St. James parents create an Islanders room for their son
Charlie Campbell of St. James in his new hockey bed, which his parents made for him. Credit: Ashleigh Campbell
Ashleigh and Keith Campbell of St. James already have season tickets to the Islanders, but thanks to their son Charlie's bedroom, they can support the team all year long.
After Charlie learned his new sibling, due Aug. 5, would be taking over his room, his parents told him he could pick a new bed. While the couple had a hand-me-down Thomas the Tank Engine bed from a friend, Charlie had a specific request — a hockey bed.
After Ashleigh searched Google and scrolled through the results, Charlie pointed to a bed that resembled a hockey rink and said, "I want that one," says Ashleigh, lead cost engineer at GE Aviation.
The couple then embarked on a DIY transformation, they say. They bought an IKEA day bed, and Keith, 32, a field engineer for M.C. Dean, painted center, blue and goal lines onto it. Ashleigh, 34, who used to play hockey for SUNY Maritime, reached out to her friends and asked them to go through their garages send them old hockey sticks. She attached them to the long side of the bed. Keith made shelves with leftover hockey sticks — one holds Islanders practice pucks that the family has collected — and found hockey pucks that became knobs for the dresser.
Ashleigh's mother, Sharlene Teitel, a Cold Spring Harbor interior designer, helped with the selection of dark blue paint and found a light fixture that resembles a hockey scoreboard.
The room has received the ultimate compliment from Ashleigh's friends.
"When I posted the photos, they're like, 'I want this room,'" Ashleigh says. "Even my friends who are Rangers fans say this is cool."
Charlie's grandmother helped pick out the light fixture. Credit: Ashleigh Campbell
