Skip to Content

Elegant Baby Girl Nursery in NYC Apartment

I started designing this nursery in March 2020, right before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on NYC. Thankfully, we had already converted our 2 bedroom apartment into 3 bedrooms by adding tension walls to our dining room area in order to create a small nursery.  Since all retail stores were closed near us, I spent countless hours online shopping.
When I first started decorating, I really didn’t have a theme in mind.  I just knew I wanted it to look elegant with a pink and grey color scheme.  Once I had the essentials (the crib, changing table and recliner) I started browsing sites for decorative items.  It was then that I realized I was drawn to butterflies, flowers and bunnies so the nursery eventually took on an ethereal theme!
The room is quite small with only one dresser that doubles as a changing table so we built a shelving unit above it to display all her pretty clothes.  We also purchased a crib with a built in drawer that houses all her blankets, swaddles and other large items. Since my husband and I were both working from home due to COVID-19, we needed an additional workspace so we added a lucite desk and chair which doubled as a console table.  My favorite items in the nursery are the chandelier which brings elegance and warmth to the room, and the mobile made of butterflies and flowers which evokes a sense of peace and tranquility.
The nursery has become everyone’s favorite room in the apartment as it very cozy and quiet.  My husband takes business calls in there when I’m out with the baby, and my son plays with his toys next to the crib so he can keep an eye on his little sister (and wake her up when she’s sleeping, sigh!)

Modern Whimsical Nursery for Baby Girl

We moved into our new house about a year and a half ago and left this room untouched, assuming it would eventually be for baby #2.
So as soon as I found out we were having a girl (our first is a boy), I immediately got to work brainstorming up a space that would be fun, imaginative, and a little bit girly — but could still grow with her throughout the years.
I repainted the grey walls a pale pink (Behr “Illuminated”), and since I’m averse to too much color, I wanted everything else in the room to feel neutral, light and airy — so I stuck to a palette of whites and creams and added texture with pillows, blankets, and acrylic pieces.
In terms of statement pieces, I installed a beautiful chandelier from Serena & Lily and chose an acrylic dollhouse floor bookcase, which not only holds a bunch of books and toys, but can also be used as an actual dollhouse when she gets older.
The result is a soft, feminine nursery that’s still modern and fits nicely with the rest of our home. I absolutely love it.

Clearly Modern Nursery

As owners of a baby store that offers custom nursery design, we’re involved in every step of designing other people’s modern nurseries all day, so we figured when the time came for us to do our own, it would be easy. Not the case at all! It was even more pressure to try and create something completely unique and for the first time it was for THE NessaLee Baby, so it took on all new meaning!