Nursery Design
I’m so excited to share the design and inspiration for our little guy’s nursery. Originally inspired by Chris Stapleton’s song ‘Starting Over’, the neutral hues, earthy textures, and warm finishes represent this new chapter in our lives. I’ve outlined my process below on how I made inspiration into reality:
1 - Start with inspiration
Gather images of the vibe you’re going for and specific products or feature items. Use a combination of grounding statement pieces (for us it was the crib) with smaller, functional details (like books or toys) to balance out. We fell in love with this hunter green crib from Crate & Kids and decided to build the room around that - even before we knew if we were having a boy or girl! We knew we could make it work for either gender - adding blush accents if it was a girl or blue and sand accents if it was a boy.
2 - Create a focal vignette
Decide where you want to draw the eye to in your space. This is usually the largest or most intricate piece in your room. Since we were basing everything around the crib, we decided to make that our focal point. We installed a white horizontal shiplap as an accent wall to anchor the space and layered handmade artwork and a playful geometric mobile over the crib. The artwork is made of torn and cut paper that I layered to make it look like my grandparent’s farm.
3 - Balance beautiful with practical
It’s so easy to just think about the style of the space and not the functional elements you really need. A lot of the pieces we brought into the nursery HAD to be practical for a new baby. The glider arm chair from Ashley Furniture is such a great balance of pretty and practical - I love the farmhouse style ticking stripe fabric and it is so comfortable for countless nighttime feedings. The dresser doubles as a changing table and stores extra diapers, wipes, burp cloths and blankets, onesies and outfits, socks, hats, and bedding. The Keekaroo changing pad on top is wipeable and I love the neutral color and minimal look of it. Another fun detail is the Seabags bunny bucket bag on the side table conceals a tissue box. I can’t tell you how many tissues I’ve gone through between breastfeeding, cold season, and baby blues!
4 - Layer in handmade details
One of the biggest ways to make a space feel uniquely yours is to add in homemade or found elements. We were so fortunate to be given multiple handmade blankets by my mom and Chris’ grandmother, as well as a beautiful quilt by my friend and coworker. Along with the handmade artwork over the crib, those are the elements I find myself appreciating the most.
5 - Allow your space to evolve
Everything changes when you have a new baby so giving yourself grace to change or swap things out is key. I’ve already reorganized the dresser drawers multiple times as I continue to learn what baby needs and what we use on a daily basis. We’ve also shifted things around in the closet and will continue to do so as he grows out of clothes and starts becoming more mobile. The crib can also grow with him and has a toddler rail.
Overall, I’m so happy with how his nursery turned out and I look forward to spending time in it each day with our little guy! We have tummy time on the rug and spread out his toys. He’s taken a few naps in his crib and we’ve had countless bedtime story readings and late night feedings in the cozy chair.
