In the Nursery with Genevieve Weeks

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.

With every new year comes new resolutions, and many of these commitments include a brand new focus on fitness and activities. As any good parent knows, children can benefit from activities that inspire focus, creativity and healthy habits from an early age. Our first featured  “In the Nursery with” designer of 2014 understands that very well. Genevieve Weeks is the owner of Tutu School and is a retired ballet dancer who is passionate about teaching children to dance.

Tutu School is a sweet boutique ballet school that was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area and is now franchising locations nationwide. With a curriculum focused on exposing children to creativity and movement at an early age, Tutu School firmly believes that dancing like swans and Sugar Plum fairies not only exercises little bodies but also nurtures big imaginations.

Originally from the Midwest, Genevieve now calls San Francisco her home. She and her husband just welcomed their second and third children—twin boys named Hudson and Thatcher—on Thanksgiving day. Today she is sharing the details of the cheerful, carnival-themed twin nursery that she designed for them.

Would you tell us about the theme of the nursery and how you decided on it?

I called my husband, Andrew, one day all excited because the perfect theme for our new babies’ nursery had just occurred to me: “Enjoy the Ride!” It was meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek as our twins were certainly a surprise—one we were very excited about, but a surprise nonetheless. We decided to go with a bit of a carnival theme, and “Enjoy the Ride!” has become our family’s unofficial motto.

That’s definitely a fun motto and theme! Would you tell us about some of the items you chose to help with the carnival vibe?

I have two favorite things in the nursery—a photograph of a carnival ride in Paris taken by my husband and the paintings that hang over the twins’ cribs, also painted by Andrew. The paintings are abstract, but if you look closely, you might catch a glimpse of a ferris wheel or a fragment of a roller coaster. I love that the paintings fit together (and were painted that way), but they are displayed separately which seems appropriate for twins. When we were designing a nursery for our older son Sullivan, Andrew also did a painting for him (sailboats, the theme for his room) that has since followed him to his new room. It is quite special to know that each of our boys will always have such a unique keepsake dating back to the very beginning of their lives.

Do you have any words of advice for other designers and parents?

I think the thing that strikes me the most about the whole process of creating a nursery is what an individual experience it is and how much it varies from family to family. I’ve had friends who went out to purchase their babies’ bassinets after they were already in labor and friends who completed their nurseries during their second trimesters. The range of what makes a couple feel ready to welcome a baby into their home covers a very broad spectrum, and I think the main thing is to figure out what is important to you about creating a space for your baby or babies and then to embrace that without apologies.

Photography by Andrew Weeks Photography

Do you know of a fantastic nursery or big kid’s room designed by a successful designer or business owner? Please send a photo of the room to Adrienne@ProjectNursery.com for consideration.