Favorite Details in My Son’s Room.

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A few weeks ago, I realized my son’s bedroom was in a sad state. We’d moved in over two years prior and he still had just the basics, cobbled together from leftover furniture from other rooms. I mean, he has everything he needs — more than he needs! — but the room was a hodge-podge and we still didn’t have an arm chair for reading him his bedtime stories. (A vestige from our New York life, when his tiny nursery couldn’t fit one! I used to rock him to sleep on the floor of his room, my back pressed against the slats of his crib.)

Anyway, I decided to focus on slowly upgrading his room, and we still have a ways to go (still would like to buy an improved toy/book storage solution and hang his art), but am sharing today some of my favorite little details.

The biggest improvement was this upholstered arm chair from The Inside, generously gifted by the company. (Pattern: “dusty blue odalisque.”). The team is offering us $50 off purchases of $199+ with code magpie50! My son has been so excited to read in it ever since it arrived, and it’s amazing to have a proper spot to perch when I’m looking after him or keeping him company in his bedroom. It is such a fabulous pattern, and surprisingly easy to mix with other prints/designs. I feel like so often the boyish patterns are stripes, so this ikat-ish one felt interesting and different. The chair is the perfect size for us right now — he sits in my lap or squeezes in next to me. I know he’ll spend hours reading in this on his own as he grows older (just as Emory does in hers).

I styled with this adorable Katie Ridder Beetlecat-print pillow from Lynn Chalk. I’ve always loved the Beetlecat print and would loved to eventually do drapes or even wallpaper in this print, if we can get around to it before my son’s outgrow the pattern! In the meantime, just a taste will do. (Also, a PSA that the pillowcase comes sans pillows, and you can always get inexpensive filler pillows here. Just be sure to order 2″ up from the size of the pillow case. So if you have a pillow case that is 16×16, get an 18×18 fill.)

The little woven lidded basket next to the chair is very, very old Crate & Barrel — you can see how “loved” it’s been. We’ve had it since our newlywed days for various purposes. (At one point, when we were short on space, we used it to stow bottles of liquor — we didn’t want them all displayed prominently on a shelf somewhere instead of our books / photos / etc so came up with this solution.) It’s since been used to stow board games, hats and gloves, and now toys. They still have a similar style here.

On his little side table (very old – from mini’s nursery!, but this one looks next to identical), I have this adorable lamp from Serena and Lily (the lampshade is such a great color), this race car piggy bank, and a little bowl my Uncle whittled him (not exactly sure “whittling” is the proper word for what he did, but he did make this out of wood from his yard!) filled with his favorite (and my least favorite — they just go everywhere!) marbles. And, of course, his Tonie Box. Still one of the best gifts we’ve ever given our children (and ourselves). Hours of screen-free story time.

He has Mr. Magpie’s childhood dresser in his room, too. I’ve written about this dresser elsewhere — I have a love/hate relationship with it. We updated the drawer pulls to these brass ones. Also above: his HomePod, a beloved recent addition. Both of my children sleep with sound machines on (a function of the HomePod), and they also love having music on in their rooms at all times. We further use this as an Intercom when we’re downstairs and what to call him for dinner / check on him! He’s long outgrown the space blocks, but the designs are still cute.

Micro still sleeps in a toddler bed (actually, it’s Serena & Lily’s Nash crib, which converts into both a toddler bed and a full size bed! — or at least the model we have does, but I don’t know that they still sell the convertible style). We’re going to convert it into a full-sized bed when he turns five (which is what we did for mini). I still love the crib sheets from Lewis (seen below) and Serena and Lily for him. I’ve had multiples of these sets since he was a baby and they’re still in great shape! The ticking stripe monogrammed pillow is old Mark and Graham (they no longer carry them — they were such a reasonable buy and I liked the monogram options!), but I also bought this ticking stripe set of sheets for the bunk beds on our top floor, which are similar and a good quality (no monogram though). My MIL made the quilt! It was Mr. Magpie’s as a child.

BTW, I feel like his arrangement of stuffies is such a second child thing. Just a ragtag assortment of inexpensive, drugstore-quality stuffed animals. He does have nicer stuffed animals, but he loves to sleep with this pile nestled in his arms.

Around his room: countless collections of little animals, little figurines, little cars, little everything. It can be a total nightmare to clean up (and a hazard for feet), but he does love them. Rug is Erin Gates; chair is Kartell.

I was going to tidy up his little “train table” (truly one of the best buys we’ve made for our children — it has a lip to keep all the Legos / toys on top, and you can buy attachment legs so that it becomes taller as your kids grow), but how perfect is this little snapshot? The mess of Legos, the random Packers pencil (he doesn’t know who the Packers are, but thinks it’s cool), the glow in the dark Vampire teeth, the smudge of marker. This is peak little boy mayhem. At the other corner of the table: his art supply caddies (tall one here), his water bottle, letters from his sister.

More to come! I do want to buy these under-the-table storage bins but in good time. Taking my time on this room! This has been our philosophy throughout our home and it’s serving us well, albeit taking a very long time.

P.S. Writing briefly about our NYC lifestyle above reminded me of this essay from years ago: “My New York apartment judges me.”

P.P.S. My A.M./P.M. skincare routines.

P.P.P.S. A delicious dinner to make.

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