Not sure how many others will be interested in this specific topic, but I already have some pictures to go with today’s post so I figured it was a good place to start! I am a new blogger, on top of being a new mom, so I’m still getting my sea legs as far as making this website engaging. But I plan to revisit topics a lot, especially things like what I covered in Session 1: Scheduling which I have a lot to say about. I feel as though content like that will be our most frequent side quests. So maybe this is more like a filler episode.

The Challenge

Anyway, I wanted to show you all how I handled Little Green Dragon’s baby room decorations since it was done to fit my board game/ storybook aesthetic. When I set out to create this space for him, I had 2 goals in mind. 1, I wanted it to be a fun place to spark his imagination. Creative thinking is a huge part of our home, but I believe that’s something that’s better to cultivate than enforce, if that makes sense. So I wanted him to have a space for that right from the beginning, something that gave him just enough ideas that he could run off with all kinds of stories in his mind. And 2, it had to be gender neutral, because I knew I had to finish before we’d find out, haha. That was actually the easy part. I chose a pale green (like the leaves of lorien) to paint the walls and left the kick molding white. Done. Maybe rolled a 17 on that one, and that was all based on the color… there’s a reason I won’t post a close up of my paint job…

The Half-Baked First Plan

My first plan was to paint a forest mural, and I actually bought a projector to show me the trace on the wall and then I was actually going to paint the deer, mountains and bears and everything all by myself. But life has a way of, well… filling up. (And as just admitted, I’m not a good painter, but that felt like a minor detail at the time.) My pregnancy was passing faster than I thought it would, so I had to switch things up. It didn’t help that I was also determined to work full time and remodel the game room before the baby arrived.

The Solution when the Previous Plan Failed

So, that’s when I decided to find a quicker solution on Etsy. I LOVE Etsy, and I fully intend to have a post about being married to a dice gremlin who has discovered Etsy. Another time, another rant. I digress, once my brilliant and very well thought out plan about painting deer on the wall fell apart I was on the hunt for a new theme. I found it in my friend group’s Slack, where each abode has a nickname. Our house is often referred to as The Castle. I think someone posted something like “on my way to the Castle, eta 30 min” and I realized that I wanted to change the theme to something more fantasy inspired, to fit the overall feel of our home and family. Great, now how do I make a fantasy room that’s gender neutral? I don’t know if you’ve ever Googled “fantasy baby room” or “storybook baby room,” but the line between girls’ rooms and boys’ rooms is VERY clear. Like, there are pink unicorns and then there are red dragons and that was about it. But I still didn’t know the gender, and to be honest the holidays were looming so I just couldn’t stand the thought of finishing the room during the Christmas rush. Pink princess plushies and shining armor figures just weren’t really doing it for me.

And then I found these vinyl green dragon wall stickers that I fell so hard for. They look like watercolors, the palate is calming, and the dragons are just soooooooooo cute. (Reminder: my favorite board game is Flamecraft). Plus, I love reading and when I saw this set came with a literal storybook that I could use to make him a reading corner I was sold (and I am so happy to say that at the 1 year mark he officially owns more books than his bookcase can hold! Ah! I’m so proud!!). My only real complaint about these wall stickers is that I tore the first and biggest dragon trying to get him off the paper they came stuck to. Literal Nat 1 on that one (sorry Papa Dragon, I hope your wing is feeling better!!)

Saying Goodnight to the Dragons

The dragons have had one other amazing benefit, and that’s with sleep training. Any parent who’s tried knows how bad sleep training just sucksssssssssss. I’m not kidding. The first night Little Green Dragon started sleep training I failed the save and almost pulled him back out of the crib. My husband, Orin, had to pick me up and haul me out of the room like a wounded teammate. Don’t worry, it’s going much better now. He doesn’t even fuss some nights anymore.

One of the few pieces of advice about sleep training that we’ve managed to actually follow was the rigid bedtime routine. LGD gets to say goodnight to every dragon on his wall before he goes to bed. We even have a cute little rhyme we use!

“Goodnight Fire Dragon,
Thank you for keeping us warm
Goodnight Castle Dragon,
Thank you for keeping us safe in the storm
Goodnight Mama Dragon,
Thank you for watching over us all night
Goodnight Baby Dragons,
Thank you for playing with us in flight!
Goodnight!”

So, yeah, I highly recommend a cute scene of some sort in your nursery. Something unique that your baby can remember as they grow older. I know I’ll never forget those glow-in-the-dark sticky stars on my bedroom ceiling. I was afraid of the dark as a kid, and those stars brought me comfort. I think the Dragon Family does that for LGD now.

Other ideas

So I’m writing this during 2024, the Chinese Year of the Dragon. If you’re thinking about collecting baby room items that fit these fantasy themes, I think now is a great year to do so! Just scanning Amazon I’ve already found a ton of a href=”https://www.amazon.com/s?k=fantasy+baby+room&crid=CWHCS7E29NU&sprefix=fantasy+baby+room%2Caps%2C230&ref=nb_sb_noss_2″>new storybook ideas <. There are onesies with scales, wall decor of big butterflies, shelving units of mushrooms, fairies, whatever you want. And I’m sure you guys are better at googling than me, haha, so you probably won’t have all the issues finding ideas that I did. Don’t discount ebay and Etsy, of course! Or, heck, don’t limit yourself to just the wall decorations, get ‘em plushies and nightlights and just go nuts!

That’s all for today, table toppers. Thank you for reading about baby decorations… Like I said, this topic is important to me, because I wanted my son’s room to inspire him, not just be a place where he hung his proverbial hat. I know someday he’ll repaint it, that decoration isn’t a permanent art, but before he makes it his own I wanted to put my love into it. I wanted this space to feel like a home, a piece of the world no one else would have. That just felt like a good place to start.