Mint

Sometimes a piece of decor just speaks to you. I came across the beautiful, watercolor cactus painting at a store closing, and I didn’t even know I was pregnant yet (let alone with a girl). I thought it was crazy to go for it—and so did my husband—but after I left the store, I couldn’t stop thinking about the painting and went back and grabbed the set for a steal price. Two weeks later, I found out I WAS, in fact, pregnant. A few more weeks later, and it was official: we were having our first girl after two boys! It was FATE. The painting and its washed, watercolor look became the inspiration for this nursery. I love interior decorating, especially nurseries, and I’ve learned that you don’t need a theme to play off of; you just need a single piece that speaks to you and let it evolve from there. Let’s just say: I did a lot of Google searches for “watercolor curtains,” “ombré rug,” and “cactus chair.” It’s amazing what you find is out there when you have very specific search terms! From there, it evolved over time into a watercolor cactus theme with llamas sprinkled in and added rose gold accents throughout. Also, get creative! The llama frame was blah and boring, so I spruced it up with rose gold duct tape, which brought it from bland to GLAM! Moral of the story: Pick a piece you love, and let it evolve from there.

A whimsical nursery fit for a queen!
The starting point for this project was evidently the stunning forest friend wallpaper. It’s bold, yet soft and fun, and helps to create a focal point in this bright space. We paired the wall mural with a beautiful textural blush pink rug which blends in so nicely with the crisp white flooring. We wanted to select a pendant that helped make a statement but still had nice round lines; this stunning egg-shaped pendant in aged brass is the perfect fit.
We layered in lots of soft pink, mint and neutral colours through a beautiful collection of accents, books, textiles and toys. One of my favourite decor features are the paper mâché animal heads, which are the perfect match for the wallpaper! We also glamed up the white IKEA dresser with some fun knobs from Anthropologie, which really elevate the look of the dresser. Lastly, we brought in some wood tones with the armchair, blanket ladder and storage bins, to act as a contrast against the homes’ wonderful white flooring.
This adorable space is filled with a beautiful sense of calm, I just love how it turned out.

This project came about in a very special way. I first met Victoria (my client, and now friend) on Instagram through a mutual friend and discovered that she had been struggling with infertility for almost 6 years. As someone who has suffered a miscarriage at 3 months, this broke my heart. Her strength, humor, and the raw honesty about her journey really drew me in and I wanted to help her. When she announced that after years of infertility treatments, they were expecting, I volunteered my design services. This is where e-design is a beautiful thing, because I am in Massachusetts and she lives in California. This was also the perfect arrangement because she has a great eye for design and wanted to be involved in putting everything together, but after the room, that would be the nursery, had sat empty for so long, she was having trouble envisioning it any other way. So for a few weeks we talked about everything nursery, design, pregnancy, you name it.
They weren’t finding out the gender so it had to be gender neutral. Other requests were modern, light, airy, a slight boho feel and beachy (because they spend a lot of time there). The walls were already a beautiful light grey, so we decided to keep the color and work with that as the base. The crib is a modern take with clear sides – this was important to them as they wanted to be able to peek into the room and have a full view of their baby without disturbing her. We kept the recliner neutral and chose a similar grey to compliment the wall color. A modern dresser that is white with wood tones to add some depth and contrast to the light neutral colors. The rug adds pattern, texture and soft colors. Some plants and a few shelves and the room was complete. The finished product was a beautiful nursery to bring their baby girl home to and they did an amazing job pulling everything together.
Through this journey, we became friends and this whole experience sparked a sincere passion. So we teamed up and are offering this same opportunity to other women who battled infertility or miscarriage and are now expecting their miracle babies. If you would like to read more, you can visit either of our websites, www.booandrook.com or www.expectingeverything.com. This giveaway will happen a few times a year and is not sponsored by anyone, its just two Mom’s who genuinely want to help celebrate your journey and break the stigma around infertility.
 
Corinne

The inspiration for my daughter’s nursery started with a flamingo painting my aunt had done for me for my birthday the year before I got pregnant. My mom and I have a thing for flamingos, which is why my aunt did the painting (she’s seriously so talented!). I knew I wanted to incorporate flamingos into the nursery when we found out we were having a girl, so initially that was the direction I was going in. The theme spiraled into more of a wild animal/safari theme as I was perusing pinterest and saw a print of a baby elephant in a flower crown. From there, my creative juices just started flowing!
I loved the idea of having a colorful nursery, not just shades of pink and white, so I found things in floral prints to complement the flower crowns on the baby animal prints. I also incorporated gold accents into the room in several places. Some of my most favorite items in the nursery were Etsy finds, including the 4 baby animal prints, the bible verse print above the glider, the mobile – which was customized to include a flamingo as well as gold accents (I’m obsessed with it!), and the wooden name sign above her crib, which we spray-painted gold. Another one of my favorite things in the nursery is the glider, which I happened to find at Babies R Us a few days before our local store closed for good. It was literally the only glider they had left in the store that wasn’t a floor model – in fact, they didn’t have a floor model of it so I bought it based on seeing the fabric in the box and looking up a picture of it online to see what it looked like put together. It was discounted to only $100 so even though I wasn’t sure it would fit in the nursery all that well, I couldn’t pass up the deal so I took a chance on it and I’m so glad I did! It not only looks great, it’s also super comfortable. I got a lot of the rest of the decor at my favorite store, Target, and all of the stuffed safari animals were gifted to Baby Reagan by my step-daughter from her collection.
Overall, splurging on a few items on Etsy and saving by shopping at Target or using decor we already had resulted in us not spending a ton but still creating a nursery we love, and we hope our daughter loves as she gets older. I hope she can grow into the room, and if she’s anything like the rest of her family she will be an animal lover so I hope she’ll love what we came up with for a long time.

I would love to share the makeover of my seven year old daughter Adelyn’s bedroom makeover. For her “big girl” room she wanted unicorns, horses, and sparkles…so we compromised to still get her vision while “taking it down a notch”  (or about a dozen!). To create more of a softer look, I used subdued pastel colors, and lots of textures. We added in a lot of fun unicorn and horse items in either inexpensive decor items or easy-to-swap out artwork will sweet, girlish images. We used a new spindle style bed and layered on lots of pink, white, and gold bedding.
But, her favorite part of the room is her new pink sofa! While it is primarily a reading nook, as a bonus it also folds out as a second bed for sleepovers. I love her new Wall Gallery full of fun, whimsical art (where else can you use prints of fairy floss than a little girl’s room??) We added in some fun DIYs just as the $69 light fixture and $2 gold horse figure.
I also wanted to keep it really budget friendly since I wanted her to fully enjoy her space, and not freak out when she secretly brings out her hidden marker stash…I know it is in there somewhere!
My advice to readers for designing a kid room: don’t go over the top with a theme! Instead, do something a little more classic with neutral furniture, and then sprinkle in fun touches (such as our bubble gum blowing llama).
If you can see the whole room reveal (and the free “Shop This Room” printable) right here: http://postboxdesigns.com/2018/11/08/girl-bedroom-decor-kid-room-makeover-e-design/

The design idea was centered around a set of $5 crib sheets that I used for fabric. I loved the triangle patterns and I painted the mountain scene above the crib using the colors and shapes as inspiration. I wanted to incorporate whales since we loved singing Baby DeLuca (our last name) to the tune of Baby Beluga during my pregnancy. My favorite pieces in the room are my little Nomad playmat and window seat that my husband built.

I already had the grey colored walls and had to work around though. So I brightened it up and cozies it up. If my project gets chosen, I can add more commentary.

I love to create colorful little kids spaces! I believe that kids rooms should inspire their imaginations, which is exactly what I think this space achieves! The fun mix of colors and textures really makes it so happy and cheerful, just like the little girl it was designed for!