I wanted to share Maisie’s bedroom as Daniel and I are pretty excited and proud of how it came out. Many baby rooms are very pink or very blue based on gender and very baby.

It started when I found an Orange Bird pillow at Disney early on in my pregnancy. Daniel and I knew we wanted to build the room around it. I wasn’t sure how we would do it but we started collecting anything Orange Bird. It was easier to envision it because a lot of the Orange Bird stuff is no longer around nor is it available anymore.

First, why Orange Bird? Orange Bird is significant for Daniel and I because he represents Florida and Disney. Daniel and I are both native Floridians and our daughter would also be a native so we wanted to pay homage to our love for our state, but we also wanted the room to represent our love for Disney, without being all characters or princesses. If you aren’t familiar, Orange Bird was the mascot for the Florida Citrus Growers back in the 1960s & 1970s and then became a mascot for the Sunshine Tree Terrace within Adventureland at Magic Kingdom. Daniel remembers back in the day visiting and interacting with Orange Bird and so he has always held a special place in his heart. Want more on Orange Bird? Click here.

So we had the pillow, next was to find other things we could build the room around. We learned that in Japan, Orange Bird was HUGE. Disney brought the character back and a lot of merchandise. I found a baby Orange Bird stuff animal and purchased that. We also found on eBay a record from in the 1970s that was released with songs from the Sherman brothers. There are a few records on eBay, however so expensive! I was lucky enough to find a decently priced one that I framed as a focal point in the room. A friend found another Orange Bird stuff character at the parks and grabbed it for us (we hadn’t been to the parks after it got too daunting for me to walk around in the heat).

Since we also wanted this room to be very Florida, we hit up some souvenir stores on International Drive to find “very Florida” gifts. We bought an alligator head, shark in a bottle, Florida map plate and Orange Florida paper weight. We hung IKEA shelves to put all these knick knacks on display and added a few other things that are special to us.

All the little things began to come together. But what about the big area behind the crib? Daniel woke up on a Sunday morning and told me he knew what he wanted to do. He gathered up several old Florida posters and even some old Disney posters and had them reprinted. Once we had the posters he used wallpaper paste and we made a huge collage behind the crib. I love how it came out and it really represents our personalities.

Later down the road we were gifted an amazing carved baby Orange Bird from our friend de Tiki. We also received a cool Orange Bird ornament from China, as well as an official Sunshine Tree Terrace poster from the parks. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this room special!

The furniture (dresser, bedside table and toy box) was build by my great grandfather in the 1960s from wood he gather on his land in Tennessee. It has been passed from family member to family member and I am very lucky to have it. It even has a queen bed that we will move into the room when she is big enough. I used and IKEA organizer for the closet and baskets that made it look like orange baskets. And of course, the crib is new! Luckily, we didn’t have to paint the walls and the carpet was fresh.

Daniel and I really love the room and it is our hope that as Maisie gets older she will love it too and keep it forever! Ha.