Design Reveal: The Shabby Chic Owl

I know we are here to feature a “Real Room” on this Monday but before I get to the goods I have to acknowledge Mom Brandy’s darling business, Pixie Purls. Knitting is one of those hobbies sitting on my wish list (somewhere between take tennis lessons and live abroad). I’ve enjoyed a few brief lessons from loved ones but have yet to master the art. If you are one of the lucky ones and are searching for perfect little patterns to knit for the babies and toddlers in your life, look here first!

It’s easy to see what inspires Brandy to create such beautiful patterns. For her 2nd daughters nursery however, a quilted cover from Pottery Barn Kids and Shabby Chic a la Target provided the inspiration Brandy needed to pull together a magazine look for a whole lot less. Now that baby Rowan has arrived to enjoy her room, we hope the talent behind an online knitting business adds a knit owl pillow or knit mobile next to complete the look!

Child’s name: Rowan
Age: Arriving August ’09
Location: Georgia

What was your inspiration for the room?
I had originally seen the Pottery Barn Kids bedding collection called “Brooke“. It features a beautiful quilt that looks handmade with trees, birds and then the sheeting has sweet little owls. I love nature and have been considering girl names that mean “tree”. I used the PBK kids room as a base for my inspiration, it had blue walls. So with the bedding, and the blue walls in mind I started out. Etsy.com was a large resource for inspiration and accessories.

What best describes your decorating style?
I like classic, with a bit of Shabby Chic accents and then a few more modern accents for this particular room (polka-dots and Silhouettes). For a nursery I would prefer to spend money on a room that can transition with the child vs being a “baby” room and having to re-decorate 2 years down the line.

Please share with us your choice of paint colors, furniture, art, diy tips, etc.
For the walls colors I had one of those Sherwin Williams big thick color sticks with the millions of color swatches on it. This is great, I could be at home and hold all the various blue’s up to my bedding to see what color would go best. I picked a color that in the end wound up looking a bit like a Tiffany’s box. It can look lighter or darker depending on the lighting or time of day and I used an eggshell so it would be easier to clean.

For furniture I did not want to spend a lot but I wanted something really sweet looking. I wound up getting several pieces from the “Shabby Chic” collection from Target. I have this in my other daughters room and have been very happy with it. They have loads of different pieces to choose from (such as the cute little half round secretaries desk which I think is so cute). The dresser we got was the just the right size to put a changing pad on.

For the curtains I also got the “Shabby Chic” line from target, they are fake silk and lined, and the pink looks so sweet against the blue. I am not fan of pink but I’ve learned used properly it can be a wonderful accent color.

The crib is also from Target (Jenny Lind) and the same one we used for my toddler, the bedding linens are all Pottery Barn Kids. I was not a big fan of the tulled crib skirt in the Brooke Collection so I stopped by a PBK store and picked out a random assortment of bedding. A pink Gingham skirt, and 2 different crib sheets, the Brooke with the owls and tree’s and then a sweet one with little pink/yellow/green birds on it. The lamp just happened to match the crib skirt with it’s pink Gingham shade (Target). One of the tricks with PBK is that they often have items online that they don’t have in the stores such as additional Pillow Shams that go with their collections. I have found that PBK linens hold up very well.

From Land of Nod I picked out the adorable little flower wall nobs and a set of green mini suite-cases.

The tree decal has been very popular online; It’s a bit of a pain to put up but once it is up it is easy to fall in love with! I thought about putting a second tree on the other wall but decided against it. It’s easy to go overboard with wall decals. On Etsy I found a sweet set of 11 birds. I decided a flock of birds above the baby’s crib would be a bit odd and opted to just place 3 (odd numbers in design are always good!) to keep it simple. The crib will only be in the room for up to 2 years so I did not want to create a situation where the walls would look odd once the crib was removed and I wanted to leave room for more changes as the room transitions to a little girl room.

I found the most adorable set of prints on etsy; I have 2 up on the walls for now, featuring birds, trees and owls (perfect!).

What is your favorite item(s) in the room?
One of my favorite items in the room was one of the least expensive, I was driving past a little flea-market/antique shop near my house and out on a table in the front I spotted an adorable looking birdcage. I begged my husband to pull over (he was not thrilled!) and saw that it was perfect, study and wooden and with a sweet little door and shelf. It came in an dirty looking off-white color so I spray painted it pink. It was $11 dollars. I wish I had more time to shop at little shops like that as I think that’s one of the best places to find items to decorate with.

I also love all the items I got from Etsy, including a bird softie and an owl that plays Brahms Lullaby. It’s wonderful to support indie designers and WAHMs!

Is there anything else you would like PN readers to know?
I still consider the room a bit of a work in progress given how it will transition to a big-girl room. The twin bed is in the room for co-sleeping, or for myself to sleep in as I plan on breast-feeding and with my first daughter it was a good way to allow my husband to get better sleep some nights, instead of hearing me get up several times. It’s on the floor for safety which obviously isn’t as “pretty” looking as if I had a headboard etc but in this case I think with a baby functionality is more important. At about 6 months I plan to take the bed out and re-arrange the furniture a bit (the room is a bit cramped at the moment) and then my baby will have her “big girl” bedding waiting for her to get old enough! At the point the bed comes out I can add some book shelves and then eventually the rocker and crib will come out and be replaced with a proper bed with a headboard. To me, baby rooms are always a work in progress as little ones change and grow so much over the first 2 years. I could not be more pleased with how it turned out and I hope to find a few more vintage accents to add to the room.

The only things I have left to find are a coordinating changing pad cover, and a clothing hamper. I like to take my time and just keep my eyes open (sometimes for months) and then often stumble across something similar to what I wanted or have envisioned.