I wanted to do a jungle theme in the room and showcase both my photography and the painting skills of my husband Neal. My goal was to decorate with animals and prints that were not too trendy or “babyish” and could transcend the first few years of Logan’s life. The color palette was sage green, chocolate and white with subtle animal prints.

ART
In 2003, I backpacked alone through Central America, South America and Africa. While in Botswana and Tanzania, I took several photos of animals and their babies – elephants, cheetahs, monkeys, lions etc. I used that photography on two of the walls. For the third wall, Neal painted a mural of a tree. Originally, we wanted to do a jungle tree but opted for a birch that would not only match the colors of the room, but be like the tree that sits in our front yard. When we lived in San Francisco, we always enjoyed seeing the famous “wild parrots of Telegraph Hill.” The parrots are native to Ecuador, which is where Neal is from and lived until he was 5. These parrots became part of our history together and we decided to include two that would watch over Logan while in his crib.

ACCENTS
I searched far and wide for the bedding in the crib – a contemporary style in white and chocolate wood from Pottery Barn. I found a website, www.carouseldesigns.com, which allowed me to customize the style. I designed the prints on the bumper to include chocolate minky dot and sage green leopard patterns. I used the brown/green/white stripe fabric for the bows and fitted sheet. I interchange the fitted sheet with a simple leaf design from Carters. I also ordered extra leopard fabric to make accent pillows and line the curtains for the closet, which I pimped out in chocolate brown and white wood using Closet World. The mobile above the changing table rotates African animals made of bamboo that I bought from Giggle. The rug anchors the room in a brown and white zebra stripe from West Elm. I installed recessed lighting and white ceiling fan, both with controls in order to mange the amount of light and air in the room.