Description
My little baby Lucas is coming 4/15/15 and I wanted an extra special place for him. I love mixing old treasures with newer retail finds. From flea markets, to Amazon we built this nursery from scratch and found everything we need! ( And, affordably) It was really bad when we moved in, but with style, love and design we brought this together.
Hope you enjoy!
-Summer Lynn
www.stylelovedesign.com
Design Inspiration
Blue skies with clouds and teal accents. Wanted to feel like I was outdoors.
Decorating Style
Vintage, eclectic, fresh, unique, personal.
Project Details
I am so at peace now that most of little baby Lucas' nursery is almost done. If he came today I'd be good with it. I still need my shag rug, a side table and a certain fantasy pillow I want, but otherwise, I have everything I need. I can always add to the gallery wall later, but mostly I feel happy with it. Here is the before pictures when we moved in. This room has come a long way!
The before-Just nasty. Awful old dirty carpet, and a wall that I think had never seen a good gallon of paint. But the minute I saw this room, I said 'Baby room!' (Plus it's right next door to the Master bedroom. Bonus!)Went with the color 'Clear Vista' No VOC and Low Odor Paint from Behr at the Home Depot. It took one full gallon exactly. A perfect shade of sky blue for a little baby boy. I feel like I'm outdoors when I'm in there now.
We looked underneath the carpet and saw old linoleum on top of the original 1945 hardwood floors. Olivier and I were like 'great!' Lets rip it all up and go down to the original flooring. Bad idea. The next morning, the little 4 inch rip of carpet reavealing the linoleum smelt SOOO horrible. Like bug spray. Me being pregnant and a total freak about toxic substances in the house started freaking. A little google search and I was sure the whole room was contaminated with asbestos (which is extremely toxic) and my sweet safe nursery was doomed. Well.... 6 phone calls later, and finally with a Asbestos Specialist on the phone, I calmed down. Turns out we were ok, but his advice- DON"T TOUCH THE OLD LINOLEUM! The asbestos lives underneath it and if you keep it dormant and just put new flooring on top of it, you'll be fine. Plus, the horrible smell we were inhaling was from the old gross carpet, not asbestos. (asbestos doesn't smell) He recommended a good vacuum and to just slap that new flooring on. So that we did. Well, Olivier did.Voila! New laminate flooring laid. We are renting and it's a super affordable alternative to new hard wood floors. Plus, I hate carpet.. With the passion. I have bad allergies and carpet just harbors dust and all that nasty stuff. I wanted a super easy floor to maintain for that little baby to be. Notice the white crown floor molding too. Love it!
We got a DaVinci Kalani 4-in-1 Convertible Crib in White. And instead of a traditional changing table I wanted to use a vintage dresser. When I found this white one with brass handles and pretty teal paint, I was one happy girl. Add this changing table topper from Land of Nod to any vintage dresser and voila! Instant changing table. (It comes with screws to secure it to the back of any dresser). And here we are today. Those Sanaga Striped Curtains are from Anthropologie and have the perfect shade of blue stripe with a teal trim that literally brings this whole room together. I'm SO in love with them. I knew this little pillow from Land of Nod on my Royal Blue, beyond comfortable, Lane Kids Regal Grande Upholstered Swivel Glider would help tie all the colors in the room together too. I found some sweet vintage prints and paintings and mixed them with some newer prints from Target to create this gallery wall. The wool Cloud Mobile is from Restoration Hardware (haven't hung it yet), and the little Cloud Shelf I found on Etsy.
After much research, and hearing that little boys will pee everywhere when changing their diapers, I decided on this award winning Soft Gear Swimways Spongex My Deluxe Changing Mat. It's
100% Closed Cell Foam
Made in the USA
Non slip surface
Germ resistant
Easy to clean
The idea of being able to wipe this down after every diaper change (rather than having to wash a soiled fabric cover) was a no brainer for me. Hopefully I'll like it.Added this handy Target Munchkin organizer with the Munchkin Warm Glow Baby Wipe Warmer for my 99% water natural Water Wipes. That little baby butt needs his comfort! All baby products by Earth Moma Angel Baby. Amazing, all natural, organic brand. Check out their products. ---> earthmamaangelbaby.com
I wanted a big white shelf for all his little books and toys and found this one at IKEA. It is actually really nice. (Not a fan of Ikea usually). That large white cabinet is my old TV stand I cleaned up and made into his little closet. Repurposed and Reused. How's that for some sustainability! It looks great in there and all his little baby clothes are just too cute! This little Louis Lion was a gift from Anthropologie and I found that little frog bank on clearance at Target. The small Antique Brass Pillar Table Lamp from West Elm fits perfectly on these shelves. Love me some brass! And that little cutie pie 'baby in a shoe' is a vintage flea market find. Olivier loves Stitch and added these to the baby room so I placed them in these storage bins and that wonderful alphabet sac that are from a wonderful sustainable company called FLUF. They specialize in100% organic cotton, mashine washable products. Fantastic!
I'm still not totally satisfied with the styling of this little shelf but I'm ok with it for now. The classic French Vulli Sophie the Giraffe is a must for my little French baby Lucas. We found this baby blue book with Lucas' name on the cover on Amazon. I was like 'YES!' That little bunny was a gift along side the book 'Guess How Much I Love You', and that little Sterling Silver cup is an engraved gift from Cartier. Ouh la la. Lucky Lucas. Found the garland on Etsy. All bedding, besides the Little Giraffe Luxe Blanket is from Land of Nod. Love the simple white crib skirt with teal stripe. He won't be in the crib for a while so I wasn't worried to much about getting the whole crib set yet. Plus these days you can't have anything in the crib with those little ones anyway. Pillows are from Land of Nod, and that sweet baby mobile is called Petit Tresor Happy Animals Musical Mobile. Found these vintage Indian paintings at the Rose Bowl Flea Market and I just love them so much. And there you have it. Still really want THIS pillow which would be the perfect splash of color for this monochromatic colored nursery. But for $75 dollars and a brand new baby on the way, I think it will have to wait. Rome wasn't built in a day. Hope you enjoy
Favorite Items
My anthropologie Sanaga Striped curtains.
Advice
Don't be afraid to look at thrift stores and local flea markets for treasures. They have so many cut sold baby pictures or toys that looked great styled with all the new bedding and furniture people get for nursery's. Also, skip the high priced changing tables. Buy or reuse a vintage dresser and put a changing table topper on top (land of nod has a great one) and you have some personality instantly! p.s. Brass and gold. They are wonderful accents no matter boy or girl or what color pallet you are working with. Just do it. And don't be afraid of gallery walls.