Ali's outdoor nursery

Today we'll be getting a peek into Ali's nursery.

From Ali: I am mom to a precious baby boy and an ornery yellow lab. I am wife to a patient, small-town kinda guy, and without him, I'd surely be off my rocker. I blog about the not-so-sunny side of motherhood because it is cheap therapy. And I pray A LOT, because without the big man upstairs, I'd still be in bed.

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Even though we could not believe that we were pregnant (we were actually trying not to get pregnant), we both knew instantly that we were having a boy. Before ever having an ultrasound, I purchased little boy clothes, and months before his arrival, we had agreed on our son’s name.
And at 15 weeks gestation, we learned that, indeed, we were having a boy (we had a 4D ultrasound at 15 weeks).

Surprise or not, we were elated about this baby. I started dreaming up the nursery immediately (heck, I already had clothes and a name), and I determined that I wanted a room that could grow with my son.

Because my husband is an outdoorsman, and because I think that the outdoors are even cuter when you bring ‘em indoors (popping a tent in the middle of my cozy living room only steps away from running water is far more appealing than setting up camp in the middle of nowhere among bugs and hungry critters), we settled on a camping theme. And because I’m, well, cheap, I was determined to make my son’s nursery as cost-efficient as possible.

For starters, we decided against a changing table; rather we topped an old dresser with a changing pad and storage basket. Above the “table” we hung pictures of immediate family members creating a space to highlight those individuals who play a special role in our son’s life. Additionally, we received my mother-in-law’s rocking chair (the same one she had when her children were babies) and dressed it with a pillow and blanket from the mother store Target.


We have an ongoing debate in our house. My husband is a hunter, a very proud hunter. Proud hunters like to kill and display. I don’t like killing, and I especially don’t like displaying killed things. But when I saw this stuffed deer head, I thought, “now that’s a compromise.” And sure enough, my husband loved it! Though my son has never killed anything (and I hope he never does), his room proudly displays a much kinder version of what my husband only dreams of dressing our mantle with. Dream on, honey.


Underneath the stuffed dear head is one of my most favorite shower gifts. Someone so wonderfully created my son’s name “scrapbook style” and framed it. I love this gift, and I highly suggest creating something like this for a friend if you know the name of their unborn child.


Our curtains were handmade by my better-than-Martha mother-in-law, and the crib blanket was a gift from my ‘rents (it is actually a comforter). Don’t freak out, I would never cover my baby with it. It’s removed from his crib when he’s in it, but it will be something he can use into his boyhood. And the clock. I love the clock. The ticker is a hanging fish – how cute! It’s another great piece that will grow with our boy.


Whadya think of the wall art? Cheapest wall art ever! I bought blank canvas, printed out animal silhouettes, enlarged the silhouettes, traced the silhouettes onto the canvas, and painted away! Aren’t they fun?
Oh, and the rocking horse – it was mine when I was a kid!


This is a minor detail but oh-so-darlin’. I found these bear claw hanging posts at Target (did I mention, “I heart Target?”). Holy cuteness!


And finally, the armoire was an old tv chest turned dresser turned storage for my son’s room. Atop the armoire are five lanterns, two of which I found for dirt-cheap on eBay and three of which I bought for five bucks each at Walmart. Don’t they make you want to roast a marshmallow?


And that is that. We bought a converter crib, so when our boy is old enough, we simply convert the crib to a bed, remove the changing pad from the dresser, and ladies and gentlemen, we’ll have ourselves a little boy’s room! Voila.

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Thanks for sharing with us Alison, I'm definitely impressed with how well the entire theme plays out throughout the room! So Cute! And don't forget to swing by her place and say hello.

For now, we'll be taking a 2 week break from this series over the holidays, but if you would like to be featured when we come back, just drop me an e-mail to

donielle (at) raisingpeanuts.com

(and remember, this is open to everyone, even non-bloggers. And I'd love to see what some of you are doing who either don't have room for a nursery or even co-sleep!)