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Everett’s Modern Safari Nursery

Description

We had to fit our nursery into a small room, previously our "den", which was never used and operated as a "pass through" room to the backyard and pool.  It already had the built-in with bookshelves and drawers, which opens and drops down a queen-size murphy bed, so we had to work around that.  It was completely filled with books and took a lot of work to clear off the bottom two shelves and organize the rest of the books to be appealing to the eye.  We wanted to create a space that is quaint and comfortable for both us and our little one since we anticipated spending a lot of time in there!

Design Inspiration

The chair and the Charley Harper "Zoo babies" lithograph are the two design inspirations for the room.  When we first came across Zoo babies, the mother/baby motif and the color palate made it an obvious choice.  After spending some time in South Africa, we are in love with elephants and giraffes, and we hope some day to take Everett there to see them! We also love the modern, clean lines of the Monte glider, and the microfiber blue fabric is super comfortable. Totally worth the four month wait!

Decorating Style

Since my husband and I have a modern, yet eclectic decorating style, we went with the birch Oeuf NYC furniture which provided a neutral backdrop to the overall decorating scheme of the room.  Not to mention Oeuf makes sturdy, safe, and sustainable furniture, and the crib converts into a toddler bed- bonus!

Project Details

Since we are dealing with a small space, the Oeuf Sparrow crib and changing station seemed to be a great idea, but we never realized how perfect it would be! The changing station on top of the crib is actually quite convenient, with the crib right next to it for laying out clothing, blankets, etc. One of the grandmothers is also an amazing seamstress, and found the Zoo baby fabric online! Using the fabric, she constructed a stunning heirloom quilt, which we know Everett will have for years to come! She also made the curtains. We love the Dwell Studio Safari bedding, which went perfectly with safari theme.

We don't have a lot of storage in our house, and the two Three Sprouts toy boxes were perfect for corralling stuffed animals, toys, etc. The Shel Silverstein skateboard came from a skate shop in my husband's hometown Stuart- 561 Skateboarding- he hopes to someday put wheels on it for Everett! The Noah's Ark piggy bank was a shower gift from my sister in law; it makes animal noises every time you put a coin in it, which is so cute!

Goodnight Moon and the Runaway Bunny (both by Margaret Wise brown) are my husband and my favorite childhood books, respectively. We read these to our son every night before bed. We keep them on the Oeuf nightstand (also great for storage) to remind us that we can relive our childhoods through our son! The Star Egg Nightlight (Giggle) was a gift from my cousins, who love astronomy, and it sets the perfect mood at night and projects just the right amount of light.

The overhead lamp and the shag rug came from Rooms for a Prince and Princess in Boca Raton, if you are in the area and designing a nursery and/or have a child, check it out!  It is an amazing store and has everything you could ever need/want for a baby registry.

Favorite Items

We have so many favorite items.  My husband would probably say that the signed Superbowl Giants helmet is his favorite, but that predated the baby and is only still in there because it fits perfectly on the shelf and there is really no other spot for it in the house.  He's lucky we had a boy because if not, it would have been banished to his office.

When I was ordering "Zoo babies" I could not resist adding on the Charley Harper "Mommatee" print- we are in South Florida after all! I hope my son can grow up in a world where there still are manatees- they are the most gentle, graceful creatures. The rest of my favorites are the heirlooms.  The Big Bird pillow was made for me by my mother and I have been hanging onto it for some 30 years! I had new baby blue velvet backing put on it and it goes perfect with the Missoni pillow that came with the Monte chair.  The rocking horse was a gift to me from my grandfather when I was a kid.  He had it specially made, and I still remember when he gave it to me and how proud he was. The cockatiel pictures on the wall were from my cousin in New York who is a movie set designer- she had nearly 50 of them, all different, in an art show.  The elephant mobile came from an artist from Ukraine which we found on Etsy.  The Petit Prince baby book also came from Etsy and was a gift from our neighbor- I didn't realize when I put it on my registry that it would be coming from Greece!  I had a Petit Prince-themed shower, as that has always been (another) favorite book.

 

Advice

Make the most of what you have to work with and if it is a small space, research ideas that will work well in small spaces.  Project Nursery was a great resource.  Also, picture yourself with your baby in the space and decide what will make you the most comfortable.  Some well-meaning family members suggested that we convert our office into a nursery- it is a more "private" room, but the windows face the garbage cans on the side of the house.  I insisted on the den, and after Everett was born, I would rock him all hours of the day gazing out on our beautiful backyard which made the sleeplessness easier to manage.   At night, when the yard and pool lit up, it is especially beautiful and was very calming during those late-night feedings.