A classic nursery that combines both nautical & travel inspired elements. Not wanting anything too theme specific, we incorporated coastal & travel components into one cohesive nursery using muted shades of blue and gray, natural wood tones, & mixed metals.
This project is of the nursery I designed for our first child, Letty Grace.
For the longest time I had been mentally designing a baby girl’s nursery: vintage style, built around Franklin & Ben’s Mason furniture, with pale sage walls, lots of shabby chic wall art, antique mirrors and such. I was a bit demotivated when I had to shift my focus, but with a bit of effort I managed to pull it off.
My husband and I found out we were expecting just a little sooner than WE expected! We are currently still living in a 2 bedroom apartment, but didn’t want to move in the middle of our pregnancy. So, we decided to make the best of our current office space that occupied our 2nd room and transform it into a nursery… leaving just the office essentials to get us by!
Teddy’s nursery took about 7 months to complete, which is unheard of for me, as I make decisions on the fly and want things done yesterday. Because we ordered a brand new line of furniture, there were some delays in getting it (on the manufacturer’s end)– add that to the several months that it took for me to decide what to do with his wall letters, and you arrive at the 7 month completion date for this nursery. In spite of how long it took, we are really happy with the result.
When we found out our next baby would be a little girl I set out transforming our “boy” nursery to a “girl” nursery. We loved the blue we had chosen for the nursery originally so decided to keep the wall color the same but add pink and white.
We didn’t find out the sex of our baby so we wanted to keep the nursery gender-neutral using bold, vibrant colors. We wanted to keep the nursery clean and simple, yet fun and cute!
We decided to transition our son from his crib to a full-size bed when he was 20 months old since he is an active sleeper and needed the additional space to be comfortable. This necessitated a move to a larger room, so we converted our guest bedroom into his big boy room.
It’s incredible how easy it is to accumulate a mountain of toys over two years. These were my goals in creating a toddler room for my son:
Have only the age appropriate toys in the room (all baby toys went into storage)
Keep them off the floor
Have the toys easily accessible
Since I’m going to be a single mom, I decided it was best to live with my parents at their house. They were nice enough to let me have a room in the house to create a nursery in. Somehow almost everything in the nursery turned into a DIY project and my mom and I have been working for the last several months to get everything together. She’s very creative and talented at sewing and has helped bring out my crafty side as well! Designing the nursery has been an experience I will always treasure because it truly brought my mom and I closer. :)
Colorful, Playful, Functional Playroom
I was going more with a color theme, orange, gray-blue, green, and brown. I really wanted to keep it simple. This is our third child, I knew what would be important to me. The baby, not all the stuff!
A neutral gender shared space for a toddler girl and baby boy.
A modern girl’s nursery transitioned from her brother’s room with a few easy changes.
Gender neutral nursery using vintage and modern touches.
Preston’s walls are painted a dark “Sock Monkey” brown and a 12″ red boarder is painted around the top. The trim and furniture are an antique white. All of the colors were pulled from those of vintage Sock Monkeys! Most people think nurseries should be bright and pastel, but I disagree. Preston’s room is cozy and makes napping EASY! There are red and white gingham accents throughout. They can be seen on the drapes, crib skirt, personalized PBK soft chair in the reading area, on the ribbon attached to the mobile I made, and on a letter “P” hung above the rocking chair. The other fabric selection is ivory with Sock Monkeys. The crib sheet, crib blanket, rocking chair pillow, changing pad cover, light switch plate, lamp and night light are in this fabric. Some of the pieces were bought on Etsy and others purchased individually at babybedding.com. The pieces from babybedding.com were my only splurge, but are still affordable. I painted all of the picture frames an antique white and glued red buttons on (a project that cost $11 including frames-Walmart wooden frames, spray paint and some red buttons I had). Button details are also on the mobile and hamper. I also made the “No Monsters Allowed” sign that hangs above the closet. Our home is a 1941 bungalow. I wanted a nursery that may have been there when the house was built but with a modern twist-of course. I was also on a small budget, because I lost my job shortly after getting pregnant. The entire space was done for under $600, excluding the crib and dresser-gifts from our parents! My dad made the red shelf above the crib, and we painted it with leftover wall paint. Another friend made the personalized wooden blocks and made the personalized basket that holds toys. I found the alphabet art for $10, at TJMaxx and the letter “P” for $2.95 at landofnod.com. The “P” is hung by a handpainted Sock Monkey knob-$3.95 on Etsy! The red rugs, red changing table basket, and ivory rocking chair pad were Pier 1 clearance finds! The rocking chair was snagged from my parents porch. The crib, changing table/dresser, and bookshelf were ordered on sale from JCPenney. The small “bedside table” was purchased at a HUGE discount from a furniture store that was going out of business. The hamper was bought for $19.99, from babiesrus. I cut the wood buttons off, that it came with, and sewed on large red buttons I got at Walmart for $3. We painted this room with the intention that it can be used for years to come. The crib converts to a toddler bed and full bed, the changing table becomes simply a dresser, and the few sock monkey elements can be easily removed. With new sheets, comforter, rugs and art, this room can be transformed. I have visions of adding baby blue or orange to the red and brown, for a “big boy” space. For now, Preston loves “his monkeys” more than we could have hoped. He giggles and “talks” to them often, and we beam with pride!
I love the combination of red and pale blue. I love it even more when you get fabulous results such as this for just under $1000. Mom Meghann, did a super job researching superstar Etsy shop owners to pull together a contemporary room with vintage appeal.