People often ask me about Penelope's room. Why? Because its not the typical baby/toddler room. They want to see pictures and have lots of questions. Understandably so. Penelope's room is missing two nursery staples, a crib and a changing table. It is not designed for the adult, except my nursing chair.
Shelves/Toys: We bought the the shelves from Furniture in the Raw, a store that specializes in wood furniture. We purchased them 'unfinished' to save money and finished them ourselves. And by ourselves I mean Aaron. Notice everything is at Penelope height. We purchased super cheap wood frames from Michael's and we stained and finished them as well...this time I helped! I also found an art book while I was there and that is where the pictures came from. We rotate the pictures in the frames on a regular (monthly) basis to keep her interest and update her environment. Right now her spring time pictures are of sunflowers and a lady bug on a leaf. We do not buy plastic toys for Penelope. Her toys are all natural materials, with the exception of a few. We also only put a few toys out for her at a time. Just like the pictures in the frames we rotate her toys. Her toys are age appropriate and help her develop her fine motor skills. Right now she is playing with her Jane Goodall stuffed monkey (Aaron and I just saw her speak so we thought it was fitting), giraffe grasping toy, a rainbow ring stacker, two little multicolored blocks, and a drum. The same for books, we rotate them out as well, she only has three in her room at a time. She has two teething toys that we keep on top of her books. One of her shelves has a drawer and we usually keep some sort of soft toy in there. She likes to reach in and grab whatever it is, its very exciting and usually followed by clapping and yelping for joy. We store all her other toys in baskets in her closet, when she gets older and its able to open her closet we will move them to ours. The Montessori environment is beautiful, complete, purposeful and allows for freedom of movement. Meaning all toys have all of their parts, and the toys provided have a purpose. The child is also safe to explore without adult interruption.
To keep her room as simple as possible we opted to not have a changing table. Since day one we have changed her on the floor. We use a simple waterproof pad. I prefer the floor over a changing table, especially now that she is crawling. I cant imagine trying to hold her down for a diaper change and worrying about her falling off a piece of furniture. When she is being restless and we are taking too long for her liking she just crawls away. Which is both hilarious and exhausting because it usually involves a race to grab her before she pees on the carpet.
Table & Chair: This is Penelope's table and chair, known as her work station. We purchased the table from Furniture in the Raw, this time we bought it already stained. The children's table was originally much too tall so we had them chop off the legs to a 14 inch height as to align with her chair. We purchased the slatted chair from Michael Olaf, a site for Montessori supplies and information. There is a mirror hung above her table that I found at a local antique store. On top of her table is a pine needle basket that my Grandmother made with a child sized brush and comb. When she gets a little older this will be where she will sit and comb her hair (as well as art projects), as for right now eating the brush is just too much fun.
Nursing Chair: I use the Poang chair from Ikea as my nursing chair. Nursing chairs are tricky. They have to be very upright and wide enough to fit yourself and baby. And they are damn expensive! We decided on this chair basically out of necessity and cost but it has really ended up being a keeper. It does, however, lean a little too far backward so I just use a pillow on the back to correct the problem. I have used the Brest Friend nursing pillow since day one and I love it. I use it every single time I nurse Penelope, and by the looks of her you can tell that's a lot. Giant baby. I highly recommend it!
Floor Bed: This is usually the conversation piece of Penelope's room. When I was pregnant and we were researching the Montessori environment I found this to be the hardest to get used to. When I pictured a bed on the floor I pictured an impoverished home with dirt floors and a nasty mattress in the corner. You want my baby to sleep where? Oh hell no, you are out of your damn mind! We are used to seeing a crib in a baby room, not a mattress on the floor. But alas as you can see we thankfully don't have dirt floors and her bed is far from dirty. The Montessori thought process behind the floor bed is to allow for freedom of movement. Penelope is completely independent in her room, she can crawl in and out of her bed as she pleases. She doesn't have to rely on us to put her in and take her our of a crib. When she wakes up she simply crawls off her mattress and plays with her toys, calling for us when she needs our attention. Now you may be wondering as I once did about rolling off the mattress. I was really concerned that she would fall off and hurt herself. However the mattress is only a few inches tall. When she first started sleeping in her room at six months, the top half of her body would roll off leaving her fast asleep face-down in the carpet and legs still on the bed. Of course we would go in and rearrange her, laughing first. We now roll up a beach towel and place it under her sheet as a short of blockade. But now that she has control over her body I don't think she necessarily needs it there. When she was an infant we hung a series of Montessori age appropriate mobiles above her bed to introduce different colors, shapes and textures. They were usually made out of different types of paper.
Mirror: Right above her mattress is a mirror. As an infant this helped her develop her movement by allowing her to watch herself. Now she prefers to sit on her bed while clapping and laughing at herself. Simply adorable.
Wall Decals: To add some visual attractiveness to her bed area we added the Woodlands Wall Graphics by Wee Gallery. They are simple wall stickers that were really easy to install. The very first day we brought her home she just stared at them and that continues today. Only now sometimes she feels compelled to lick and have long conversations with them.
We are very proud of the room we have designed just for our Penelope, we truly feel that it is aiding in both her development and independence. Thanks for checking out Penelope's room! If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
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