Down Memory Lane - The Pirate Room

When I learned I was pregnant with bebe #2, we realized that we would have to give up our office. Instead of creating a nursery for our new baby, we decided to leave bebe #1's nursery as it was and move him to a new, Big Boy room.

A Big Boy Pirate Room!

Testing some colors on the original pale blue wall:
My husband made the original sketch, then his friend - who is an awesome artist - expanded it and measure the room to transfer the sketch onto the walls.

Everything was penciled in
and then the background color was added.

My husband decided to make a "real" ship side
and sketched the ship details onto a piece of plywood.

On the beach side, the different tones of beige and tan were applied for a sandy effect


Over the light switch, a friendly shape was penciled in
along with detailed ocean waves.

The first layer of coloring onto the ship side
on the bottom you can see the realistic railing made of unfinished wood candlesticks from Michaels. The railing on the other side was painted on the wall.

Can't have a pirate beach without a treasure chest
Here, the first layer of color.

A rope ladder was riggedfor our young scalawag's toys to climb to the crow's nest.

A composite view of the corner where the crib would later go:
Lanterns and chains in each corner complete the look.

Details that peek through the crib railings.
Our big boy loved to trace around the figures with his little fingers.

A smiling dolphin leaps out of the ocean to greet him good morning:
or good night - he loved it.

The finished ship with a muslin sail (sewn by my mom) and crow's nest.
We later filled in the ladder with a bunch of small stuffed animals.

In the distance, a pirate ship approaches . . .
The sails were painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.

The treasure chest, with gold coins and gems
with lots of metallic paint for that golden sparkle.

Our sweet boy in his crib
He LOVED his room and had no problem trading in his nursery for his new pirate's lair.

My husband, his artist friend, and our friend J did a great job in transforming our office into a fabulous room for our son, don't you think?