In the Nursery with Scott Phillips

This is our interview series in which we bring you the nurseries and kid rooms of successful designers, entrepreneurs and moms. Through this series, our featured guests will divulge some of their design secrets and share stories of how their nurseries came to be.

We think art is an essential part of any nursery design, and we share that belief with Scott Phillips of Rise Art, an online art concierge service that makes high-end contemporary art accessible to everyone. There are countless artists to choose from nowadays and price points that range from affordable to absurd, and Scott saw an opportunity to make the process of buying art simple and fun.

With Rise Art, you can purchase or even rent art from thousands of contemporary artists, and an expert team of insiders curates the selection so you can trust that you’re getting only the very best. Plus, if your art arrives and it’s just not working in your space, you can return it for free—it doesn’t get much better than that! Today Scott is sharing a peek inside the modern and lively nursery that he and his wife, Helene, created for their twin girls. This space is gorgeous, the art is amazing and those girls are two times the cuteness. Thanks for sharing, Scott!

Tell us about your design process. Did you start with one central item or idea that served as your inspiration?
Our friend, artist Kristjana S. Williams, created a personalized print to celebrate the birth of our daughters, Margot and Juliette. We love this special work, and it was the starting point for our nursery. Kristjana is known for creating intricate artwork, and this piece is no exception. The print is a colorful illustration with flora and fauna layered over cityscapes that inspired us to get a fabulous life-sized baby giraffe for the nursery.

What was the most important thing you wanted to achieve when creating this space?
We wanted a colorful and playful space that inspired our girls’ curiosity and creativity. From a functional standpoint, the room had to have the flexibility to evolve and grow with the girls and their distinct personalities. With that in mind, we picked a broad, but complementary, color palette that makes it easy to update or change. As the girls grow, we can easily swap out the artwork for something new and add objects to give the room a completely different look and feel.

Now that the accent walls have dried and bedding is neatly tucked, what is your favorite thing about the room?
We love the shelving over the changing table, which is a good thing since there are lots of diaper changes with twins! The shelves hold keepsakes, books and items that are special to our family. On the top shelf, we have the teddy bears from when we were infants ourselves. It’s nice to see these nostalgic pieces mixed in with the new, and they always make us smile.

What’s the first thing people notice when stepping foot into this room?
The artwork is a real focal point of the room. Living in London, space is at a premium, so our nursery is quite small. With that in mind, we kept the furnishings to absolute necessities and chose artwork that would be really impactful, but not overpowering, in the space. The artwork we selected is bright, interesting and colorful—the pieces really give the nursery character.

Do you feel like the room transitions well with the rest of your home?
Our home is eclectic with a unified blue and gray color palette throughout. This has allowed us to really have fun with our artwork and create unique spaces that feel different yet work together perfectly. I love that the nursery carries this same color palette with pops of accent colors. Even though we have twin girls, to highlight those accents, I got a great novelty rug from Achica—it’s blue with an owl. The rug makes a seamless transition from the nursery to the navy blue runner in the hallway.

Do you have any words of advice for other designers and parents?
Don’t be afraid of having real art in your nursery—it is an amazing way to add color and fun to a space. A special piece of art that your child has grown up with is something they will treasure forever! Also always measure and double check the space before purchasing furniture, lamps, art or accessories. We have a small space, and a couple of times I got over excited and almost bought things that would have been too big or overpowered the space.

Photography by Marc Haydon