Sophie´s Room

Sophie´s room was actually the first space my husband and I finished decorating in our new house. We had just moved to Germany in January of this year, and when we saw the size of what would be Sophie´s room, we instantly started thinking of how to decorate. Easily the biggest room in the house, it was made more spectacular with its floor to ceiling windows, allowing an unrestricted view of the garden the old owner had landscaped against a hill. With this good a foundation to work with, my husband and I created a warm, cosy den for our little baby bear.

One of the first things we did that dictated the entire look of the room was to put up really colourful wallpaper, of a lot of woodland birds in every primary shade. We reasoned that aside from being decorative, it would be helpful for Sophie´s development as primary colours are what children see best (next to black and white, however a chess board theme for a baby´s room was not unanimously approved). The branches the birds were on could easily be in one of the many forests Germany has, and the woodsy atmosphere helped add a natural feel. All the furniture we put up were white (except for the crib and sofa bed) and, with a cream carpet, it was sure to make the room as bright and as cheery as possible. Other little touches that we was a red canvas toy chest that kept all of Sophie´s stuffed animals safe, and a small humidifier/night light in the shape of a Smurf´s house. While we did not want an overly cute room, we still wanted a child to feel safe and cuddled, and to feel free to be a child.

I think we achieved this because every time I am in her room I feel like I am being warmed by a ray of sunshine, no matter how gloomy my day is. Even when I am in there cleaning by myself, I feel very hesitant to leave. To do so would mean to leave behind the smell of spring and all its freshness, to stop feeling a light breeze coming through an open window, to stop enjoying the taste of marshmallows in your mouth (for me marshmallows taste like sweet but not too sweet clouds, and I think marshmallows can taste like anything you want them to be). If Sophie´s room could have a soundtrack, it would sound like the background music people hear in spas on a bad day, and a forest full of happy animals and swaying leaves on a good day.

So far Sophie enjoys her room, although it does not stop her from crawling out of the door the minute she sees an opening. Still, I hope she will come to feel that no matter how fast or how far she goes away from it, she will always be able to come back and feel like she had never left.