Design Reveal: Marin’s Raspberry and Lime

I’m all about getting the biggest bang for your buck so I totally understood when mom Joanna shared her vision to create a nursery with a some longevity past the baby stage. A modern yet fun space for her baby girl, Marin, just born this past October that could last through her toddler years. She picked out a sophisticated color palette of raspberry and lime and set off to find all the pieces to fill the dream nursery for her daughter. We knew it would turn out stylish since Joanna has an Etsy shop filled with beautiful pillows for the home.

What was your inspiration for the room?
I wanted my room to be able to grow with the baby. So I didn’t want to get stuck into a themed room that was to babyish. I wanted it to be Modern and fun and able to fit with her as a toddler. I knew I wanted to do a Raspberry pink and Lime Green color way, so I started with fabrics and found the bumper fabric which I fell in love with and based the rest of my color choices off of.

What best describes your decorating style?
I love to mix clean lines with traditional elements. I also love vibrant colors that are set off with crisp whites which give the room a clean feeling and help the colors to pop.

Please share with us your choice of paint colors, furniture, art, diy tips, etc.
Our first step to our room was prepping our walls to be able to accommodate the decals and wood grain below the wainscoting. I put my husband to work and he floated (removed the texture) from the walls with the huge tree decal and also on all four walls below the chair rail. Once the walls were dried and smooth, I painted below the chair rail with a pearl white. Next, I mixed a glaze, which is a mixture of glaze, paint and water. The glaze is painted over the base coat and removed with a wood grain tool to create the effect of wood grain. (You can make a glaze from any color you choose).

The tree decal, bird cage and birdie decal I found online. I wanted to add an element of dimension to the tree so I added the 3-D flowers which I also found online at Umbra. The tree comes in 3 huge pieces; I cut the section out where my chair rail was and applied it to my chair rail separately instead of wrapping the tree on it, and this helped it stick to the chair rail better. The bird cages were applied to a smooth board I had cut to size at the hardware store. I painted the board pink then applied the cages and birds. My husband made a frame from extra chair rail we had from around the closet. I already had the book shelf which I had purchased at IKEA, and I wanted to make it work in the room. So I decided to get a two toned crib which brought the dark brown from my shelving and the white from the dresser. The crib is a 3 in 1 crib so it will accommodate her as a toddler. The dresser, closet system, mirror and lamp shade are all also from IKEA. We had a regular closet in the room but it didn’t make sense for organization. I had my husband rip the doors off and get rid of the header so we could use the maximum space that was available in the closet. I consulted my IKEA catalogue after many measurements and chose the correct fittings for what I wanted to store. The nice thing about the IKEA systems is that they are interchangeable and can be moved around or new elements can be added as she gets older.

The rocking chair was a lucky find. I found the upholstered rocker at babies’ r us for $140.00 because the fabric was trashed on it. So I snatched it up, bought some fabric and had it re-upholstered and then I had exactly what I wanted! I made the monogram pillow with extra fabric I had from the bedding. I have a small business making pillows called Dio Dio Domestic Couture. I’ve had plenty of experience making pillows but never made bedding before. So I got gutsy and decided to make my own bedding since I couldn’t find what I was looking for anywhere. I bought a bumper and bed skirt to use as a pattern and returned it to the store after I got the measurements
from them.

My sister had an old mobile from her daughter’s room that she had given me. It didn’t match my room so I made the little apples and pears from a Heather Bailey pattern. www.heatherbailey.com. The pattern is for pin cushions so I just needed to reduce the pattern on the copy machine to get the size I needed.

What is your favorite item(s) in the room?
I have to say my favorite item in the room is the onesie I framed. I found out I was pregnant on my husbands birthday so I ran out and bought a onesie and made it to say “baby gick” he opened it and saw our last name with baby and that is how I told him I was pregnant. After I found out we were having a girl I added the flowers and framed it with a frame from IKEA which I spray painted white.

Is there anything else you would like PN readers to know?
Possibilities are endless when you let your creativity flow. You need to look at the potential in something, anything can be spray painted or altered to make it just what you want. If you can’t find what you are looking for, don’t be afraid to try and make it yourself, you may be very surprised and proud of yourself!