Slideshow: Childhood under construction

When Shari and Sherman Smith II learned they were having a baby boy, Mrs. Smith says it was a given that the child would be christened Sherman Smith III.

“With a second we had to have a third,” she said. “But what makes it unique is that he is the third generation named Sherman on my side of the family as well.”

Just as 14-month-old Sherman carries his dad’s name, his nursery reflects dad’s occupation, hobbies and interests.

Since Sherman Smith owns DreamTech Builders, construction scenes have been handpainted in mini-murals around little Sherman’s nursery.

Above the crib, a house has been framed in. A bulldozer plows its way through a mound of dirt. Beside the changing table, an excavator hauls up a load of dirt in its bucket. Hammers, nails and a monogrammed toolbelt decorate the walls. A large yellow tape measure doubles as Sherman’s growth chart.

“When Sherman gets up in the morning, he points to pictures Lydia has painted and says words that sound like he’s asking, ‘What’s that?’ We talk about the pictures every day,” Mrs. Smith said.

“With him having had this equipment in his room, seeing it every day, when we go to the job site and he sees a bulldozer, he recognizes it and he starts pointing and talking his own little language,” said Mr. Smith with a chuckle. “It’s amazing.”

Ms. Reynolds painted the scenes freehand over 16 to 20 hours. She said the artwork is done in acrylics which makes it easy to clean and easy to paint over when the parents are ready to change the decor.

Encircling the tops of the room’s warm milk chocolate walls is a border of Scripture that Mrs. Smith said she chose to reflect their family’s faith. The black calligraphy border includes verses from I Samuel 1:27 and Isaiah 54-13.

“A lot of people are using verses as borders in nurseries and in kitchens,” Ms. Reynolds said of the decorating trend. “They are picking a verse and illustrating it. People like it because they can insert their names or children’s names into the verse.”

Ms. Reynolds also painted a variety of sports themes around the nursery walls and above doorways that reflect the interests of the baby’s dad and granddads, primarily baseball.

To complement the cherry furnishings in the nursery, Mrs. Smith chose a plaid in shades of tan, brown, black and gold for the tab-top valance, bedskirt and blanket. The darker tones will show less dirt and fewer smudges, which are inevitable in an active little boy’s room, but the cheerful plaid makes this nursery inviting.