My husband and I didn’t want to find out the gender of our baby, we let it be a surprise!  Most of the gender neutral nursery inspiration out there is black and white or minimal color but I knew I wanted something that reflected my love of color, patterns and whimsy.  With the help of my friend Audrey of The Kings Cottage, a master of design and interiors, we created a space that’s equally inspiring for creative parents and stimulating for any child.

One of my favorite artists is Cat Lee for her whimsical & colorful paintings of animals.  I already had three beautiful prints of hers and I used them as a jumping off point for the nursery.  I also knew that I wanted to use lots of bright colors, pom poms and alllllll the animals!  (see mood board included in the photos) I then went through my own belongings and pulled items I knew would work for decor – animal plates from Anthropolgie, a Turkish light fixture we bought during our travels and a few items from my own childhood including a hand drawn Smurfette picture by my older brother, a bear piggy bank and a vintage stacking toy.

Most of the furniture was thrifted or re-used.  The mustard yellow rocking chair was found at a thrift store years ago and lived in our guest bedroom.  I knew it would be perfect for the nursery!  We found the changing table at a road side flea market and spray painted it neon yellow.  Audrey custom made the changing pad cover with a whimsical black and white zebra fabric.  The dressers were actually nightstands that we salvaged from a family member’s home.  We painted them a dark charcoal gray and spray painted the handles hot pink.  I gave new life to a DVD rack by using it as a bookshelf!  A thrifted horse coat hanger was painted purple and hung at child’s height for jackets & towels.

One of my favorite and most meaningful details is the mobile hanging above the crib.  We conceived Xavier while on a trip to Hawaii.  I had brought back lots of driftwood from that trip so I gave some pieces to a talented friend of mine and she used them to create this adorable pom pom mobile!  She gave me some extra pom poms to adorn other baskets throughout the nursery.

I found a wall stencil tutorial by A Beautiful Mess and from it, Audrey created this amazing hand drawn wall, its the best part of the whole room!  We added our own flair to it by filling in just a few of the shapes with colors pulled from the Cat Lee prints.  And we even painted the ceiling fan peach!

Another favorite baby item is our custom diaper bag from locally owned Satchel in Savannah.  In one photo, I share some of our favorite items: Wildbird ring sling, our favorite rattle by Strawberry Moth, Munchkin travel diaper changing pad & cup that we use to bring along hot water for bottles, our neon yellow Freshly Picked moccasins and pineapple shades in honor of Hawaii!

Some other room favorites include: the Munchkin symphony cube (a noise making baby toy that isn’t annoying! Xavier loves the classical music it plays!), Babylit books (literature classics made into baby board books that teach things like counting, body parts, etc), the alligator baby blanket by my friend & furniture designer Katy Skelton, our llama Nate Berkus and colorful Oh Joy crib sheets.

Nursery must haves: We love to use essential oils in the nursery.  Our two faves are lavender for calming & sleep and frankincense for wellbeing & fighting sickness.  We also love the Dohm white noise machine for peaceful sleep! I find it helpful to have a small interactive toy for my baby to hold while I change his diaper.  This keeps him from squirming and reaching his hands down while I’m trying to clean him up! We use the Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes.