penny's room tour // a montessori toddler room

when we moved into our new place getting penny's room all set up was our first priority. i thought i'd take you on a little tour of how it's looking so far. we decided to keep it pretty similar to her room in our old house so that she would have a feeling of familiarity here. we've updated some things to make it a space that is inviting to her, and while still keeping in mind the montessori philosophies that we think are important. it's still a work in progress, but this is where we're at now...

some things about her space...

we repainted some metal hanging flower baskets and mounted them on her wall, low enough for her to reach, to hold her growing collection of 'lovies' // we also put a small coat rack at her level so that she could be in charge of putting away her own coat // we keep some toys hidden away in her closet and switch them out every so often. 1- it keeps down on the clutter. and 2- it keeps her engaged in her toys without needing to add new ones // we made a small reading nook with books easily accessible // this girl loves her dinosaurs & vintage little people, so they are always in reach as well // we are still successfully using a floor bed, the only change being that she now loves pillows. there were some tough nights due to the move, but things are going smoothly in that department again. we found that having a small lamp that she can turn on and off herself has really helped her feel comfortable in there

if you missed her first room tour you can see it HERE. she was so little!!!

penny's vintage inspired montessori nursery

well, i've been meaning to do this for, oh let's see, a year now, and i've finally gotten around to sharing a peek into penny's nursery. we knew from the get go that we wanted to base her room around the Montessori philosophy, which you can read up on a bit HERE. in a nutshell, the room is set up to encourage interaction and exploration, with everything being completely baby friendly.

her room has changed some since she was an infant. in a Montessori nursery you should try to keep the decor and set up the same for the first year, so now that we're past the one year mark we've added a few more toys and elements for her to engage with that suit her current developmental stage. we also try to stick to the philosophy that if you surround a child with beautifully made toys they'll learn to appreciate such things at an early age. penny's toys are mostly wooden, or like her schleich animals, so gorgeously realistic that you wouldn't care for a single second that they're plastic! nothing she owns lights up or makes noise, unless it's a musical instrument, because the thought is that the type of play involved with those toys is already dictated and doesn't give a child a chance to really use their imagination. we use a Montessori style floor bed and have all the shelving at her level in her room. the idea behind that is that it not only further encourages exploration around her room, but it gives her a sense of value because everything in here is meant for her. when she's in her room she's not a small person living in an adult world. she can get to just about anything she'd like, and not feel frustrated with things out of her reach. the mirror next to the bed is geared more for the infant stages, but she still really enjoys making silly faces at herself! and there ya have it! this is just something that meant a whole lot to us when thinking about how to design her room. it's not the ideal for everyone, but i definitely believe it's worth giving a second (or third) thought to the things that surround our kiddos these days.

a peek at the nursery...

i'll definitely be doing a full nursery tour once we've got penny's room all set up, but i couldn't help but share these few bits of decor we've got up thus far...

lots of vintagey goodness for this little lady!