Our Baby Nursery

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Today is my due date! We are expecting a baby girl any day now, and so with all the waiting, I thought now would be a good opportunity to document her nursery. I had such a fun time decorating my own baby’s nursery – a dream come true! I’ve said a hundred times that I wish I could focus my business on solely nurseries and powder bathrooms. They’re just so whimsical, and a place where people let loose… and fun is expected. I never have a hard time with whimsy in my own home, though, and this room has been no exception. 

This room used to be our bedroom, but we switched the rooms around when it came time to make room for baby. There are two bedrooms on the back of our house (and one upstairs), and this one is ever-so-slightly more “out of the way” than the other one, so we thought maybe it would be a little bit of a quieter space for her. I used a pretty organic approach when designing this nursery, which is how I like to take most design projects when I can. I feel that I always get a better outcome when I don’t try to control everything from the beginning. This leaves room for surprises along the way… which I had a few of, you’ll read about below!

There was no space to put the crib on the wall that you are facing when you walk in to the room (where I would generally suggest doing something focal, like a crib), so it is on the wall that is behind you when you walk into the room. At first I thought this might feel funny, but now it feels natural. I decided to use this Lulie Wallace “Lulu” paper in the nursery. Since I am not sure how long we will live in this house, I thought an accent wall might be best, instead of papering the whole room. 

The remaining three walls are painted Benjamin Moore’s “Malted Milk.” 

This was when I painted the sample of it (the top one) on the wall to see what I thought. It’s the perfect “’90′s” beigey-pink. Not too bubblegum-baby, but still girly. We like pink, but we like an edge

The light fixture we already had, and actually just moved in to the room when we switched bedrooms. Let me tell you – moving a fan is no joke, and Ryan is a saint, haha. We switched the fan that we had previously installed in our bedroom into the “new” bedroom, and then moved this light fixture (from Amazon) over to the baby room. I also bought one of those medallions that covers any holes in the ceiling (and I like the architectural detail that it adds contrasted to the modern fixture!) and painted it trim white, and we mounted it above the fixture. 

I also already had the brass curtain hardware, and bought the drapes from Anthropologie.  The chair is the Babyletto Kiwi Glider (I’d heard so many rave reviews about it from clients and family that it was a no brainer. Plus, I like the sleek design… and it has a USB charging cord!). The lamp was one of those “surprise” finds that I just happened to find walking around World Market one day! It was on clearance for $80 and I immediately scooped it up (as best as a pregnant woman can scoop up a floor lamp) and put it into my cart. It was missing its shade but I got the big shade seen here at Kudzu Antiques here in Atlanta… they have the best lampshades!

The changing table is from All Modern. I really love it, and it was the perfect size for this space! 

The rug was another surprise…a VERY happy accident from the Final Cut Anthropologie outlet in Augusta. I went with my BFF to the beach for a few days right before quarantine started, and we met up in Augusta to drive together there. I’d always heard about Final Cut, but never been, so decided to swing by on my way back. I had actually already ordered a rug that was a shag like this, but just plain off-white. It was on backorder, and scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks, but when I saw this one, I liked it so much more, and it was only $250 for the 8×10′ size. Ryan and I laid it out as soon as I got home, and we both loved it so much. It’s so fluffy underfoot, and literally makes the room. I canceled the original rug order… it worked out perfectly! I also got the pillow that is on the chair there, and a few other little trinkets around the room. The lucite side table next to the chair I have had for years. I love that it adds more of a modern element, and doesn’t take up visual space. I got the gold pouf from Amazon. 

We made the rainbow yarn wallhanging. I wanted something different for in here … I love the yarn wall hangings you see everywhere, but I wanted something a little unique, so I decided to DIY this one. 

I bought yarn in some funky, vintage-inspired colors from Hobby Lobby. Looking back, I should have bought the yarn that is really thick… it would have helped the process go quite a bit faster! 

I also didn’t need this much… I really only needed less than one spool per color. It’s hard to know!

I was searching for something lightweight to wrap the yarn around to make the rainbow, and found these foam pipe covers at Home Depot. After spending over an hour wrapping the first one by hand in yarn, Ryan came home and came up with a McGyver-inspired solution… he got the drill and drilled one end into one end of the pipe cover and then one of us would press the drill while the other carefully “led” the yarn onto the pipe. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but it worked really well and was a lot faster. Though, I will say, this whole thing was a LOT more involved than I thought it would be, and you won’t catch me making another one! haha.

It was a challenge to cut these down to make the rainbow shape. It made a mess, and there was some recovery work to be done. I hot-glued them to each other, then ended up getting poster board and cut it to the size, then hot-glued the whole rainbow to the poster board to make the wallhanging. I then put a d-ring on the back and called it a day. The ends of the rainbow spools are not perfect, but hey, it’s home made. This baby better love her darn rainbow!

I found these funky shelves at Hobby Lobby one day. They were your basic “distressed” wood finish when I bought them. However, I thought the cut out shape and the spool detail on them was special, and they gave me Serena and Lily vibes. I painted them a flat, pastel tangerine color and I love them! They kind of have that plaster look that is popular right now, and the weird tangerine color is perfect. It’s an odd choice for the room, and I love that it feels a little out of place, but complementary. I will say, I initially painted them white, but it didn’t feel right. This color is so much better! The wicker mirror I got at a thrift store a while back, and the letter board was another Final Cut find. My silver baby rattle sits on the shelves with the newer pieces (which is surprisingly beat up for a baby toy. What was I doing with that thing, Mom?!) The polaroids are new and old – one is of me, about six months pregnant, and the other is my mom and me when I was a newborn.

My friend Claire made a painting for us (sooo sweet and beautiful!) and the cute little black and peach dot card was her card that went along with the painting. I LOVE IT.

On the other side, is the crib and bookshelf. To be honest, the bookshelf is not styled perfectly, but I love it how it is. I use the bottom shelf for storage with these baskets I got at Target, and the rest is blankets, books and sweet little sentimental trinkets. 

A friend gave us the rabbit nightlight that is from Restoration Hardware, and many of the other items are gifts, too.  The giraffe basket is from Pottery Barn kids. I love it! I gave Ryan/the baby the pink ukulele, and the bunny figurine is from Ryan’s mom (bunnies are her thing and have become our thing with the baby!). The tiny pink elephant was a gift from my friend that she got me really early on in my pregnancy. I think it was our first official baby gift! The Peter Rabbit cup and saucer were mine when I was a baby. 

The crib is IKEA, and the sheet is Mebie Baby.  I have all of the stuffed animals we have received as gifts in there (though I know we will have to remove them before we use the crib!), and they make me smile.

I got the mirror at Homegoods.  We decided on the Owlet monitor system, and Ryan mounted it and I painted the cord cover the wall color. It still stands out, but nowhere near as badly as it did before I painted it.

I guess that concludes the tour! Now, we wait for baby to make her debut.