Modern Superhero Nursery « Project Nursery

Location: Chicago, Illinois
Description:
My husband and I are both creative people & when we found out we were expecting a boy we both knew we wanted to make his nursery something special. Since my husband has always been into superheroes, we decided to go with that as a theme. The challenge was to update the theme by making it clean, modern & unique.
Design Inspiration:
The design inspiration came from Captain America, my husband's favorite superhero. He loves Captain America because as a superhero he feels a duty to do something to benefit the greater good & dedicates every ounce of himself to helping others. The color inspiration came from the mobile that my sister & I created.
Decorating Style:
Our decorating style is modern & colorful. We pick pieces we love & they always end up looking great together in the end because they look like "us".
Project Details:
The room started with a paint color before we even knew what we were having- a gender neutral teal. Once we found out we were having a boy we started gathering pieces to create the room. I knew I wanted white furniture but I also wanted to stick as close to a small budget as possible. We purchased the Hemnes dresser, Poang rocking chair & Expedit bookshelf from Ikea. The crib is the Modena crib in white from Walmart. We love all of the furniture we picked out. Everything is modern & sturdy. The baskets that fit inside the Expedit bookshelf are from Land of Nod. Another piece I love is the framed art above the crib. It's an illustration by Tilly Biedron & can be found on Etsy here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/matyldabiedron?ref=seller_info We wanted to keep the bedding simple & clean since we had so much color going on so I had a crib skirt custom made by Lavender Linens on Etsy. Her shop can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LavenderLinens My sister & I made the mobile ourselves out of paint chips. I feel like it is a major centerpiece for the room because it brings all of our colors together. There are tutorials all over Pinterest for these. It takes a lot of patience but it is worth it in the end.
Favorite Items:
My favorite items are the pieces of art that my husband designed for our son that hang above his dresser. He's a graphic designer & I knew I wanted him to create something special for our son's room. The pieces are also for sale to the public here: http://society6.com/justindrusso
Advice:
My advice for anyone trying to achieve a modern superhero nursery would be to keep it light on the superhero. We added pieces here & there but wanted to make sure the room felt inspired by superheroes, not a literal interpretation of them. Resist the urge to get Spiderman sheets, a Batman lamp and an Iron Man lightswitch cover. Instead opt for sheets with a star pattern on them (like Captain America's shield) or a red modern lamp & make your superhero pieces minimal. Use the superheroes as inspiration & you're likely to get a room as fun as ours.

sara1758

Beautiful colors!!! Can you please post a link to the DIY mobile? :)
http://projectnursery.com Melisa

I can’t begin to tell you how much your son is gonna love his room by the age of two. As a mom of two boys, the superheros are a must! And you’ve done them sooo very well. I love your designs and wish you much success. Thank you for sharing a great nursery!
Jill

Can you tell me the brand/color of the wall paint? This is exactly the green I am looking for! Beautiful room :)
momto2boys

Beautiful! My 3 yo would love a room like this right about now lol! My favorite thing is the classy/clean/modern way you did the superhero theme. The shared room for my sons have a Dr. Seuss theme. I wish I would have seen your project before lol! When we move I may steal some of your ideas for a superhero themed toddler room.
Abi

I love the wall color! Please Share!
http://maggierussophoto.com Maggie Russo

Thanks everyone! Let me take a look and see if I can find the paint swatch for the room. I picked a similar color for the mobile but it’s not exact.

I based the mobile off of this tutorial. The only thing I did different was that I put two circles of the same color back to back so that you didn’t see the printing on the back of the swatch. I also used silver rings to connect each circle instead of string. It takes a little more time but I think it ultimately looks better.

http://www.heygorg.com/2011/09/diy-paint-swatch-chandelier.html
http://projectnursery.com/ Pam

Mobile is fantastic! Thanks for sharing the tutorial.
Maggie

Ditto on the wall color, please share when you find the swatch.

Thanks!
Kelly

Love the red chevron bin on the dresser – where is that from? thx!
http://maggierussophoto.com Maggie Russo

The red chevron bin is from Target! They might still have them there.
BriskRain

Whoa color overload! But I meant that in a good way! The combination of colors you have here is simply amazing! You should teach us how to make those lovely mobiles!
Kelly

This is AWESOME. I voted for you! For the mobile – in her tutorial she uses a lampshade, but in yours, it almost looks like it’s just a single metal ring? What did you use? Thanks!
Kelly

Also, how did you hang the mobile? And where did you get the rainbow octopus in the crib? Thank you!!
http://society6.com/justindrusso Justin Russo

We got the rainbow octopus at The Business record store in Anacortes, WA but they available at the Friends of Socktopus shop on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FriendsOfSocktopus

I can’t speak to exactly what kind of metal ring my wife and sister in law used, but we hung it using ribbon tied to white ceiling hook.

Thanks for the votes!
Kelly

Thank you! I wasn’t going to do a mobile in my son’s nursery, but you guys have inspired me to make my own! It’s perfect to tie in all the colors. I don’t see any rainbow octopus on that Etsy shop, but will keep my eye out. Thanks again!
http://society6.com/justindrusso Justin Russo

Kelly,

They actually make each Socktopus out of old sweaters, so I guess we just got lucky and got a rainbow one, but you might be able to e-mail them and request it.
Aggie

Love this room!!!!
Rachel

Any luck on the paint swatch? Love the color, exactly what I was looking for!
http://maggierussophoto.com Maggie Russo

Rachel,

No luck on the paint swatch yet! I would go with a teal that is not too blue & not too green. Right in the middle! That’s what we did. The swatch in our mobile is pretty darn close, do you want to know what that one is at least? I tried to match it the best I could since I couldn’t find the swatch from the wall. We painted the wall colors a year ago in anticipation of trying for a baby & knowing that it was going to be a baby room eventually.
Jazmine

I love the color. It reminds me of Ben Moore Robins Nest. I have the hardest time picking out colors!
Rachel

Maggie Russo,

Sure! Anything will help! I’m sure the mobile swatch will point me in the right direction. Thanks!
Aarti

I wanted to make a colorful nursery, but my ideas ended up looking circus-y. What a clean and fun way to do a colorful room.
http://www.eastwitching.etsy.com Alison Fennell

That aqua blue wall is what does it for me:) Sets a lovely background onto which all the clean cut no nonsense boyish whites and lines are placed. Love the style and that circular strand mobile is so sweet. Fabulous.
Hayley Bishop

Hi there, LOVE THIS! Very inspiring and thanks so much for sharing. Just a question on the mobile – what size circle punch did you use and what was the ring diameter of the circle it is attached to..? Many thanks! Hayley
savannah

OMG! I absolutely love this room!!!! where did you get the quilt from? I really like that primary colors were used bc it makes the room so alive! GREAT JOB!!!
Jere’

LOVE this room! Is the crib skirt grey and white chevron? Also where did you have the blanket made?
Melissa White

Wondering if I could ask a couple of questions about the artwork in the nursery?

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Modern Superhero Nursery

Project By: maggierusso