Mabrey’s nursery that I love and would work well in a baby boy’s room, too. I would definitely keep most of the larger, basic items. The crib, the changing table with baskets & bins, the mirror, the wall shelves, the rocking chair, the trunk under the window, the ceiling light, the rug, the woven shade, the deer head…all that would stay. (For the sake of keeping the mood board simple, I show only a few of these items above but all of them would remain in the room.) The majority of this stuff hails from Ikea. The rocker and woven shade are from Overstock. The trunk was a wedding gift. The rug is from West Elm. The deer head is from White Faux Taxidermy.

I am still head over heels for the wall color. It’s Benjamin Moore dark pewter and I would use it all over again. (That’s saying a lot as I have been known to paint a room three times before I land on the perfect hue.) It’s a deep, moody gray blue with green undertones. It makes the small room feel oh-so-cozy and is conducive to sleeping. And I like sleeping babies – boy or girl. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with boys and pink but I think it would be fun to add red-orange, mustard and green accents against the dark walls along with a lot of white for contrast.

On to the items I would change. The pattern on Mabrey’s curtains is pretty feminine. I would hang these at the window and closet instead. As for the DIY art above the crib, I would probably DIY a gradient wood stain for the same effect but a more masculine look. So it would go from a natural to rich wood tone. But since you guys don’t have this exact empty frame hanging around at your house, I also love the idea of DIYing a big wooden Ohio and painting a small heart or star in the location where my baby boy was born. (The Ohio in the mood board is an ornament but you get the idea.) I would pair all white bedding with a colorful quilt. I really like this vintage kantha. And I would bring in more color and pattern with pillows (here, here, here and here) and scatter them throughout the room in the crib, on the trunk and on the rocker. Two or three green rope baskets (eek! They sold out in between creating the mood board and writing this post but they’re from Target.) would corral toys and sit on the floor below the wall shelves. To bring a little more life to the open shelves, I’d add green boxes and framed nature photography.

All that’s left to add is a bouncing baby boy! Don’t get me wrong, I love my babygirl and her room. But sometimes it’s fun to re-imagine a room for someone else. Or is that just me?

P.S. – A few more shots of M’s room these days…

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I’m on a roll! This is the fourth post in a series I’m devoting to all things closet at my house. {Find the previous posts here, here and here.} Today I’m taking you on a tour of Mabrey’s closet. Of all the bedroom closets, it is by far the smallest.

The closet is located behind the bedroom’s door when open which makes things cumbersome. I removed the closet door and replaced it with a curtain for easier access. I hung a curtain panel from an inexpensive tension rod. The closet curtain matches the panels hanging at the window. They’re from West Elm a few years back.

For consistency, I painted the closet the same color as the rest of the room. The walls in all of our home’s closets are textured or else I would have been tempted to trying something fun like wallpaper. When the curtain is open, the closet feels like a continuation of the nursery and I like the way everything pops against the dark background.

I utilized a freestanding shelving unit to keep items off the floor. The shelving once lived in the craft closet of our previous home. I was happy to be able to reuse it here. Since this is a nursery, I couldn’t justify the installation or cost of a legit closet organization system. This a closet that will evolve over time as needs change so the fact that the shelving unit is easily removable is a plus.

I line up Mabrey’s shoes on the top shelf. This is the only closet in the house that has shoes in it! All other shoes live in a shoe cabinet in the master bedroom, a basket in the mudroom or on a shoe rack in the garage. But Mabrey’s shoes are so little and rarely dirty that it doesn’t hurt to have them taking up residence in her closet. Plus, they’re cute! A side note: all the shoes you see here are hand-me-downs. Love.

I hide items with not-so-pretty packaging in baskets on the next shelf down. I use cloth diapers on Mabrey most of the time but always have disposables on hand for nighttime and outings. The baskets contain a small stock of disposable diapers, swim diapers and wet wipes. There are even disposable training pants in there that were handed down to us from a neighbor.

Below the diaper paraphernalia is the diaper bag and portable changing pad. I don’t tote them around regularly now that Mabrey is a toddler and requires less stuff. The bag works great as her overnight bag and I’ll grab the changing pad if I know we’re headed somewhere with less than stellar bathroom facilities. I keep a laundry basket on the bottom shelf for outgrown items waiting to be donated.

I hang dresses that fit Mabrey on matching hangers next to the shelving unit. The rest of her clothing currently in rotation is stored in bins and baskets within her changing table – an IKEA EXPEDIT. I find it easier to dress her and keep her room tidy by only having the things that fit her readily accessible. Little ones grow so quickly, I can’t see spending money on pricey, child-sized wood hangers. Instead, I have white plastic hangers from Target. $1 for a pack of ten. For the few dresses that have matching leggings or tights, I hang them on the Target hangers but keep the bottoms on the off-the-shelf piggyback hangers.

I store hand-me-downs that are too big in baskets along the top shelf of the closet. They are separated by size. Once they fit, I bring them down to the changing table to go into Mabrey’s regular rotation…and the “too littles” go into the donation basket. It’s a system that works well. No digging through piles of clothing to find something that fits. It also allows me to make a clear and concise shopping list for items Mabrey may be lacking. Thanks to our nieces {we have no nephews!} and generous friends, the list is usually short.

An item I keep in the closet that isn’t much to look at but might come in handy is the conversion kit to remove one side of the crib when / if Mabrey starts climbing in / out of bed. I taped the instructions to the bed rail because I know it will be a race to convert the crib should Mabrey decide to take up bed climbing.

And that’s it! A tiny but tidy closet. A few things before I go:

*This closet series is so effective! Even if you guys are getting nothing from it {I hope that isn’t the case}, I am. I am on a mission to whip all the closets in our house into shape. In fact, I painted the nursery closet and hemmed the curtain just this week. It only took me a year and a half!

*Now I’m itching to paint the other two bedroom closets to match their room’s walls. Since, you know, I repainted the rooms after we moved in.

*The open space under the hanging dresses is reserved for Mabrey’s toy vacuum coming this Christmas. Not a word!

*Little red cowgirl boots are UH-DOORRRRRABLE.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking