Hudson’s “Vintage University” Nursery

A Project For: Hudson
Age: 1 week
Location: Kansas City
Description:
I was asked to design my daughter and son-in-law's very first nursery...Hudson's room is a soothing, calm room with vintage elements, re-purposed furniture and details that have special meaning.
Design Inspiration:
My son-in-law requested a nursery that centered around their (and mine as well) alma mater, Oklahoma State University. OSU's colors are black and orange - that color combo was a little too "Halloween-ish" for a nursery, so we started with a neutral backdrop. Adding in OSU sports memorabilia, a little black & orange, and mascots in small doses, I think we achieved his goal! (Go Pokes!) The two owls are a nod to his fraternity...
Decorating Style:
Calm and comfortable. I believe that interiors should reflect who you are and who you love.
Project Details:
- Crib: Restoration Hardware Baby and Child
- Wall Color: Sherwin Williams “Macadamia” 6142
- Trim and Wainscot Color: Sherwin Williams "Netsuki" 6134
- Crib set and relaxed Roman Shade: Etsy seller Cottage and Cabin
- Upholstered glider: USA baby
- Daybed: repurposed from a turn-of-the-century headboard and footboard from Craigslist
- American Empire Era Dresser/Changing table: Craigslist
- Pegboard: Home Depot
- The below 3 items were found at Curious Sofa, but their merchandise is constantly changing so these items are now out of stock. (But it's an awesome website so I included it!)
- Baskets on pegboard: www.curioussofa.com
- Alphabet prints on pegboard: www.curioussofa.com
- Grainsack bedding on daybed: www.curioussofa.com
- Scripture on canvas: DIY - letters cut from old book pages and mounted on a canvas painted black and finished with a water-based sealant. Jeremiah 29:11 is the verse they chose for Hudson.
- Mobiles: Crib mobile is made from an old lampshade form with black and white pinwheels and "Bullet"-OSU black stallion. Mobile over changing table is a embroidery hoop covered in ticking ribbon. The owl is made from menswear fabric.
- Both mobiles are hung from black 24" swivel curtain rods from Overstock.com
- Pattern for the stallion can be found at:
- http://annwood.net/blog/2009/05/29/cardboard-stampede/
- Click on the word "pattern" for the pdf
- Shelf above daybed was made by Hudson's great grandfather and was originally used in my daughter's room as she was growing up!
- Other accessories, artwork are DIY
Favorite Items:
My favorite items are the re-purposed ones: The daybed was rebuilt by a carpenter from just my sketches and an old bed from Craigslist - I have a talented carpenter as a friend! The American Empire era dresser already had the stained-to-match changing topper on it when I bought it off Craigslist for only $50. I also enjoyed making the mobile out of the old lampshade form.
Advice:
This room has humble bones... a daybed made from an antique bed, inexpensive pegboard hung above the changing table for baskets and shelving, inexpensive handkerchief linen for the crib bedding & shade and DIY 90% of the artwork, accessories. The only major expense was the crib...the glider was a gift. My advice would be to come up with a plan - put it together visually with photos saved in a word document, pinterest, etc. - if it looks good on paper, most likely you will like the end results!

Hollyjwsmall

So nice! Love the color scheme and your use of the peg board. I like your nursery a lot!
Kim

lovely! i love the Bible verse poster. Can you explain a little more about how it was done? How were the letters cut? How did you get them on to straight?!?! Font used?? Lovely!!
LeeLee

“Since they were expecting a boy, my son-in-law requested a nursery that centered around their (and mine as well) alma mater, Oklahoma State University.” – Wouldn’t the school theme be just as appropriate for a girl?

LOVE this room, well done =)
greeneyedmom

LeeLee,

Ha! :-) So true, LeeLee – the OSU theme would totally work for a girl, too! I should’ve made it clear that since it was a boy, my son-in-law actually had his own ideas about the “theme”. If it was a girl, my daughter would have the say so. He may have given a little input for a girl’s room, but my daughter already had a plan in mind for a girl nursery.

Thanks for the sweet comment!
greeneyedmom

Kim,

Thanks Kim! To be a little more specific about the Bible scripture: The plain canvas is from Hobby Lobby and is 30″ x 24″. We painted it black with water-based acrylic paint. In “Word Art”, I flipped the “Vectis” font letters backward R to L vs L to R and ran them off on old book pages with my home copier. (You could use music sheets as well, or just plain paper.) After cutting them out by hand the outlines weren’t visible since they were on the reverse side of the paper. With a straight edge (yardstick) we measured and drew lines across the canvas in white chalk, laid out the verse and then glued the letters on with Elmer’s glue. We let it dry, wiped off the chalk lines and sealed it with a water-based flat acrylic sealant. Hope that helps!
Katie

I’m a sooner fan all the way, but this is precious and so tastefully done! With so much OU and OSU baby stuff out there, it would be easy to get carried away, but this has lots of nice special touches without screaming “college dorm room sale!” Great job! We’re having a girl, but my husband would love to do a sports-themed room like this for a little boy in the future, and this is great inspiration.
RedDirtRevival

As an Okie girl , I must say, I LOVE this nursery! very tastefully done without being to “theme-y”. Great job! Five stars! (even coming from a Sooner fan!) ;)
greeneyedmom

RedDirtRevival,
Thanks for the sweet comments, Oklahoma girls! I have some deep roots with the Sooners! My dad used to do some of their locker room chapel/devotionals in the Steve Davis through JC Watts days. We always cheer for the Sooners unless its bedlam! RDR – loved looking through your blog – you are a talented girl!
LeeLee

Awesome! I’m glad you think the theme would work for a girl too :) I think this room is especially wonderful because it doesn’t rely on gendered cliches that are usually so dominant in nurseries…to each their own, but I prefer unique rooms like this – how refreshing!
Katie

I love, love, love this room! Could you explain how you did the alphabet art in the black frames on the pegboard? Also, how did you hang the pegboard so that there was room for the baskets to hook through the holes? In other words, does there need to be space between the pegboard and the wall? Thanks!
Recreate

I totally love what you did with the daybed! Love that it is repurposed from old furniture.
greeneyedmom

Katie,

Katie, of the 90% DIY artwork/mobiles, the alphabet prints were actually of the 10% that were purchased. I bought them on sale from http://www.curioussofa.com. (They were $9.99 each) I’m sure you could achieve a similar look by printing off a font you like in a sepia/brown color on card stock and aging the edges with a brown ink pad. I would buy an inexpensive frame first then print the piece to fit.

The pegboard is actually sitting on a frame made from 1″ x 2″ strips of MDF that are glued and nailed directly to the wallboard. They were primed and then painted the same color as the wainscot. The pegboard was then attached to the MDF frame with wood screws.

Thanks for the sweet comments!
cliftola

What a teriffic room! I love that it isn’t to baby baby and the use of the peg board is fantastic! It might be my favorite part of the room!
Sarah

I too am an Oklahoma girl- currently living in Arizona! ha! ha! And planning a boy nursery. This is my favorite I have seen in a long time. I had actually bookmarked that exact bedding, but wasn’t sold. What exact color did you use? Are you happy with the feel and color? Thanks for all the inspiration. Truly awesome!
greeneyedmom

Sarah,

Hi Sarah! Thanks for the compliments! We used the “Taupe” linen from Cottage & Cabin. We are very pleased with the fabric choice. I made the sheets from the same material purchased from the same vedor-she doesn’t make them. I washed the fabric several times before sewing them…it is fairly soft, but not as soft as cotton or bamboo, for sure. We also bought some plain cream sheets for cost/spit-up purposes. Not long after purchasing the bedding, Restoration Hardware Baby&Child came out with a pretty washed linen bedding set that was surprisingly priced pretty well…you should check it out:

http://www.rhbabyandchild.com/catalog/category/products.jsp?categoryId=rhbc_cat324017

Good Luck with your nursery and God Bless!!
Jessica

Hi Sarah,

Oh I’m in love!!! Would you mind sharing the paint color for both the wall and wainscot? Thank you.
greeneyedmom

Jessica,

Hi Jessica,
The wall color is Sherwin Williams “Macadamia” 6142 and the wainscot and trim is SW “Netsuki” 6134.
Kathryn Thrush Franks

What a beautiful nursery!!
I wish I had been craftier when my Hudson (12) was born
LOVE it (a little biased, obviously)
Take care,
Kathryn
Missy

I have very quickly fallen in love with this nursery for MANY reasons:) I am expecting my second boy and I love the vintage sporty feel…i also love love LOVE the colors in here for other areas of my home. I wondered how you refinished the day bed…is it painted or stained?? I love the look of how it turned out and want to try a similar finish to some “new to me” bed side tables.
greeneyedmom

Missy,

Hi Missy,
Thanks for the sweet remarks! I’m glad you like the nursery!

To answer your question, the daybed is painted with a black water-based latex paint in a satin finish. Just make sure you thoroughly clean your “new-to-you” furniture then “scuff” the original finish with fine sandpaper. The new paint will adhere to most any surface after scuffing. It is always a good idea to finish with a water-based acrylic sealant to protect all of your hard work! Good Luck with your nursery and may God Bless your new baby boy!!
Christy

I love the peg board above the changing table! I was wondering where the orange and white letters spelling his name out came from?

Thanks
Tiffany

Loving this nursery. I’m currently working on one myself and love the pegboard idea. What size are the metal baskets? I can’t find them on the website you listed that you purchased from.

Thanks!
Lana Lowry

What is the color of the paint and who makes it? Love the room so adorable
Cjko

Really love that changing table!
Cjko

Where did you get the hanger for the mobile over the bed? I have been looking for something to hold a mobile that isn’t from the ceiling or attached to crib.
Cjko

Sorry, I found the answer. What a great idea!
greeneyedmom

A few answers…

Christy, Hudson’s name is spelled from alphabet/flash cards that I bought from Curious Sofa a few years ago – they no longer carry them. Here is a link to a vintage looking set that would look great in a nursery, (I love the way they attached them to a pennant banner with clothespins.):
http://chezreneeshop.com/item/Alphabet-Flash-Cards/253/c71

Tiffany, Restoration Hardware has some that are very similar: http://www.restorationhardware.com/modal/product-photo-zoom.jsp?productId=prod1618022

You could also use vintage “Pool locker baskets” either google it or look in a local antique mall. Good Luck!!
http://cisforcockerham.blogspot.com Ashley C

Now THIS is how you do a sports-themed room. I absolutely love it. Very tastefully done.
Amy

Love this nursery! This is probably a silly question but how did you hang the pictures on the pegboard?
greeneyedmom

Amy,

Hi Amy, It’s not a silly question at all… When you buy pegboard at a hardware store, they have all sorts of little connectors and gadgets for sale in the same area that are used to hang tools on it. I just bought some of the smallest “S” curve hooks that were available. They worked like a picture hanger – the framed alphabet charts had little brackets on the back that just slipped over them. Hope that helps!
Analisa

LOVE this room, even though I’m a Red Raider girl!

How did you find/track down such great vintage OSU pieces? I’ve done a few google searches and can’t seem to find much for Texas Tech. I especially love the framed pennants and the framed Cowboy poster. Do you have any websites to suggest or were these DIY?

Also, are the black stallion mobile is perfect!! Any advice on how to recreate this? Are the stallions paper or fabric?
Analisa

LOVE this room, even though I’m a Red Raider girl!

How did you find/track down such great vintage OSU pieces? I’ve done a few google searches and can’t seem to find much for Texas Tech. I especially love the framed pennants and the framed Cowboy poster. Do you have any websites to suggest or were these DIY?

Also, are the black stallion mobile is perfect!! Any advice on how to recreate this? Are the stallions paper or fabric?
greeneyedmom

Analisa,

Hi Analisa!
To answer your questions: We just kept our eyes open at antique malls to find the pennants – I actually had better luck in Kansas City rather than Oklahoma finding OSU stuff – go figure! The cowboy poster is a reprint from “The Book of Cowboys” by Holling C. Holling – which I found in an Antique store. Try a google search for the book, there are several online including Amazon.

Here is the blog where I found the pattern for the horse, click on the word “pattern” for the pdf of the horse pattern:
http://annwood.net/blog/2009/05/29/cardboard-stampede/

I used chipboard (scrapbook store) for the horses and painted them with acrylic paint. They were finished with a water based flat acrylic sealant after they dried. I hole punched the legs and body to attach the legs with ribbon tied in knots. The paper mache` ball at the top is from Michael’s – I just printed off some graphics and created a few in “Word” then just used “Mod Podge” to attach and finish. Of course the horses are suspended from an old lamp shade that I found at a antique mall and removed the fabric from.

Good Luck and Congrats!
Bethany

Curious to know…as I am drooling over these pictures…would you take an order for the mobiles? Especially the owl one?!?

This room is AMAZING! Want to come do it all over again in Mississippi??
Ashley

I love this nursery room! Very well done.

I have gotten some great ideas, but was wondering if you make the owl mobiles and sell them? I have searched and searched for a mobile that I like, but have not found one that I like. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for sharing your creative nursery room!
Kacee

Love this
http://www.facebook.com/quintana.mcconnell Quintana McConnell

This is probably one of the most original and laid back boy’s rooms I’ve seen! I love the dresser and the calming feel. Great job
Lindsey

Hi! I absolutely love the owl mobile. Do you by chance have a pattern for it that I could use? Thanks so much!

Lindsey
greeneyedmom

Hi Lindsey – I’ve attached a pattern for an owl… I think this is the one I used. I made some changes such as adding the “tassels” on top and making some “yo yo’s” for the eyes. Have fun making your own owl mobile! http://www.sewsimple.com/articles/otis_the_owl_patterns

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Hudson’s “Vintage University” Nursery

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