Harriet and Her Room

This is my little girl, Harriet. She came into the world last week, 2 days before my own birthday. It was the very best day of my life.

One day, she'll drive Sharka.

One day, she'll drive Sharka.

Daughter and Mother

Daughter and Mother

So happy!

So happy!

She is the very best thing I’ve ever done. Or rather, helped to do. Assisted… in a way. A small way. Really, Sarah did all the heavy lifting and fabrication. I just sorta… well, you know.

So, while Sarah was doing the hard work, I built a room. The room design was a collaborative effort between the two of us, but all of the construction was me. And the photos are mine! Me and my trusty F3 had a blast shooting the room over the course of the day as the sun rose and set. All of these shots are on film. Fuji Superia 100.

Come in, won’t you?

Harriet’s Room

The door.

The door.

I cut out the little periodic table sticker with my die cutter. It gives a bit of a taste of the nerdiness lurking inside.

Nursing chair and light.

Nursing chair and light.

Crib and window.

Crib and window

This is Harriet’s Laboratory.

Science, rockets, and dinosaurs roam throughout the walls. Primary colors on all of the soft items and white paint on the wood furniture. The walls are La Fonda Blue from the Valspar National Historic Register line of paints. The woods were all sanded and then finished in Krylon gloss white spray paint.

Science Graffiti

Science Graffiti

Sarah found these vinyl decals on etsy months ago and we sorta designed the room around it. I mean, a dinosaur riding a rocket? Can anything ever be better than that? Instantly, the idea for a science-centric room was formed. Something awesome, yet cute. Something interesting, yet soothing and peaceful.

Something different from the standard sports / princess themes that seemed to be in every catalog and baby store everywhere.

The crib.

The crib.

Harriet's quilt.

Harriet's quilt.

Harriet's blankie.

Harriet's blankie.

The crib is a Graco that came from Amazon, the only piece of furniture in the entire room that was bought new. The quilt was sewn by my mom. The blankie was knitted by Sarah’s mom. Both are just indescribably lovely to hold. Neither have actually yet been used by the little one. She’s still too small to sleep in the crib.

Wall behind the dresser.

Wall behind the dresser.

These baby science prints also came from Etsy. I like them all, but the lower third column is my favorite. Prime numbers! Doesn’t get much more awesome than that.

The dresser (barely visible in this shot, but I’ve gotta talk about it somewhere) is a vintage second hand dresser made of cedar. Honestly, it was in gorgeous shape when I brought it home. It was difficult for me to remove the finish and paint it white. But it had to match! My little girl needed a dresser.

The smiling dinosaur is actually a bank (the money comes out of a hatch in his butt). It originally came without any eyes and looked a bit scary with just the big toothy grin. I hand-cut some eyes, arms, and toenails out of some black vinyl scrap and stuck them on. Instantly, he became cuddly and adorable.

Window

Window

Toy box

Toy box

My mom made the beautiful window shade out of some fabric Sarah had gathered. And the toy box belonged to Sarah as a small child. It’s built incredibly strong and is still in great shape. I took the liberty of painting it white and adding the stars. The big ones are inspired by the SSR Starshark design.

Changing station

Changing station

My buddy Soren (who runs a Spec Miata shop and built my Elise seat brackets) had this advice for me: “Buy or build the most sturdy changing table you possibly can. And keep in mind that she WILL fall off of it someday, so don’t make it too tall.” That advice rang through my head for months while I looked at and tested the various mass market changing tables available. I never found one that suited me. They were either way too wobbly or way too tall.

So I built this. Er, I modified it.

The table is left over from many years ago when Sarah and I were in a tiny apartment. It was our dining room table. It’s a decent size for a changing table, it’s low, and it’s incredibly stable. I’ve stood on it many times. The little side leafs add just the right amount of space to hold extra wipes and diapies. I just nailed on a few 1x2s and added a coat of white paint. It transformed into the most perfect changing table.

Night Mode

A cozy and relaxing place.

A cozy and relaxing place.

This room is as comfortable and relaxing at night as the photo leads you to believe. A warm glow from both the small lamp near the bottom and the big nursing lamp up above (more on that in a minute). It’s a wonderful place to spend late nights with a cranky little newborn. Warm and inviting.

One thing: See the little turtle? That’s a Twilight Turtle. It projects a starscape on the ceiling in 3 different colors. And it is magic. Sarah bought it something like 8 months prior to Harriet’s entering the world and we’ve been enjoying it in our own room all summer. It’s just… extremely pleasant. If anyone out there is having a problem settling down at night and turning off your brain, I’d totally recommend one of these little turtles.

And now onto my favorite part of the whole room.

The nursing light.

The nursing light.

THIS is my favorite thing. It was originally going to be the mobile above Harriet’s crib, but it’s just way too bright for that. And it would suck for her to grab a starship or tear the whole thing down at a later age. But above the chair? Perfect.

It used to be an IKEA LED lamp. My buddy John in Philadelphia sent it to us as a baby gift after I mentioned it to him. I stripped out the LED lights and put in standard Christmas lights. I used about 1/3 of a string. Then I spliced it into the original cord so that it would plug into the wall and the little power switch would still work.

Baby's-eye view.

Baby's-eye view.

The ships are Hallmark Star Trek ornaments. I’ve been collecting them since 1991 and have a whole fleet of the things. And getting to use some of them in my little girl’s room is just… the best thing. Ever.

And… that’s it. A lot of pix of such a small room. I hope you enjoyed it. I sure enjoyed building it.

I promise to blog about Miata stuff again soon.

Honest.

Say "night night," Harriet.

Say "night night," Harriet.

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  • Esther Perez says:

    I thoroughly enjoyed the tour; y’all did a wonderful job all around, especially with the lovely Miss Harriet. many blessings for all of you!

  • Jason Cross says:

    That is so great! Being a dad to a little girl is the greatest thing – you will love it! Every day brings a new adventure and just when you think they can’t possibly be more fun or any cuter, they do it! I’m sure you will be a great dad. Congrats!

    • revlimiter says:

      I am extremely envious of you and your year-plus worth of knowledge and experience. I’d love to talk to my year-from-now self for just 5 minutes for a few tips. But I guess learning is part of the fun.

  • Paul says:

    Congratulations! And the room is amazingly awesomely nerdy. I love it. The periodic table sticker on the door is probably still my favourite detail.

  • bryan says:

    Congrat x6.02^23! Very pretty room perfect for your little princess!

  • OnePaintedMan says:

    Congratulations to you and your wife. Harriet is a beautiful baby.

    Having children is completely life changing in the very best way (my two boys manage to put everything into perspective for me daily). Over the moon for you both!

  • Dave says:

    There’s a whole lot of love in that room!

  • Skeeler says:

    Congratulations on your new arrival. My first child was born 5 months ago, and we are still working on his room. You’ve done a great job there.

  • Ange says:

    Is it wrong that I would like to swap bodies with Harriet for one night of blissfully beautiful sleep in that amazing room? After two kids and a couple of totally un-user friendly rooms, it looks to me like you’ve nailed it.

  • Fengschwing says:

    Dude! You’re making the rest of us look bad! I can’t even put up a shelf, let alone decorate my kids room!
    It’s lovely and you are justified in being proud of it, her and Sarah.
    Well done that man!

    • revlimiter says:

      Don’t mention shelves. Those tiny ones above the changing station were hell to install. The included hardware was the wrong size and the screws stripped immediately. HATED it. They’re now somewhat permanently affixed with an exotic adhesive… heh

      And thanks!!!

  • wilch says:

    Congratulations to you and Sarah (from the other side of the world!)!

    That’s so awesome. Good work my man, good work!

  • David A. Wolf says:

    Mazel Tov on your addition!!!

  • juane says:

    Thoroughly enjoyed, Adam.
    You are a talented guy with a beautiful wife and daughter.

  • Nokuren says:

    Oh my gosh. That’s amazing. That is the best nursery in the history of babies, dude.

  • Steve says:

    Embarrassed to say that I am just now touring Harriet’s room for the first time. Geoff and I were talking over a few beers tonight and he asked if I had seen Harriet’s room yet. I almost fell out of my chair. Why haven’t I checked your site, lately???

    I am in love with what you did. Seriously. I can’t wait for my wife to wake up tomorrow so that I can show it to her.

    Harriet is a lucky little lady to have such fun, creative and motivated parents who take joy in every little detail. Parenthood at large is better because of you.

    • revlimiter says:

      Bah, nothing to be embarrassed about. Glad you liked it!

      As for parenthood at large… I’m unsure about that. I keep waking up and being amazed that I’m allowed to raise such a tiny little angel. Me! I’m just gonna have her helping me in the garage with bad-for-her chemicals at far too young an age…

  • Chris says:

    Congrats on your beautiful baby girl. There’s nothing greater than holding the most precious thing in the world. I’m going to be an uncle soon and I cant wait to see my nephew. After seeing these wonderful pics of the room and Harriet I’m looking forward to becoming a father someday =)

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