Today we are excited to be getting an insider’s look at the nursery of Skip Hop‘s very own Creative Director, Jessica Podoshen. Her daughter’s pink and gray nursery is equal parts classic and on trend—a rare feat! We think you’ll love this nursery as much as we do, and we thank Jessica for sharing this special space and her advice for new parents designing their nurseries. Now that her daughter Olivia is almost two, Jessica can look back on her nursery with experienced eyes. We’ll let her take it away!
I’m a design junkie, and I’ve always been obsessed with gorgeous interiors. I go to restaurants, hotels and stores just to see the layout and design of the space. I always knew I wanted to be in a creative field and ended up getting a BFA in graphic design from The Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. I like to say I’m a frustrated interior designer stuck in a graphic designer’s body.
Tell us a little about Skip Hop and how did what you do for work impact the design of your nursery?
When I first came across Skip Hop as a mom-to-be, I was a fan right away and wanted to register for everything. The products felt super fresh and well-designed, and they definitely had a cool factor. Skip Hop is one of the only baby brands that feels like a true lifestyle brand.
I used my strong sense of color, composition and love of clean lines to design Olivia’s nursery. I knew I wanted a bold pattern on the walls and a modern aesthetic, while still keeping it girly and light.
Tell us about your design process. Did you start with one central item or idea that served as your inspiration?
I found this amazing wallpaper by Osbourne and Little. It was very bold and graphic but also very feminine. I’m a big fan of mood boards and I use them for work all the time. I borrowed this technique to create a room I wanted to be in, starting with the wallpaper and easily dropping elements in and out as I went along.
What’s the first thing people notice when stepping foot into this room?
The wallpaper, of course! People also love the light fixture and framed baby animal prints.
Now that you’ve been using the space for a while, is there anything you would do differently? What works and what doesn’t?
I think I did a pretty amazing job (wink, wink), so I probably wouldn’t change the visual impact of the room all that much. From a function standpoint though, I think blackout drapes would have been really helpful for nap time. I wish I had gotten a small, really fabulous leather pouf rather than the ottoman, which we don’t really use. A pouf would be easier to move out of the way to create more floor space for Olivia to play—and it’s more transitional for a “big girl” room.
Olivia’s mobile was actually a Skip Hop mobile—and I loved the way it looked—but now that we’ve come out with a newer one (Moonlight & Melodies Projection Mobile), I have major mobile envy. It’s more functional because it also projects stars and moons on the ceiling, has glowing leaves, and even a remote control. Back when I first had Olivia, I had to manually wind the mobile, and it would stop after just a few minutes. If I could have just restarted it with a remote from the doorway, my life would have been a lot easier. I was also super bummed when I had to pack it up when she started sitting up. With the new mobile, the arm actually comes off so you can continue using it as a music box.
Which pieces do you still love as much as you did when you first designed the space?
The wallpaper is everything. And I love the rug. I spent so much time trying to find that rug because it was on backorder, and I feel like it will totally translate in a big girl room now that we’re going to move out of our apartment and buy a house. I love the table because it doesn’t tip, which was great when Olivia started pulling up to stand. And the light fixture has a really cool, modern aesthetic. I love it so much that I would actually use it in a different room of the house, outside the nursery.
What advice do you wish you could have told yourself when you were first starting your nursery design?
To chill out, because I used to cry when something didn’t work out the way I thought it was going to. (Let’s blame that on pregnancy hormones!) Also, remember that function is just as important as aesthetics. All along I thought I wanted a white vintage dresser. I ended up finding the perfect one on eBay, and the antique dealer selling it happened to be in the city, so I drove in with my husband. When we got there, I noticed that the dresser—because it was antique—didn’t have drawer stops. I flipped out because I realized it wasn’t safe for a baby. So then my mood board had to be updated with a really modern dresser. The moral? Function first.
Another function fail—I bought a stuffed animal soother, and we never used it because it timed out way too fast. It would have been much better to have something like the new Skip Hop owl soother (Moonlight & Melodies Nightlight Soother), which plugs into the wall for continuous play and also has an auto-off timer. It’s more décor-driven as well, which is definitely my taste, and adds an element of whimsy to the nursery. When form and function come together, it’s a beautiful thing.
Thank you, Jessica! As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. While Jessica still loves nearly everything about her daughter’s nursery—and who wouldn’t? it’s adorable!—as she mentioned there are a couple things she would do differently. Here’s a new design board to reflect her gorgeous nursery with a couple additions.
Blackout Curtains, Wallpaper, Pendant Light, Sparrow Crib, Moonlight & Melodies Projection Mobile, Rug, Glider, Moroccan Stool, Owl Nightlight Soother, Moroccan Pouf, Dachshund Bookends, Birdies Canvas
Nursery Photography by Philip Friedman
Editor’s Update: There was a recall on the Moonlight & Melodies Projection Mobile on December 16, 2015.
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