A Goodnight Moon Room

Miss Priss is in a book stage.  As a bookworm, I am thrilled.  As the owner of a constantly whirring brain accustomed to processing about four different types of information at once, I am bored out to my gourd.  My dear child wants to be read the same stories over and over.  

To combat the encroaching yawns, my imagination has kicked in, imagining the pattern overload of the bedroom of Goodnight Gorilla in real life or the fantastic pink piano and green armoire of Where's Spot? in my own home.

Like most children before her, Dell Harper has taken a particular shine to Goodnight Moon.  I spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the depiction of a great, green room, reading the soothing words as my mind wanders.  

Wouldn't you love to have that room?  Probably up a set of slightly shabby stairs, in a repurposed garret on the third floor.  Drafty, but cosy with the addition of a crackling fire set in the grate, probably made by the quiet old woman in anticipation of bedtime.  

And, oh!  Your mittens and socks getting crunchy toasty drying by the fire, any remnants of damp and cold to be eradicated by morning time.  Imagine drifting off to sleep to the sound of the fire, the soft purr of sleeping kittens and the twinkle of those bright stars, your room lit by the warm glow of the lights in the enormous toy house.

It's just too cozy for words!  Based on too much reading of books about WW2 era British children, I always wanted a drafty attic nursery- (the dormer windows in our bright, clean playroom above the garage helped me with this illusion for some time, but the Berber carpet and fresh sheet rock undermined my dreams).

So, I would create this room firstly with a great, red bed to envelope my little lassie, like this one from Ethan Allen.  A Jenny Lind bookshelf and stripy curtains from the Land of Nod will provide a little crispness, and mellow with age to the proper patina.

The rocker is from Anthropologie, the pedestal side table from Maine cottage, and the yellow bedside table from One Kings Lane.  Braided rug from Overstock, and zebra rug and lamp from Posh Tots.  Now I know it's a bit inauthentic, but I would paint the room Palladian Blue from Benjamin Moore.  It's the color of Dell Harper's nursery now, and it just the perfect complement to a red bed.

So now y'all know what my brain is doing during multiple daily readings of Goodnight Moon.  My house will soon be redecorated ala Dr. Seuss.