Nautical

When planning the nursery, even before we knew the gender, I knew I wanted to incorporate soft blues, ivory, and white. These colors are so calming and peaceful and let’s be honest, I am sure life with a newborn could always use a little more peace and calm.

Once I had the colors in mind, I immediately began thinking of the beach. As a child, I spent every summer in Northern Michigan and these have always been my fondest memories. Playing in the waves, building sandcastles with Petoskey stone bridges, exploring magical birch tree forests, climbing sand dunes as big as mountains, building campfires, and eating s’mores until I could burst. Is there a more perfect place on earth? I wanted to bring the sense of adventure and tranquility that Northern Michigan embodies into my baby’s first room.
Our first two projects in this room were painting and installing the hardwood floors. We decided on White Dove from Benjamin Moore and  this French Oak hardwood flooring. We were able to install the floors ourselves over the course of a weekend. We also installed the board and batten wall which is one of my favorite features in the room! We loosely based the project on this tutorial but went with larger squares. We really enjoyed working on these projects together but I would make sure if you are doing anything labor intensive to get it out of the way in your second trimester. I don’t think I would have been able to comfortably saw, hammer, and paint with a big belly.

My husband created this adorable owl and bear mobile. He is constantly impressing me with his creativeness and craftsmanship. He also refinished the mid-century dresser which we found on craigslist a few years ago for a steal of $75. I’m so excited to see what he makes for this baby in the future! I see a lot of amazing wooden toys, maybe an indoor rock climbing wall.

As a kid, one of my favorite things to do up north was to peel birch bark and make “paper”. I’d draw pictures of animals or write notes to my friends. I knew I wanted some birch elements in the room and when I saw this amazing that beautiful birch wall art on Etsy, I knew it was the perfect addition to the nursery.
Living downtown we may be surrounded by concrete and car horns, but I hope that this little room in the middle of Chicago can bring a bit of nature into my baby’s every day life. Our first trip “Up North” is next month and I can’t wait to bring him back year after year to the happiest place on earth
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Hi Project Nursery!
We finally finished our nursery and we’ve added a few more pictures.
Our baby boy is here! We have had a blast dreaming up this room for him and wanted it to contain little details that are significant in our lives throughout his nursery. One major season of my husband’s life was that he spent a couple of years living in the UK, Oxford to be more specific. Several years later, we he moved back to the states and met one another while living in Washington, DC. You’ll notice little elements throughout the nursery that represent these beloved places. The color palette itself reflects the classic design throughout these cities that we hold dear.
I sat down a few months ago in the midst of a “nesting” phase of my pregnancy and started putting ideas together, and asked myself a series of questions. What are elements that make this room capable of transitioning from a nursery, to a toddler’s room, and eventually to a boy’s room? What are details that make us smile? What will make him smile? Are there ways to encourage learning and creativity for him through the design of a space? These are just a few of the questions I pondered.
This room once had bright turquoise, semi-gloss paint on the walls and an old ceiling fan on the ceiling. My husband and his friend graciously took on a DIY project: board & batten wall paneling. Boy, did it change the space all together! We painted the walls a deep navy and the paneling a soft white. This alone added so much value to the space.
We slowly started filling it with hints of “whimsy”: a midcentury chair, a colorful play gym, and a patterned rug to name a few. Then, we added pieces that were sentimental to us: pictures of my husband’s grandmother’s historic home in Virginia, stuffed animals from my great grandmother, handmade quilts, and some classic books we both read growing up.
I hope you enjoy the transformation!
xoxo,
Laurin
@cambridge_row

Our baby boy is here! We have had a blast dreaming up this room for him and wanted it to contain little details that are significant in our lives throughout his nursery. One major season of my husband’s life was that he spent a couple of years living in the UK, Oxford to be more specific. Several years later, we he moved back to the states and met one another while living in Washington, DC. You’ll notice little elements throughout the nursery that represent these beloved places. The color palette itself reflects the classic design throughout these cities that we hold dear.
I sat down a few months ago in the midst of a “nesting” phase of my pregnancy and started putting ideas together, and asked myself a series of questions. What are elements that make this room capable of transitioning from a nursery, to a toddler’s room, and eventually to a boy’s room? What are details that make us smile? What will make him smile? Are there ways to encourage learning and creativity for him through the design of a space? These are just a few of the questions I pondered.
This room once had bright turquoise, semi-gloss paint on the walls and an old ceiling fan on the ceiling. My husband and his friend graciously took on a DIY project: board & batten wall paneling. Boy, did it change the space all together! We painted the walls a deep navy and the paneling a soft white. This alone added so much value to the space.
We slowly started filling it with hints of “whimsy”: a midcentury chair, a colorful play gym, and a patterned rug to name a few. Then, we added pieces that were sentimental to us: pictures of my husband’s grandmother’s historic home in Virginia, stuffed animals from my great grandmother, handmade quilts, and some classic books we both read growing up.
It’s still a work in progress, but I hope you enjoy the transformation!
xoxo,
Laurin
@cambridge_row

I didn’t want to stick to a theme other than colors. I have traditional wainscoting that was in the room before converting to a nursery. I wanted to steer away from being too neutral and went with Hail Navy paint and a contrasting white open closet with gold Swiss cross decals. I added a contemporary crib, plush shag navy rug, preppy traditional chair, and fun eclectic decor in nautical (mirror, frame & sconce), rustic (baskets, old horseshoe & blinds), contemporary (light fixture, Swiss cross decals, shelf & growth chart), outdoorsy (faux moose heads, antler heart & animal garland), & trendy (morrocan pouf ottoman, letterboard & felt mobile) styles to round out the look.

Having worked with Felix’s parents twice already, to be invited back a third time was pretty special!
I had a great understanding of their style and knew we could try something a little bold….while still remaining a really classic base.
We started with the navy grasscloth wallpaper and added in a beautiful wainscoting base.  Little nautical touches throughout the space incorporate the family’s love with the ocean.

Designing a neutral nursery after having done two girl nurseries was hard! The beautiful, serene wave print of this wallpaper inspired me to create a peaceful nursery for my new baby. I chose beiges, greys and whites to pair with the blues and teals of the wallpaper to keep the rest of the room more simple.

Decorating for this party was so much fun! Our little guy was born in July, so there was no shortage of red white and blue decor! As for the goldfish centerpieces I just used vases we had on hand and voila! Unique fishbowl centerpieces on every table – super cute and very cost effective with goldfish going for just 50 cents each!

When we moved to a lake cottage, in walking distance to Lake Erie, it was time to transition my son was to his “big boy room”. His room was previously a guest room with tan walls and blue carpet. It wasn’t in the budget to replace the carpet, so the initial design focused on creating a room that would work with the blue, and make it look purposeful. While there isn’t a “theme” in the room, since the house is a lake cottage, the “lake life” vibe is very fitting.
I painted the walls Benjamin Moore’s White Dove to freshen everything up, and added shiplap to the back wall. There are red/orange and blue details throughout the room to give hints of “nautical”. I also installed a floating window seat in the dormer. This seat can be used for reading when he gets older, but for now serves as the perfect train table.
I fastened a few wooden crates to the wall, sideways, to create a wall of shelving. I wanted most of the shelving to be accessible by my son, but wanted one area that was out of reach. We kept some of the art and decor from his old room (he still loves the planes over his bed), and mixed in some nautical pieces. The maritime flags, over the bed, are actually his initials which is a fun twist on the “initials as art” trend.
I love to mix pattern and texture to give some depth and interest. Keeping things more eclectic and less “matchy” also helps with the transition of decor as his tastes (and mine) change.