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Happy Camper Nursery by the DIY Playbook

Up until a few months ago, all things nursery were pretty foreign to us! We’ve seen lots of gorgeous baby spaces around the blogosphere, but beyond that, we were (and still are) a bit clueless.
But a few months ago when my sister recruited the DIY Playbook to help her prep her then office for the arrival of her little one in early July, we had no choice but to dive into all things baby (temporarily)!
We instantly started planning a space Katie, her husband, and their future baby would l-o-v-e. Of course we still have a TON to learn about baby decor, but we have learned one thing while planning this space — the world of babies and nurseries and products and research and reviews is a TAD overwhelming. Throw some pregnancy hormones into that mix, and we can imagine that designing a nursery can be a pretty daunting task for any expecting mother… especially with a DEADLINE looming in the distance (hello due date!).
Before baby, this space was a bit of a catch-all (we all have one of those rooms, right?). After Katie enlisted our help, the first thing we did was go visit the space (snapped a few pics) and sat down with her to chat about how her and her hubby envisioned the nursery. It was important for us to create a space that SHE and her hubby loved, not just a space that we dictated.
Here’s what she told us:
Katie’s Wishlist

Gender Neutral (they aren’t finding out the gender in advance, so the nursery needs to be ready for baby boy OR baby girl)
Colors flow with the rest of the house. She wants the space to be appropriate for a baby, but she doesn’t want it to scream “nursery” since this space is right off of their family room/kitchen.
Neutral Walls
Rustic
“Theme”: Outdoorsy-ish <— KT & her hubby love the outdoors, they are both very active, and love camping/traveling/exploring. I’m hesitant to give this space a specific theme, but the general outdoorsy word helps me identify what “vibes” she’s hoping to get in this space.
She liked this crib and wanted the design to work around it
Wood wall

It helped to get Katie’s insight before we started planning. Once she gave us that wishlist, we encouraged her to start a Pinterest board where she pinned ideas she really liked and we followed along to get a better idea of what she was visualizing. (<— It really helped, so much so that we added it as one of the first 5 steps in decorating a nursery post)
From there, the DIY Playbook got to work creating a space that Katie and her husband would be excited to bring their new happy camper home to!

Levi’s DIY Nursery

We really wanted handmade personal touches for Levi’s nursery. Everything from the wood pallet wall, peg board changing area organizer, vertical hanging wood name/letters, to the toy bin bookshelf, and even down to the shiplap open concept closet area was hand crafted! It was amazing to watch this room transform into the perfect space for our baby boy. I had a vision, and my husband brought it to life.

HBC Nursery

Being from Canada, there is nothing more Canadian then the Hudsons Bay Collection.  I have a mild obsession with all things from the collection & when trying to decide on nursery inspiration, I thought the colours & accessories we could play with within the palette would be amazing.
For the main wood feature walls/ceiling, I had a vision of the wood crawling onto the ceiling & connecting the change table area to the crib area.
For the main light, we hit up our local antique market, and found an awesome antique wheel which my husband (an electrician by trade) was able to turn into an amazing light!  For the change table lighting, he was able to modify 2 lights from amazon & create a swag look to frame in the peg board!
I wanted the main features of the room to not be to ‘childish’ so with furniture & accessory changes, we could make this room grow with our son.  By adding punches of the HBC colours, it brought the ‘neutral’ walls & wood feature to life with colour!
 

Emerson’s Rustic Woodland Nursery

We intended to keep Emerson’s nursery “simple” with just a grey, navy, and white theme; however, my husband fell in love with the wood pallet wall idea on Pinterest and our design took more rustic approach–for the better I’d say! Lots of DIY, surfing Pinterest, and meshing of ideas later… We ended up with a Rustic Woodland theme mixing classic, contemporary, and rustic style for our little man’s nursery!

Rustic Modern Nursery/Guest Room

This rustic modern nursery was designed from scratch on a small budget between $1,000 and $1,500. The goal was to provide a space that could be used as a guest room as well as a nursery, so the decor needed to be “adult” enough for any visitors, but with a nod to nursery.
The design aesthetic of rustic modern came from the blending of all the elements in the clients’ home so that the room fit seamlessly with the rest of their house. The final product uses primarily neutrals – grey, cream, beige (or gold, really) – but has just a touch of peach hinted throughout.

Pallet Wall Industrial Boy’s Room

I am so excited to share my recent makeover project with the help of RH Baby & Child. This one is especially near and dear because it was for my four year old son, Chase! For the complete story, check out my #ProjectChase journey on the blog:
Before Post
During Post
Design Reveal Post!
A special thanks goes to Carolyn Ann Ryan Photography, family photographer, based in New Jersey.