Thanks to Artollo for sending this whale print for me to review. I wasn’t otherwise compensated for this post, and all opinions are mine.

Abe’s been in his new room for nearly a year now, so I thought it’d be a good time to check back in on the room and talk about how it’s working out and what’s changed in there.

One of the biggest differences between his old nursery (in a curtained off part of our master bedroom) and this one is an overabundance of wall space in the new room. We’ve managed to fill most of it up over the past few months, but there was one big old empty wall right above the rocking chair that’s long needed….something. So when Artollo contacted me about reviewing one of their prints, I took a look at what they had to offer and quickly knew I’d found exactly what said big old empty wall needed. Because, you know, we kind of have a thing for whales in Abe’s nursery.

I ordered the “Ocean” giclee print from the Orange Optimist collection. Because it has not just regular whales, but also a narwhal, and because I love it, and because the colors are perfect for Abe’s room. They have so many fabulous prints there, especially if you’re looking for something for a nursery (though my whales will absolutely be transitioning to a more grown-up part of the house when Abe’s nursery is redone down the line). Just in the whale category, one could also go in a more colorful direction with this watercolor whale or in a more whimsical direction with this “Blue Ocean” poster.

The poster turned up right in the midst of Christmas madness (just a note that, while Artollo shipped quickly from their end, it did take a little while for the poster to make it to me since it was coming from overseas), so it took us awhile to get around to buying a frame and hanging it. The poster itself looks fabulous and is nicely printed on high quality, thick paper. I bought the frame on sale at Michaels, and I really like the way the gray color looks both with the print and with the paint color in Abe’s room. When we were hanging it up, Dave thought it should go higher because Martha the big wooden whale is so high. “I can’t remember why we hung that whale so high,” I said, “but I don’t want the poster any higher.” I really can’t remember why we hung the whale so high. I wish it were lower, but it’s screwed into the wall with anchor screws in two places, so it’s probably not going anywhere any time soon.

Anyway, now Abe’s little reading corner is complete! In fact, I’d go ahead and say I’m now officially happy with how much stuff is on the walls in here now. I’d almost go as far as to say the room is finished except I never say that about rooms, and also there are a few things I want to change/add that I’ll talk about in a minute here. After I show you some pictures of Abe’s new whale-y reading corner:

Okay, so as for other updates? Things really haven’t changed a whole lot in here, honestly. We thought a lot about how to set up this room to be toddler friendly, and we’re mostly happy with our choices. The book ledges are GREAT; I change out the books on there periodically in hopes that something new will catch his eye (because even Goodnight Moon gets old eventually. For me, I mean. Not for Abe), but he loves pulling books off of there and then putting them back when he’s done. He can only reach the first two shelves, but he can see and point to what he wants from the higher up ones.

The toy shelf we built is still working out well, too:

But we are running kind of low on room for books and toys these days, which brings me to the main change I’d like to make in here: closet shelves!

I don’t have a picture of the closet as is because there’s no light in there and also because there’s not much too it right now. But it’s a very small walk in closet that could hold a lot of stuff if someone, say, built a fabulous custom shelving system in there. Right now there’s one rod that’s holding clothes and one shelf with overflow books and shoes on the opposite side. And of course Abe’s potty, as I mentioned the other day. Lately he likes to put on the top hat from Ari’s Halloween costume, close the door, and sit in the dark using the potty. So I’m not sure he wants a custom shelving system. We need to get it in there before he’s old enough to articulate that!

So that’s where we are right now. I wouldn’t mind a cute rug, but mostly things are probably going to stay how they are until Abe’s ready to be out of his crib, at which point we’ll start thinking about a big kid room makeover. Kid rooms are my favorite.

If you’re in the market for a print, and especially if you’re in the market for a whimsical print for a nursery or kid room, take a look at the offerings at Artollo. They’re running a promotion for 20% off watercolor prints this week (and they seem to run promotions like that pretty often, if you aren’t looking for a watercolor print and/or you aren’t reading this the same week I’m writing it).