the sassy shack: let's hear it for the boy

Now that Catcher is about to turn two (his birthday is Friday), I feel that he is outgrowing the nursery and is ready for a more sophisticated dwelling, if you will. Of course I'm not making any dramatic changes while we're trying to sell the house, but I'm constantly coming up with ideas for his "big boy room" (see: all jacked up). Inspired by the chic sports-themed room that Bob and Cortney Novogratz designed for their boys' room (pictured below), I've been looking into ways to incorporate sports that isn't too kitschy or predictable--it's not easy to go that route while steering away from all-star posters or beds in the guise of race cars.

Room design by Sixx Design - photo by Costa Picadas

One steamy afternoon a few weeks ago, my husband and I found ourselves wandering around the mall. While I prattled on about my vision of finding a vintage Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan photograph for Catcher's bedroom, we happened upon--and I couldn't have scripted this any better myself--a silent auction of sports memorabilia. While we browsed through the offerings, which included your typical NASCAR hologram photos and a poster advertising The Color of Money signed by Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, Alex discovered this photograph capturing Michael Jordan's winning shot for the University of North Carolina in the 1982 National Championship game:

Michael Jordan 17 Second Shot; image from cstv.com

The bidding started at $120 and Alex tried his luck by writing down $150. A week later he got the phone call: he had won. Yesterday I saw the same photograph--same size, matted and framed just like ours--selling for $999. I think we did get lucky...

And speaking of lucky, I also got lucky one night when I was playing on the Internet and came across the notNeutral platform bed pictured below on sale (less than half off!). I had been looking into modern beds for that day when it's time to make the switch from crib to bed, and this one was high on my radar. Because the sale ended the next morning, I had to go ahead and purchase the bed, which arrived packaged in three separate boxes that are currently "hidden" strategically throughout our house.