This baby nursery is off the tracks

June 23, 2009

I have a brand new baby nephew, Julian. I was really surprised several months ago when his mommy sent me pictures of two bedding sets for his nursery that she couldn’t decide between – one had monkeys, the other had a jungle theme.

I would’ve bet money that lil Julian’s nursery would be done to the hilt in trains. His daddy, after all, is an engineer with Norfolk-Southern Railroad, and his paternal great-grandfathers were railroaders as well. His daddy, grandfather and uncle (my husband) have collected model trains all their lives.

I haven’t seen Julian’s nursery yet, but I thought I’d share some train products that his mommy could blend into the nursery, and maybe turn it into a jungle train theme.

The Animal Choo Choo birthday banner is from Oopsy Daisy, Fine Art for Kids. It’s canvas and has grommets in all four corners, and ships with four tacks for easy hanging, $49, 619-640-6649, www.oopsydaisy.com.

The Activity Toy Train from Stephan Baby has a press-and-go action. It has music and life-like sound effects, $28, 800-359-2917, www.stephanbaby.net.

Transportation is a fabric option from DwellStudio. It has a 25-inch vertical repeat and 49-inch horizontal repeat. Shown here as a tailored pleat drapery, www.dwellstudio.com.

Milwaukee Express is a hand-made train set inspired by the retro future stream liners of the 1940s, which originally ran in the Midwest from Chicago to the Twin Cities. Made of oak, birch and pine, $250, 888-830-4121, www.allnewmaterials.com

The Train Lamp from All Kids Lamps is hand-painted and stands 19.5 inches, $80, 804-789-1945, www.allkidslamps.com.

Ring the bell or sound the horn on these three delightful chunky easy-to-handle wooden pieces which each feature their own surprise and then lock together for a pull toy. Terry the Train is from HABA, $50, 800-468-6873, www.oopsydaisy.com.

If you have ideas or requests for themes for "On the Shelf," post a comment or email gerri.hunt@reedbusiness.com.

Posted by Gerri Hunt on June 23, 2009 | Comments (1)

Industries: Decorative Accents

July 1, 2009

In response to: This baby nursery is off the tracks
Bridget Kelly commented:

Hello Gerri, Most families like to believe that the fathers have something to say about the influences mama and papa have- but let's face it- mama's are the ones who make the biggest impression on the child's early years. That said- mama's should be wise, they really don't know just how much the older child can rebel against the familiar. It is so charming that your family has a tradition- you will have to forgive your in-law for wanting her own idea of what to influence her babies early life with- in reality it is her own connection that influences her - funny how we all have our own inspirations based on our own childhoods ad how we think those are so right,,, eventually our children will pick their own direction so it doesn't really matter what we decorate with in the long run!