A Space for Baby

If you're a long time reader of Instagram or Facebook, you will probably know Amelia's nursery like the back of your hand (which may be odd? Pushing past that) Amelia's little space was in need of a change since our little girl decided to grow up, and she needed her own little space that she could crawl around on, do what she pleased with and would grow with her over the coming years.

The Process

Now, you will know me as someone who is frugal, who would rather not spend anything on furniture or decoration but instead use items from around my home to make a space work simply and beautifully. Surprisingly, my initial thought when I was trying to figure out what to do with this small corner was "oh my gosh let's get a TEEPEE!!!!" which I became obsessed with finding (for an hour). I looked everywhere for something that was minimal and had clean lines and finally found one on Target. Before I pressed "Buy" though, I took a step back and asked myself some questions:

1. Did I want to see a Teepee every time I walked in to Amelia's room?
2. Would she really enjoy it that much?
3. Do I want to try and find almost $200.00 in our budget to make this happen?
4. Will it even be able to grow with her in that space as time moves on?
5. Is this an impulse buy? And if so, when was the last time I felt like this?

The answers:

1. I had no desire to see a teepee every time I went in her room. 
2. My daughter doesn't spend more than a couple of minutes at any given time with a toy or object, why would this be any different? 
3. Nope. No I don't want to change our budget to suit this purpose.
4. I really don't think it will. Again my daughter (if she's anything like me or my Husband) will end up doing exactly as she pleases with that space and I don't feel that a teepee will be part of her master plan. If she comes to us at age 7 and says "mom, dad, I would love a teepee in my room" then absolutely let's pull the trigger, but let's make it HER decision.
5. Impulse - The last time I had this kind of impulse was when we first moved into our home and were trying to decide what to do with the basement. "Let's make a massive play room for Amelia!" my Husband and I both cried! Then we took a step back. We don't value toys or all the "stuff" that comes along with them. We want Amelia to have more experiences, use her imagination with less stuff and enjoy all the areas of the house. That feeling was too, an impulse, which we identified and moved past. 

After answering all these questions, both in my head and talking aloud to my beautiful Husband, I reached the conclusion that no, I did not want to buy this teepee.  I did what I should of done in the first place - I got creative. 

Repurposing Decor

I love that everything in our home is interchangeable. Accent pillows and blankets not only work in the living room or bedroom, but also can be repurposed to the incredibly special job of hosting Amelia's first 'hideout'. I borrowed the white fur blanket that had been used in our second guest room, a throw pillow that I was originally using on her nursery rocking chair, and a pillow from our best friend (and her godmother!) and arranged them carefully in this small corner. I added a couple of her favorite books, teddy bear and 'baa-baa' to complete the look I was going for. 

The Reveal

When she first spotted it, Amelia dive bombed onto the soft fur blanket and immediately began re-arranging the pillows to suit her taste. She crawled around her area, lifted the blanket, added additional toys from her toy bin and some extra books. Daily when we go into her room that corner is the first place she wants to go to. She makes sure everything is as it should be, and then proceeds to do a wide crawl around the perimeter of her room, eventually ending up back in that space and play. 

My Conclusions

As I had known before (but clearly needed a reminder from myself), kids grow up fast. So fast, that instead of purchasing costly toys, playhouses or (in my case) teepees is just not something we value. Instead I love being able to provide little areas around our home that Amelia can explore, play and truly make her own. In the future Amelia can choose what she wants to do with this space. She may choose to make it a reading area or maybe she will want it to be a dress up area? (In which case I have tones of ideas for that, which involves an old towel drying rack, some paint and Goodwill so fingers crossed!)

Yours in play,

Lauren