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Audrey Hepburn Themed Nursery

I have loved Audrey Hepburn since high school.  She is the timeless epitome of style, grace, poise, and good will.  All things every mom wants their daughter to grow up to be. I always dreamt of having a little girl, naming her Audrey, and decorating her room with some Audrey inspired style.  So that is what I set out to do.  One problem… the house we rent has this fabulous room with the yellow printed wallpaper already up.  Not exactly the black and white and Tiffany Blue color you might think of when envisioning Audrey Hepburn in her most popular film.  Also, I was trying to avoid pink.   So here I was with bold yellow wallpaper, an aversion to too much pink, and visions of Audrey Hepburn.
The first thing I found was this adorable illustrated print of Audrey Hepburn.  It was sweet and colorful.  I decided that the coral colors in the skirt went well with the wall paper and the inspiration for the room was ignited.  I added mint green as an accent color, and grey as a neutral.  So there it is.  An Audrey inspired room in yellow, coral, mint, and grey.  I am not sure if I would call this room traditional or modern, but most importantly it was unique and bold.
I had a dark brown Restoration Hardware crib left over that my son had outgrown.  It was not the ideal color for this room and I would have loved a white or grey crib, but let’s be honest, I was not going to fork out the cash for a new one, so this would have to work.  With such bold wallpaper, I kept the bedding simple.  My son’s old grey bumper, a white sheet, and a coral skirt with matching bows.  Here I encountered my next hurdle.  There were no simple coral crib skirts anywhere to be found.  I was walking in Target one day and came across a queen sized linen bedspread in the perfect coral.  Luckily my mom is an ace with the sewing machine (a skill not handed down to me).  I bought it, packed it up with my son’s old crib skirt as a go by, and shipped it to Grandma!  The bedspread came back as a crib skirt. Yay!
Again, I knew I needed a pretty simple rug in terms of color, but I still wanted it to be cute and fun.  I am absolutely obsessed with this grey rug from Land of Nod.  It is simple in color yet whimsical and girly.  The perfect find and a really good price in my opinion compared to other rugs at well-known baby decor stores.
If there is any one product all decor enthusiasts must know about, it is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  The color I used is called French Grey.  This miraculous paint is easy to use, covers anything and even paints on fabric.  That is how I turned a cheap, pressed wood, pine colored Ikea desk I had for a decade into what looks like a vintage writing desk.  I repainted the desk, no sanding required, except for some distressing at the end.  I also used the paint on a white burlap fabric to make an “A” on the pillow under the window and to write “audrey” on the burlap banner.  Both the blank pillow cover and the banner were purchased on Etsy.  The colorful pillows flanking the “A” pillow are from Target.
I wanted to make a mobile and incorporate all of my colors.  I searched Pinterest and recreated a dot mobile.  I purchased paper in the colors I wanted, bought a circle paper punch, and strung them on a thread hung from painted embroidery hoops.  A simple project to do in front of the TV while catching up on Real Housewives.
I also highlighted my nursery colors on the painted mason jars.  Just select the acrylic paint color you desire, apply, distress, and add flowers. So easy!
As mentioned above I believe Audrey Hepburn is a great role model as she embodies grace, elegance, and class.  Luckily, she also had some great one-liners.  I wanted her words of advice to be a daily reminder to my daughter about what is important in life.  “Happy Girls are the Prettiest”  I found this painted wood sign on Etsy and requested the artist to make it in coral.  “For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, for attractive lips, speak words of kindness, and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone”.  What great words lo live by.  I typed them up, edited my font and color, had it printed large at my local FedEx/Kinkos, and framed it.  Simple enough.
The rocking chair was from my son’s room so the only major piece of furniture I needed to buy was a dresser.  I chose one from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child.  It helped me tie together the grey painted desk and the old crib I had, went with the rug, and fit the space, so it was a winner.  I bought a few other accents for the shelves and voila!  The room was complete.  I love it, it makes me happy, and I hope it makes you happy too.
A word of advice to first time moms…buy black out curtains.  These ruffle bottom black out curtains work great and can be found at Pottery Barn Kids.