Kid-designed and Mama-built= one part tacky + nine parts love

by Audrey
(Olympia, WA)

When my son turned four years old, he decided that he wanted to have a space in our main house for all of his special things. As we have a family bedroom (and bed), and a new brother was on the way, things were getting a little crowded. We talked with Orin about what he'd like, and built this little room to his specifications. We had a great time designing it with him, and while we wouldn't have ever chosen bright blue as the color theme (myself preferring the more traditional unfinished wood style), we wanted this project to really belong to our son, and we wanted him to be proud of and see the ramifications of his design choices. The walls have changed color a few times, and he's been talking a lot lately about making the far one pink for his 5th birthday party. The artwork on the walls was mostly made by our family or close friends, and Orin chose the ocean theme for the first incarnation of the room.

I have had the fortunate pleasure of working for the past three years in a wonderful fair trade store, which has a waldorf-inspired little sub-store called Gnome's World, and I have tended to devote at least half of my monthly paycheck (much to my husband's dismay) to buying things for my son. We try to stick to high-quality natural toys, and all of Orin's toys are intended to inspire creative and challenging play.

While our playroom doesn't fit into the generic "natural playroom" theme, it suits our family perfectly, and I look forward to its future incarnations with glee.