Ones who does not have Triforce can't go in.

June 18, 2012 3:05 PM

My Son’s Zelda Nursery: "This is what has been keeping me busy for the past 3 months. As soon as I found out we were having a boy I knew I wanted his room to inspire adventure, creativity, and exploration. Having a place to like that to grow up in would be amazing!" [via]

"My awesome friend Wes – who did the Yoshi’s Island nursery for his daughter – made all this possible. I was able to tell him my vision for the room, and he took it out of my brain and put it on the wall… exactly as I imagined it. The amazing art that you see is his, he sketched all of it on the wall freehand! He also did the painting save for base coats, some under layers, and the clouds.

I’ll never be able to properly thank him. In total, we spent over 150 hours on the room over the course of 3 months. It feels good to be finished.

In truth, I wanted to grow up in this room. I will enjoy it as much as my son will, maybe even more. I can’t wait to rock him to sleep, telling him stories of heroes and adventure while looking at these walls.

Soon, little man. Our house and hearts are prepared for you."

posted by Fizz (56 comments total)

Needs more pots.
posted by curious nu at 3:09 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

(Also, that Yoshi's Island one is pretty cool. Hopefully the Zelda will get similarly tricked out as time goes on)
posted by curious nu at 3:11 PM on June 18, 2012

As soon as I found out we were having a boy I knew I wanted his room to inspire adventure, creativity, and exploration.

Is the emphasis here that the kid they were having was a boy (and not a girl), or that they were having a kid, and it happened to be a boy?
posted by andoatnp at 3:14 PM on June 18, 2012 [24 favorites]

I love the idea of this but in reality I am reminded of those ultimate house makeovers where the child (one of sixteen living in poverty) is given the bedroom of his dreams.

"Billy, we heard that you like dinosaurs so we basically made a dinosaur throw-up all over your room."

It's cool for a while but at some point the kid will get tired of it. I guess that's why we have paint though. I do love the artwork and attention to detail.

:)
posted by Fizz at 3:14 PM on June 18, 2012 [5 favorites]

I'm confused. Are you quoting someone? Or did you mean this to go to Projects?
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:15 PM on June 18, 2012

The FPP is a quote from the (via) link.
posted by pemberkins at 3:16 PM on June 18, 2012

Who is this round-faced fellow? My mind momentarily rejected what I saw as Link.

My wife and I plan to educate our son in video game history by playing, from Atari through modern systems. We won't be so draconian that he'll have to beat Mario Bros. before playing Super Mario Bros., but he has to know where it all comes from.

In reality, he'll probably play more current systems first, and we'll sporadically play old games on old systems, or those games emulated on new hardware. Until then, we'll dream 8-bit dreams for him.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:18 PM on June 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

Thanks, pemberkins. Am I the only person who gets confused when people don't use quotation marks for FPPs of other people's first-person narratives? (Note: that isn't a rhetorical question; I have an oddly linear mind, so it may well be just me.)
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:19 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nah, Sidhedevil, I was confused at first too. I'm glad I noticed the via link on my second read-through!
posted by pemberkins at 3:20 PM on June 18, 2012

I hope the kid doesn't have some kind of innate elf phobia.
posted by figurant at 3:21 PM on June 18, 2012

[Added quotes. Really, really good idea to indicate quotation in posts, especially when quoting first-person narrative about authorship of what's linked. Don't undercut your posts by accidentally fooling people into think you're yammerin' for a banhammerin'.]
posted by cortex at 3:22 PM on June 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

I saw this on the front page and thought "Cool -- a Zelda Fitzgerald room! How awesome that these parents want their boy to be into the Jazz Age and Tender is the Night and the Lost Generation!" Then yeah, not so much. I couldn't finish watching the video, such was my disappointment.
posted by tractorfeed at 3:22 PM on June 18, 2012 [5 favorites]

Not to be a complete dick, but is this even appropriate for a newborn? It seems like it's more about the adult's fantasy of what they want their kid's room to look like rather than what's good for the kid.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:24 PM on June 18, 2012 [5 favorites]

Nightmares for sure.
posted by Flood at 3:24 PM on June 18, 2012

What if he prefers Sonic?
posted by cmoj at 3:24 PM on June 18, 2012

What if he prefers Sonic?

There's always adoption.
posted by curious nu at 3:26 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's dangerous to go alone. Take this.
posted by louche mustachio at 3:28 PM on June 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

"What if he prefers Sonic?"

I think they can test for that in utero, but I don't know if it's treatable.

And, no nightmares... I don't believe infants are born with fears of visual things.. a picture of a snarling tiger is no more frightening than a picture of a unicorn.
posted by HuronBob at 3:29 PM on June 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

Cool -- a Zelda Fitzgerald room!

I am now possessed by the idea of a 1/4 scale, red and yellow plastic Playskool cocktail shaker and hip flask.
posted by benito.strauss at 3:36 PM on June 18, 2012 [6 favorites]

We won't be so draconian that he'll have to beat Mario Bros. before playing Super Mario Bros.

Wait, is it even possible to beat the original Mario Bros.? I thought that it was like most other early arcade titles in that it basically went on forever, or at least until you hit the kill screen. That would be draconian indeed.

I'm also imagining the Zelda-nursery kid having fun in his toddler years practicing his spin-attack on all the room's breakables. HEE-YAAAAH!
posted by Strange Interlude at 3:39 PM on June 18, 2012

but is this even appropriate for a newborn?

Pfff, who's asking the little turd? If daddy wants him to be adventurous, by god he'll be the next Indiana. If you're not using your kid to live out your fantasies, why have him at all?
posted by c13 at 3:39 PM on June 18, 2012 [3 favorites]

I will enjoy it as much as my son will, maybe even more.

Maybe.
posted by box at 3:58 PM on June 18, 2012

With apologies for the non-quotations. In the past I've utilized them for good form.

Bows head in supplication.
posted by Fizz at 4:02 PM on June 18, 2012

Yeah, being the proud parent of two children of under the age of four I can attest that this sort of thing, while really cool, is totally lost on the ungrateful little twerps.

Children, I worked ALL DAY on this magnificent wood block castle and the first thing you want to do is smash it to the ground? WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN
posted by Doleful Creature at 4:02 PM on June 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

That's really neat. And Wind Waker Zelda aesthetic is the best Zelda aesthetic.
posted by byanyothername at 4:15 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Who the heck is Zelda Fitzgerald?
posted by koeselitz at 4:21 PM on June 18, 2012

Wind Waker Zelda aesthetic is the best Zelda aesthetic.

...though it may be inviting doom to admit as much on other, more gamer-centric websites, I wholeheartedly agree. I remember playing Wind Waker and feeling like I was in control of the greatest Saturday morning cartoon ever made. No Zelda game since has been able to capture that feeling (though Skyward Sword came close).
posted by Doleful Creature at 4:25 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

A Link to the Past 4-EVER.
posted by flippant at 4:38 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

I came in here to crap on Wind Waker: Pretty. Not fun.
posted by etc. at 4:47 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

When I see stuff like this, my first thought is that, since a baby can't talk or express any sort of taste -- and has no idea what Legend of Zelda even is -- pretty much all the aesthetics of babyhood are more about the parents than anything else.

Also, isn't this just the hipster version of those bourgie moms who do their baby's nursery up with a Winnie The Pooh or Disney Princesses theme as soon as they get the sonogram results? Don't get me wrong, I'm not really that into the hipster hate (I live a 10 minute bike ride from Williamsburg, Brooklyn). But I just don't really get this, as a thing that is interesting.
posted by Sara C. at 4:59 PM on June 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

I don't believe infants are born with fears of visual things.. a picture of a snarling tiger is no more frightening than a picture of a unicorn.

Partly true. A clown in your cradle, on the other hand, is fucking terrifying. Apparently the need to express this is what drove me to learn to talk.

As for comparative Zelda aesthetics, I thought the Ocarina/Twilight Princess look was great, the Wind Waker look was also great, and the blending of the two in Skyward Sword was an utterly hideous abomination.
posted by darksasami at 5:03 PM on June 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

I want the Katamari Damacy couple to have an appropriately themed baby room.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:04 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sara C.: "Also, isn't this just the hipster version of those bourgie moms who do their baby's nursery up with a Winnie The Pooh or Disney Princesses theme as soon as they get the sonogram results? Don't get me wrong, I'm not really that into the hipster hate (I live a 10 minute bike ride from Williamsburg, Brooklyn). But I just don't really get this, as a thing that is interesting."

Before our daughter was born, my wife and I went nuts with the yellow and blue paint and some flowers stenciled high up on the wall. I think, speaking only as an excited first time parent, we tend to get carried away. Plus, I was overruled on the 'Postal 3' theme.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 5:05 PM on June 18, 2012 [3 favorites]

Oh, I get why people decorate nurseries. I mean, A) why do people decorate anything, and B) of course people get excited about their baby and decorate to high heaven.

I just don't understand the Zelda Mural thing, or the YouTube Video of Zelda Mural thing (side note, why is this a video? why didn't they just take pictures?).
posted by Sara C. at 5:18 PM on June 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

I was expecting a series of puzzles with plush blocks and pots, supported by a 10,000-word essay referencing the best in developmental psychology... though I can dig KoRL paintings in any case. This might be a better room for a child that is older and has had occasion to play the games though.
posted by ersatz at 5:30 PM on June 18, 2012

My wife and I are expecting our first. I showed her the video in the hopes of inspiring similar creative directions for the nursery.

Her enthusiasm was, well, less than I anticipated. She said we'll stick with the original plan.

Very nice work though!
posted by purephase at 5:41 PM on June 18, 2012

...so it's just a mural? Meh. Nice character work, though.
posted by smirkette at 6:15 PM on June 18, 2012

I'm pretty sure the looming train would give me nightmares when the room is darkly lit.
posted by Joh at 6:18 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Personally, I hated it for a variety of reasons. But, those reasons are my own and I can't come up with a valid reason to really say what he's doing is wrong (other than "because it's a boy's room"). Windwaker was awful, but like a poster said above, it's really not at all different from painting a baby's room with Disney princesses or whatnot.

It's just an awful lot of green and blue and scary alien looking creatures. Needs more purples, pinks and yellows.

And cowbell.
posted by Malice at 6:25 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

My mother was surprised when I described the Felix the Cat lampshade that was briefly on my diaper-changing table. I was really looking forward to meeting him.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:27 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

As soon as I found out we were having a boy I knew I wanted his room to inspire adventure, creativity, and exploration, and brand loyalty.
posted by Nomyte at 7:04 PM on June 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

It seems like it's specifically designed to instill a pathological fear of drowning.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:07 PM on June 18, 2012

Sir, I salute you, but despite your best efforts the DS Zeldas should not be considered canon.
posted by mhoye at 7:26 PM on June 18, 2012

Should of went with an Alundra themed room instead. /hipster
posted by Godwin Interjection at 7:29 PM on June 18, 2012

Me, I'm a Landstalker man myself.
posted by Nomyte at 7:32 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Having seen a fair few of these attempted and regrettably failed, it's nice to see someone really go for it and take it to such a professional level. Subject matter and personal taste aside, it's a nice piece of work and well composed for the room.

I know they mention it was a matter of months in development, but was there any reference to how many hours it took?
posted by halfbuckaroo at 7:40 PM on June 18, 2012

*Other than that mention of 150 hours over three months in the header, that is. Duh.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 7:42 PM on June 18, 2012

In total, we spent over 150 hours on the room over the course of 3 months.

Wow, you must've done all the side quests and spent tons of time mastering all the mini-games.
posted by straight at 8:19 PM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

If a fucking Nintendo video game represents "adventure, creativity, and exploration" for you, then I feel a bit sorry for you and your child.
posted by Flashman at 9:32 PM on June 18, 2012 [5 favorites]

Newborns can't triforce.
posted by benzenedream at 10:36 PM on June 18, 2012 [5 favorites]

If a fucking Nintendo video game represents "adventure, creativity, and exploration" for you, then I feel a bit sorry for you and your child.

And here I was, feeling a bit sorry for everyone who has never had the pleasure of playing a Zelda.
It takes all sorts I suppose.
posted by Sourisnoire at 1:44 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hatin' on a baby room design is a level of snark I have not previously encountered. I feel like I deserve a new smokestack for my spirit train for surviving this level.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:57 AM on June 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

If a fucking Nintendo video game represents "adventure, creativity, and exploration" for you, then I feel a bit sorry for you and your child.
posted by Flashman

Are you still mad about all the times I defeated you using nothing but my Mega Buster and some skillful dodging?
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:00 AM on June 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Man I was reading this as "My Son Zelda's Nursery" and was like ZELDA IS NOT A BOY'S NAME but then I sort of chided myself for being so heteronormative.
posted by Sokka shot first at 6:22 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Just wait until the internet gets a view of my kid's sweet sweet Silent Hill playroom.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:23 PM on June 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

My 9 yo nephew, looking over my shoulder, asks: Why would a baby want this?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:38 PM on June 19, 2012 [2 favorites]