A Namesake Nursery for Ellis
“We take care of what we have,” is a phrase I often share with my sons.
“We notice what we have, and we take great care of those things.”
I typically say this after a toy has been thrown, or worse yet, dismissed as if it holds no value, when it is objectively quite new. When Sullivan in particular asks me about a new toy, I try to somehow distill the idea of more is not more for the consumption of his five-year-mind. More is not more; more is a dopamine hit, and we will not ever fill this well.
More is, instead, a part of knowing we have enough. It is a factor in the equation of enoughness. We have enough. We have more than enough. And, we take great care of what we have.
This feels sensitive to me as a mother because I struggle with the notion of more, too. Over time, my thirty-five-year-old mind has learned there is one practice that is consistently antithetical to wanting more, more, more. One might call this feeling envy, envy of what others have. And the practice that counters it, every time, is stewardship.
When I catch myself wanting more, or when I feel the pull of comparison or longing, I now know my only response is to take excellent care of what I already have. The efficacy? It works every time. I remember that the well of dopamine-driven desire will never be filled.
Most often, this realization finds me at home.
There will always be a home that feels aspirational, larger in square footage, newer in finishes, ideally located, more refined in design. I could build my dream home this year, and without a consistent practice of stewardship, this would still be true by next year.
Our current home is very us. It is also beautiful, drenched in sunlight any time the clouds are parted. The bedrooms are small, and we have used this as built-in encouragement to be thoughtful and restrained about what we bring inside.
Our home has seen countless iterations, once including a rentable photography studio and a dedicated guest bedroom, to our first nursery in our primary closet, to my desk behind a partition wall and half of our garage as a flexible play area. I am very proud of this. As we have grown our family, we have not pursued bigger, better, and more practical. We have made the absolute best use of what we have. We have taken great care of our home, and of our family, in this way.
When I came pregnant with Ellis, the baby I was always meant to have second, I knew it was going to cost me something very valuable. I might even use the word ‘holy’. Ellis was going to cost me my studio. This is precisely the room that would become his nursery, despite a complete absence of willingness to let it go. In turn, I knew I would arrange my desk elsewhere and take great care of its new home. I would create the warmest, most comforting nursery I could in its place, knowing it would fill an already-holy space, ‘a creative space turned space for what I have created’, if you will.
I envisioned a nursery for Ellis with darker wooden tones, as well as autumnal accents. Ellis is a November baby, and I wanted to mirror this in his second environment, his first being my womb. I drew on browns and caramels, as well as bronze and gold.
As I began to source furniture for his nursery, I found Namesake.
Namesake entered our home during a season of intuitive nesting. Their pieces felt aligned with how I think about my home: ever-evolving, deliberate, and durable. I personally gravitate toward uniformity and chose pieces from their Liberty Collection in Natural Walnut.
I am so very happy with how Ellis’s nursery came to life, in partnership with Namesake. I have shared each piece below, as well as through photos.
Liberty 4-In-1 Convertible Spindle Crib
Liberty 6-Drawer Assembled Dresser
This past week, we were without power for four days due to Winter Storm Fern, and we relocated to a hotel. Our nursery, without a doubt, is the room we missed most. Every parent knows how important the nursery becomes once our children arrive.
This post was created in partnership with Namesake.
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