Description
My husband is in the military so we move a lot and consequently rent our home which means we can't do any dramatic or permanent decorating. This nursery had the additional challenge of being tiny--the previous renters had actually been using it as a walk-in closet tiny. This was our first daughter after three boys so I wasn't going to let a little thing like size stop me from making her nursery adorable. And certainly not "gender neutral" :)
Design Inspiration
My inspiration for her room came from the curtains, which I actually made from vintage sheets. I had originally found the fabric at a thrift store when I was hunting down vintage linens for her quilt. Unfortunately, I only bought one pillowcase since I didn't think I would need any more than that for my project. Well we moved to our current house when she was two weeks old (thank you military) and I immediately regretted not buying the sheets as well because I knew they would have made wonderful curtains. I figured it was a lost cause and was trolling Etsy for vintage sheets to find something else that would work when I found the exact same sheet set and immediately snapped it up. Clearly the curtains were meant to be. And clearly they needed pom-pom trim!
Decorating Style
I suppose my style would be sort of vintage cottage-y--mostly because my "decorating" revolves around taking pieces we already own and things that are handed down to us and rearranging them into something that is, I hope, pleasant looking. Also, we have four children so all of our furniture needs to have that certain lived-in patina that means we won't feel bad when something inevitably happens to it! We move so frequently that all of our furniture also has to be able to serve multiple purposes and transition from one room to another so I don't have any rooms with themes or buy things that couldn't work elsewhere. The beauty of Margaret's nursery is that I finally had a place to display all the keepsakes from my childhood that I've been keeping tucked away.
Project Details
Crib: Amazon
Crib skirt: Handmade by me
Crib sheet: Pottery Barn Kids
Curtains: Handmade by me
Pillow: Handmade by me
Quilt: Me again :)
Dresser: Second hand
Rocking chair: Second hand
Blue throw blanket: Vintage
Shelves: Lowe's
Letter 'R': Vintage, hung over my husband's crib
Ballerina teddy bear: Mine from childhood
Other teddy bears: From my husband's grandmother's collection
Mirrors and frames: Second hand/thrifted/salvaged and painted white
Flower carvings: Second hand, painted white
Rug: Wayfair
Book ledge shelves: Ana White plans built by my husband
Favorite Items
Obviously I love the curtains and the quilt after I put so much love and work into making them, but I also love the cross stitch pieces in the room. The large sampler was made by my grandmother and fit the color scheme of the room perfectly. The other pieces were actually from pillows that my mother's friends had made for me when I was born and graced my girlhood bed. Once I knew I was finally having a little girl of my own I salvaged them and framed them in thrifted frames. And by "framed" I mean stretched them over the back of the frame and duct-taped them down--for heavens sake don't turn them over to take a peak ;)
I also love the bookshelves tucked in behind the door, they were in our boys' playroom in our previous home and they fitted perfectly in the room here!
Advice
You don't have to buy a bunch of things to decorate your nursery! With a little creativity you can create a room full of lovely memories just by pulling things in that you already have tucked away.
Mikala
Saturday 2nd of July 2016
So beautiful!! Well done. :)