Welcome To The Jungle!

A little Guns 'N' Roses for you juxtaposed against the sanctuary of Jacob's new room...


Jen and I have been preparing the way for Jacob since June, when the doctor advised us that the IVF cycle was a success. We started looking for different materials, paint samples, and furniture within days of hearing the great news. The first thing that was purchased was a small sonogram picture frame for our first sonogram photo. Gabriel gave us the first gift- by getting a stuffed animal dog for the baby. By July, Jen's parents had already purchased the baby crib. At the time, we did not know whether we were having a boy or girl, so we picked a crib that will look great for a boy or girl.

Since July, we have added a changing table/dresser, chair and ottoman, more clothing that can ever be worn by a child, new carpet, area rug (two different ones), floating shelves, wall decorations, and stuffed animals. And that is simply the start of the process. We decided to go with a jungle-themed room for him. This is a pictorial diary of its progression...


From its humble beginnings, we have developed a fantastic nursery that started with painting the walls. We took a piece of the fabric we chose and matched paint and stripe sizes that corresponded to its design. I created a sample on the focal point wall before completing it just to get an idea of the design:


Although it looked a bit daring, we decided that we would trust our idea for the room and continue forward with the paint scheme. Because I LOVE to paint in solitude, I did not allow much help with painting the room. However, I had a great helper that assisted me stripe the room:


Despite looking wild initially, the wall turned out better than we had imagined. The stripes matched the distances and colors of the fabric perfectly. The remaining walls were painted green to complete the start of our theme.

Initially, we purchased a zebra rug to place in front of the crib, but it was quickly replaced for a giraffe-print rug because of the aesthetic value and to contrast against the new carpet.


We started to add the decorative touches to the room, which started with wall art and finished with floating shelves:


Jen’s grandmother made custom curtains, crib bumper, crib skirt, and even sleeves over the baby mobile. She did amazing work and we are truly blessed to have her help make this the room of our dreams.


The room was coming together quite well, but we still needed to add personal details to the room. We added Jacob’s monogram to the crib bumper and the curtains. The most personal items in the room are a giraffe that my parents placed in my bedroom and a safari carousel that was in Jen’s room when we were babies. It completely ties all of the room together.


Here are some finished photos of the room:


Now, all we are waiting for is the finishing touch- Jacob, which should be arriving shortly. It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun and I hope that Jacob enjoys the fruits of our labor. For in this jungle, our little lion cub will sleep shortly...