BrittanyMakes

It’s not often you see bloggers post evening or nighttime photos of their homes. We’ve been trained to only post beautiful, bright, naturally lit photos always striving to produce images equivalent to what you see in magazines. But, in every home (especially a blogger’s home), is a well designed space that is loved and used and lives through a normal nighttime routine just like any home should – whether it be cooking dinner in the kitchen, watching your favorite show before bed, or just overall decompressing on the sofa with your iPad, etc. I was really happy to hear about this idea Julia and Kim had about highlighting the home in a different way. These pretty ladies got together and thought ‘hey – let’s highlight these cozy spaces that we use routinely every evening, and share these spaces and our routine with our readers!’ I was totally into this idea, and became instantly grateful they asked me to join in on the party.

My son Zano’s bedtime routine is one of those nighttime rituals I relish. I’m a working mom, I commute at least an hour each direction every day, and most of the time don’t get home from work until 7pm. It pains me not to be able to spend more time during the day with Zano, but I’m comforted that he and I have a routine every night, something special between him and I, something I seriously don’t want him to grow out of!

Of course each evening begins with dinner. Zano eats dinner with us, he eats what we eat and it’s usually no thang. No time for two dinners in this house! After dinner is an immediate bath (unless he’s miraculously kept himself clean), then brushing teeth, then a little bit of play time. I’ve learned it’s easiest for Zano to make the transition to bed time if he thinks it’s his idea, so I ask him questions like “do you want to read this book in bed?” or “which stuffed animal do you want to sleep with tonight?” Things don’t go so well if we say directly “OK time for bed!”.  Zano loves books, and is at the stage where he wants to read them to me. Even though he can’t read yet, it’s the most adorable thing! We end the evening tucking him in bed with his stuffed animals. I curl on the end of his bed with him holding my hand until he falls asleep. Gah! My heart! I fear the day he no longer wants to hold my hand for bed.

We recently transitioned Zano to a big boy bed about 5 weeks ago. He did it on his own, the day I put sheets on the bed was the same night he proclaimed he was going to sleep in the big bed. I didn’t want to question/jinx his enthusiasm, so we went with it and he’s been sleeping in it ever since! One of the great things about graduating him to a bigger bed is the fact we can sit (or fall asleep) next to him. Cuddle time is important to us mamas!

Making a space special for Zano was important for me, since in just a few months he’ll be sharing his room with his little sister. I wanted Zano to feel comfortable in his space, and have ownership in the things that are his. This is his big bed! His nightstand! His book shelf! The overhead light in our room can be too much during bedtime so I wanted to add a light that helps transfer the mood of the room from PLAY to SLEEP. Lucky for us, Rejuvenation offered to help us create the coziest spot in our home even cozier. Even luckier for Zano, he got the light of my dreams!

I had been lusting hard over the new Cypress lights from Rejuvenation, and felt the Cypress Double Swing Arm plug in sconce was perfect in both style and function for Zano’s side of the room. What I like most about this lamp (besides that luscious brass!) is that the switch actually allows you to have either the top, the bottom, or both lamps on at once. We can swing the lamps at any 180-degree position if we need one of the light sources pointed elsewhere. Also, the plugin option offers so much freedom. We’re not sold that this is the final resting place for Zano’s bed, I definitely wanted the freedom to re-position this fixture should we move his bed to another wall. The plug-in option totally gives us that freedom.

Lucky Zano, right?! I keep telling him he has the coolest mom.

Lucky for you, I’m not the only blogger sharing A Night In! Check out more of the coziest evening spaces from my favorite bloggers ever:

• Julia & Chris Marcum, Chris Loves Julia
• Kim & Scott Vargo, Yellow Brick Home
• Dana Miller, House Tweaking
• Gwen Hefner, The Makerista
• Melissa Coleman, The Faux Martha
• Nicole Balch, Making It Lovely