Baby Bowden's Nursery « Project Nursery

A Project For: Piper Jane
Age: 11/4/11
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Description:
This is the room we prepared for our first baby- a little girl due November 1, 2011. Though we knew we were having a girl, I wanted to keep the room on the neutral side, so it could "grow up with her", and potentially be used for future kiddos as well. In addition, we wanted to keep to a budget, so we reused existing items as much as possible. We ended up making or modifying a majority of items in the room- and I love how all of that work resulted in a customized room with a ton of personal touches.
Project Details:
Dresser- Free "curbside find"- refinished and painted.
Crib- new- DaVinci Jenny Lind
Chair- repurposed Ikea armchair- modified with a rocker/glider base from a craigslist recliner
Ottoman- slipcovered thrift store find
Table, lamp and clock- Target
Giraffe rocker- Craigslist
Pillows-Stripe- Urban Outfitters, Floral- target, Bird- etsy, Globe- handmade by me!
Quilt- gift from a friend
Window treatments and cribskirt- handmade, fabric from Fabric.com
Rug- Urban Outfitters doormats assembled with rug tape
Art above books- vintage scarves in album frames
Mobile- handmade, using Urban Outfitters photo hanger
Favorite Items:
The grey walls (Disney color "mickey's shadow") and grey and white striped ceiling were the foundation of the room. I'm addicted to grey and stripes (especially combined!) and I plan to pass that neutral love on to my daughter. The ceiling was definitely an undertaking, but I could not be more thrilled with the results.
The accent wall is chalkboard, with a layer of magnetic paint underneath. We painted a collection of empty frames we already owned, and affixed them to the wall with velcro (so we can remove them later, but there's no danger of little hands knocking them off the wall). I love that we can change up the entire look of the wall with a little bit of colored chalk- and eventually our little girl can create her own revolving art gallery!
But perhaps my favorite part of the room are the book shelves. My husband (with the help of my dad and step-dad!) built custom ledges to store all of Baby B's books. I love how they showcase the covers like art and add a ton of color to the room.

Holly

Love the bookshelves, the rug, the ceiling and the walls!!! Looks great!!
yeyen11

Love the rug and ceiling! 5*!!
RedDirtRevival

This is the first room I’ve seen on here that I’ve given 5 stars! I LOVE it!
stephanie

i love love love this room! Thanks for the inspiration!
Cjko

I love the rug! Thanks so much for the idea of attaching more than one. I found a shag one I liked at Urban Outfitter’s but they only had a 3×5. Now i am going to get a few and do what you did. Adorable room! Love the colors.
http://www.bowdenisms.blogspot.com CourtneyJo

Thanks everyone….I’m thrilled you all like it!
Cjko- it was so easy- just get some rug tape (cheap from lowe’s) and go to town! The whole thing ended up being about the same price as a large rug- and more unique!
craftyp

Fabulousness Courtney! Love it all- can’t wait for baby to arrive! love the scarves in frames idea (want to see close up ;)
Renee

Amaaaaazing job courtney & dustin!!!!! Absolutely love love love it!!!! Everything about it… Gorgeous. Can’t wait to see pics of the little one IN it :) xoxo
Dawn

this is amazing, what a great job!
Recreate

I love the chalkboard wall and what you did with it. Your mobile looks interesting, but too bad there’s no close-up photo of it. Overall, your room is just amazing!
http://www.bowdenisms.blogspot.com CourtneyJo

Recreate- ask and you shall receive! Mobile photo posted! Glad you like it!
http://mommaistameetsshopaholic.blogspot.com/ Deanna

I love it all…gray walls add a depth to the room
Laura

This is such a creative idea! I love how you used the book covers as ‘art’. The rug picks up the colors perfect in the books. Very inspirational room, great job!
Melina

I was wondering if you could explain how you repurposed the chair. I have that same chair from Ikea and find it very comfortable but I would LOVE to make it into a glider/rocker!
Mischa

Love, love, love this room! I’ve already forwarded this on to my husband and about 6 friends. Well done!
MT

Where can I find those fabulous bookshelves? Great job on the room!
Elizabeth G

I love the rug, bookshelves, dresser and quilt. Best wishes!
Erin F

You and your husband has done a fabulous job! I absolutely adore your creativity especially the homemade mobile and book shelves. Best wishes on your baby girl’s arrival.
JamiesonBarkett

I simply adore this room. I love the dark walls, stripe ceiling, yellow dresser on the wall with all the frames, the floor to ceiling wall shelves… Can I move in?? :)
http://www.bowdenisms.blogspot.com CourtneyJo

Melina & MT- So glad you liked the projects! I didn’t do full tutorials, but I do have some details on my blog. http://bowdenisms.blogspot.com/2011/11/baby-bs-new-digs.html

Thanks for all the love everyone!
Amanda

I went by Home Depot and got a paint sample for the color listed here and it seems a little dark. It looks so beautiful in the room so I’m wondering what your initial reaction to the paint color was. Has the photo been lightened very much? I love the gray walls but don’t want to pick something that ends up too dark.
http://www.bowdenisms.blogspot.com CourtneyJo

Hey Amanda, it is a bit of a medium to dark shade of grey but I like that it is a bit dramatic. I tend to favor deep rich colors though, so you may have to judge your own comfort level and go for something that suits you. I do think the photos are pretty true to life… This room gets significant sun depending on the time of day, so that would be a factor as well. During the day it still feels bright, but at night it’s very cozy, so I think it’s perfect. Good luck!
JeanM1211

I love this room!! You did a great job. I took your decor advice on the rugs since I couldnt find what I was looking for and your idea was so clever and inventive..So I tried it with a shag rug similar to yours that was also from Urban Outfitters but more neutral since we arent finding out the sex of our baby..but the rugs completely didnt match the colors of the shag pieces online. So i had to return them :( I love the ones you used! but I dont know if Im having a girl LOL I ended up just getting a solid grey area rug to match our room…it works fine but i love what you did, wish it worked..but aw well lol
Cjko

I had similar issues with my urban outfitters rugs. I tried the same thing and ordered multiple shag rugs. First they were listed as 3×5 but were really only 2×3 and they didn’t even make them in 3×5 and then the colors were very different from rug to rug. i still haven’t found a rug i want yet. I did find a great site with reasonable prices and you can order samples. http://www.sansomshagrugs.net/shop/ but my husband now says he hates shag rugs. This nursery is still one of the best i have seen. Love it!
Heather

Love the whole room. I am highly interested in the window treatments (the frames above the windows)… you state that you handmade them with fabric. Did you make the frames yourself or did you cover a premade frame. If it was premade, where did you get them?
PS, you have my vote: )
Jeff

Just caught this room…amazing job all around. Love the rug. It looks like one that Anthropologie sells for close to $900. Chalkboard wall is perfect.
Jessica

I also tried ordering several rag rugs from Urban to tape together. But when I received them, they were all sooo completely different. It would have never looked like one big rug.

It was a huge disappointment, because I love the look of your room. I’d love any other suggestions for a great place to find a colorful rug!
Cjko

Pier 1 has a lot of colorful rugs. I am still on a hunt for a rug as well. My husband vetos many I like. There is also a rainbow striped one on solutions.com and overstock.com has a lot as well.
nay2309

What a stunning room! I love how colourful and playful it is. Well done, its amazing!

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Baby Bowden’s Nursery

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