In my opinion, doing it yourself never goes out of style, and this particular project was to glam up an old drum shade by adding pattern to the inside. I thought it was brilliant, inexpensive and fun. Do I dare try this on my own? In the meantime, it had me dreaming of the perfect drum shade for my kid’s room.

I’ve always liked this oversized Ikat drum shade from Shades of Light. And I just spotted a new design from West Elm—a drum shade with a twist.

Marimekko teamed up with Crate & Barrel for this shade. The floral design is whimsical, but the black-and-white color scheme keep it modern. And the classic navy stripe double pendant from Oilo can go modern or traditional.

The best part about a simple pendant shade is that with some pattern, color or texture, you can really add punch to the room. Just check out the cool Isabella & Max’s DIY Fabric drum shade project here. I also love this quick and easy tutorial from Honey & Fitz on turning a simple flush ceiling light fixture into a more dramatic DIY drum shade fixture.

Commonly found in 16th Century Italian design known as flame stitch embroidery, Chevron has been a trend with staying power for the past couple years. The new Zig-Zag Pink Rug introduced by Dwell Studio immediately caught my attention, inspiring me to create a new pin board on my Pinterest page. Little did I know, my dear friends at Project Nursery were taking note.

In addition to the Italian-influenced Chevron print, I wanted to keep the design sophisticated and fluid, showcasing a nursery as an extension of your home rather than a theme park, if you know what I mean. Craving more “world” influence, I sprinkled the room with Spanish and Moroccan, aka Moorish, design elements. These tile patterns are featured on the crib, hardwood flooring and bone inlaid table. Lanterns are a common design element in Moroccan design, but I opted for a more modern, star-shaped light in place of something literal like this Tangiers pendant.

1. Dwell Crib Sheet in Vintage Blossom 2. Worlds Away Clear Star Chandelier 3. Nurseryworks Abbey Crib 4. Amrah Mirror 5. Duc Duc Cabana Dresser 6. New Arrivals Mod Table Lamp 7. Jaime Young Bone Side Table 8. Layla Grayce Adelaide Rocker 9. Dwell Studio Zig Zag Pink Rug 10. Jamie Beck Hardwood Flooring

This week we would like to share some whimsical lighting options that can help you light your children’s spaces, especially those hard to light corners where “lost toys” tend to hide.

This first collection of modern lamps shows stylish solutions that could be used in any room.

1. JONISK Lamp by IKEA 2. Fluoro Shade by Ylighting 3. Offi Bongo Stool by All Modern 4. Toto Cube Lamp by Design Within Reach 5. Vibia Lamp by CSN 6. Faroles Fog by CB2

Here are some modern lamps that also have a fun and playful twist.

1. Miffy Lamp by Maiden 2. Offi Siamese Cat by All Modern 3. Offi Dachshund Dog by All Modern 4. Elephant Lamp by Modern Gadget 5. Cat Lamp by Modern Gadget 6. Magis Puppy Glow by Unica Home 7. Share Lamp by BNOdesign (made of upcycled plastic)

I desperately wanted over-sized, whimsical, silver polka dots for the walls of my gender-neutral nursery. The $220 price tag for special ordering polka dot wall decals was ridiculous. I knew I could do it myself for less. And I did! Actually, I came up with a fantastic solution for less than $40! I’m excited to share how I made my polka dots with the Project Nursery community and hope other baby mama’s find this tutorial helpful.

Believe it or not, my polka dots are made with silver contact paper from a home improvement store. It’s sold in 18-inch by 6-foot rolls in the appliance section. Apparently, people use it to make it look like they have stainless steel appliances—who knew? Any color or pattern of contact paper will work.

Project list: Contact paper, circle cutter, credit card, self-healing mat and something heavy to weigh down the contact paper (I used oversized candlesticks)

1. Spread the contact paper out on top of the self-healing mat and hold it in place with your heavy objects.

2. Gently smooth out any wrinkles with the credit card.

3. Set the circle cutter to your desired size and cut, cut, cut!

My dots are five inches in circumference (roughly the size of a CD), and I got 39 dots per roll (give or take a few misfires). Your pile of cut dots will look like this. Don’t worry about flattening them out.

Once you have enough dots, the next challenge is getting them up on the wall. If you have Type-A tendencies like me, this is a daunting task. If you don’t need the dots perfectly ordered, just slap those puppies up! It will go a lot faster. However, if you want your dots in straight lines, some prep work is in order.

I used Christmas ribbon as my moveable guide; I started four inches below the ceiling and away from the adjoining wall. From there, I set the dots nine inches apart. For the next row, I measured nine inches from the bottom of the dot above, moved the ribbon for guidance and set the dots directly between the dots above. I repeated this careful pattern for each row and ended up with seven perfectly aligned rows. Good thing or I literally would have lost sleep over it!

What I didn’t lose sleep over was the budget! In my case (because I already had a self-healing mat), I only needed two items:

- Silver contact paper, $9.99 for each roll (I used three but ended up with twice the dots I actually needed) $29.97
- Circle cutter (I scored one with a half-off coupon at a craft store) $9.99

TOTAL = $39.96 (that’s a $180.04 savings from the pro’s quote!) Connect the dots…I’m a happy mama!

With some of my extra dots, I reset my circle cutter to a smaller size and cut smaller versions of the polka dots to decorate a lamp I had lying around. It was fun to add the polka dots to another piece in the room for absolutely no additional cost!

Anyone inspired? If you replicate this project, please post a link below, and let me know how it turns out. Be sure to check out my blog for more DIY nursery and home ideas.

Have a DIY project of your own that you’d like to share with us?
Email editor@projectnursery.com with details and pictures.

I was hard-pressed to get my hubby to commit to repainting the existing nursery for bambino #3 let alone spend the moola for a (fabulous) lamp! It was time for me to get creative. So with that inspiration in mind, I set out in search of a fixture that could fit into my non-existent budget. I looked everywhere until I stumbled upon this lamp, singing to me (lalalalala) from the clearance shelf at Babies R Us. Wait…it’s pink and brown—ahhh, nothing a little magical spray paint and new shade couldn’t fix. So, off of the shelf and into my cart it went. This lamp retails for around $50, and I scored it for $19. Not sure why it was on clearance, but I knew that a glossy coat of fresh white paint would take care of any blemish this little gem may have had.

Here is the before—super cute, but unfortunately, we are not having a girl, so the pink and brown just wouldn’t work.

The Emma Lamp by Lambs & Ivy

And here is the after! All it took was a $7 shade from Target and a can of glossy white spray paint, and I was able to create a similar feel to the high-end lamp I have swooned over for such a long time.

My design tip? Always start with some sort of inspiration in mind; this will help keep your final project on track. There are so many fabulous nursery items out there, and without a plan, a first time mama can be easily distracted or overwhelmed and end up with too many design elements in one room.

Do you have that one item that completed your nursery? Please share!

On that note, we are also pleased to announce that our step-by-step guide to helping parents create their dream nursery will be found within NoJo crib sets at Babies “R” Us stores nationwide beginning in January. Be on the look out!

1. Pink Over Easy Rug by Madeline Weinrib 2. Pico Bunny Pillow from Unica Home 3. Camille Lamp by Mottega (10% of Proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research) 4. Hot Pink and Natural Nixon Throw by Jonathan Adler 5. Hope Crib by Newport Cottages (10% of Proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research)

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So, thanks to Mrs. Tom Cruise, we have pulled together some of our favorite nursery pieces in the lovely shade of cobalt. Girls, don’t be fooled—cobalt blue can be used in a girl’s nursery as well…just pair it with a lighter shade of peach or even lavender.

1. DucDuc Austin Crib 2. Linvin Little Queen of Love Child’s Armchair 3. Large Blue Anthropomathy, original painting by Yves Klein 4. The New Traditionalists Savannah Changer 5. Linvin Little Prince of Love Child’s Ottoman 6. Robert Abbey Piero Marine Blue Floor Lamp

Our nursery design for Mel B. started with one word: calm. She wanted a world-class, celebrity-worthy haven of calming serenity.

With luxury items from floor to ceiling, this celebrity nursery is truly spectacular (if we do say so ourselves). The gorgeous nursery furniture—crib, dresser, changing tray and armoire by Bratt Decor—is the epitome of decadence in antique silver.

While the ultra comfortable glider and ottoman by Angel Song make the space both elegant and cozy. Angel Song also created an adorable child’s sofa so Mel’s older children can enjoy spending time in the nursery. A beautifully crafted side table by Restoration Hardware Baby & Child completes the glider area.

The beautiful iron crib was completed with a luxury crib mattress by Naturalmat…

…and a gorgeous set of custom crib bedding and coordinating textiles, designed by Little Crown Interiors and created by the fabulous team of Angel Song.

The incredible ceiling treatment and custom blackout curtain panels were made by Lily’s Custom Drapery and Upholstery to grace Mel’s cozy nook—a perfect spot for snuggling. Lily’s expert team also made the crib crown, using state-of-the-art safety features.

Throughout the room, gorgeous crystal light fixtures, handcrafted by I Lite 4 U, sparkle and shine.

A combination of custom-made and stock stretched-canvas artwork by Oopsy Daisy grace the walls, along with breathtaking, hand-painted murals by Spotted Moon Art & Design for Children.

We send our best wishes to the proud new parents Melanie Brown and Stephen Belafonte and a huge thanks to David and Christina of Full Spectrum Photography for the beautiful photos.