I had the idea to make a Lord of the Rings nursery long before I was pregnant. We had been trying to have a baby for about a year, and were in the process of moving to Florida when I had the idea. We had just moved into a small two bedroom apartment, and someone gave us a blanket for the spare room that reminded me of the franchise (I had also only recently read all the books, so it was fresh on my mind).
Not wanting to buy office decor that would just get thrown away once we had to turn that room into a nursery, I decided to design a Lord of the Rings office space. Of course, that didn’t really come together for the small office I shared with my husband in that first apartment…but I hung onto the concept.
The following year, we bought our first home. Since I was STILL not pregnant, I was going to have my very own office this time. And I wanted to decorate it. I took to Etsy, where I found AMAZING Lord of the Rings travel style posters. I knew this was what I wanted, and I started by purchasing just two: Rivendell and The Shire.
Unfortunately, something happened with the artist’s computer, and all the other towns were eventually lost. When I went back to his shop months later to the buy the rest, the style was completely different. I still liked them, though they were much more minimalist in design than the original style.
I ordered everything else I wanted in various sizes, and tried to group them in a way that the art worked well together.
I eventually added to the artwork in my office, accenting what I already had with some local finds. We have two different styles of Middle Earth maps – one I found on Etsy, and another at a local Renaissance Faire. While at a comic book convention, I found a gorgeous print of Sam’s house, and another small print with a quote from the books.
Though our long battle with infertility was incredibly painful, it ended up giving us ample time to add little Lord of the Rings touches to the space. I found a few beautifully illustrated books at an amazing local book store, and we even bought a few small Lego sets when the Hobbit movies were coming out.
Once we knew it was truly becoming a nursery, when we decided to become foster parents, I finally moved my desk and computer out into the kitchen, and we added a crib and changing table. The mobile with mountains, trees, and a dragon was one of the very final touches I added before we accepted the placement of our foster son, and it’s still one of my favorite things in the room.
Of course, the nursery has changed a lot since our foster son left us.
When I found out I was pregnant, I took all the things I learned about having a baby in that space, and I tried to create the best flow possible. I also was relentless in my organization of the space, and I’ll have to share all those details in a separate post soon. I went a little overboard with everything having it’s place.
I’m thrilled with how the room has come together. It’s the perfect gender neutral nursery that compliments the style of the rest of our house, while being whimsical enough for our little Halfling. I wanted the room to feel as magical as this baby is.
Infertility and Adventures 