Remember that project that I was working on? It's the room that had twin beds for our nieces and nephews. We moved all of that furniture out, and in went a crib. Yes, you read that correctly, A CRIB!
Last week, we shared the most fabulous news ... we have a baby!! Do you even believe it? We don't! We certainly did believe it when we were getting up up at 3AM for feedings and diaper changes! Ha! Now, our little guy is four months old, and he is so kind to us that he is sleeping through the night!! I am crossing my fingers that this stays. Ha!
When we found out that we were going to be raising a little miracle in our home, I quickly started to pull together my design ideas for the perfect nursery!
There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I was going to start with the color scheme. We found out we were having a boy, but I had been planning this nursery in my head for years, so I dug deep in my brain and pulled out the plans.
BLACK & WHITE
Duh! Sticking with what I know and love for the newest little love in my life!
It's important for me to have clean lines and functional space.
So, I started with a mood board for both boy and girl. Since we didn't know what we were having at the time, I wanted to prepare for both!
Then, I called my friend and design guru, Bethany at Studio 1049, and we started to work on sourcing immediately. I had in my mind what I wanted, and nothing was going to work if it wasn't that exact item. Hmmmmm ... not very flexible, huh? Well, I learned very quickly that I need to chill out, and go with the flow.
The first decision was if we were going to keep the carpet in the room. Honestly, I wanted to transition to hardwood, but there is something cozy about carpet in a bedroom. When we built our house, we put an off-white carpet in all of the rooms to keep a neutral and clean look. Result: carpet stays for now!
Stephen chose the furniture, on a whim, before we knew the gender. I was a little nervous designing around modern furniture. It is not necessarily my style, but was up for the challenge. My goal was to ensure that it still felt like it was fit for a baby, and maybe even grow with him into the toddler years.
Once we had the furniture, I knew I was really digging the white oak wood, with accents of black and white. I am sharing all of the details on how we pulled together an adorable nursery, fit for a perfect little boy.
First up, the walls. Wallpaper versus paint? I wanted wallpaper in the worst way, but I fell victim to my own lack of decisiveness, which almost NEVER happens. I ended up sticking with painted white walls, and used PPG Paints Delicate White in Eggshell finish.
Next up was my vision for artwork. I originally wanted a watercolor custom artwork, but then I saw the most adorable baby animal prints, and knew that I had to have them! I was able to download the black and white prints, and then uploaded to Framebridge to print and frame for me. This allowed me to be sure that each print and frame were the exact same size for the gallery wall. You can find the prints at The Crown Prints!
I am a sucker for all things monogrammed and personalized. I quickly got to work ordering him crib sheets and changing pad covers with his name and monograms on it. Truth be told, while the changing pad covers are very cute, they aren't the most practical, especially when you are changing them after accidents! Don't worry, this was changed out shortly after Ben arrived home! :)
After several mishaps on the rug, we finally ended up with the cutest alphabet rug! I must have ordered three or four rugs, and either I didn't measure accurately, or the rugs were wayyyyy bigger than they said.
Lighting was a bit more difficult than we imagined. The room isn't huge, but some of the pendant lights were too large for the room. We finally found the perfect fit at Pottery Barn!
Window treatments! Okay, so here is where the crazy comes into play for me. From the exterior, I need all of my windows to look the same or be coordinated. Meaning, I can't handle of blinds in some windows, and then sheers in another room, etc. I don't notice at anyone else's house but my own, but it's a thing for me. So, blinds stay since we have the 2" wood blinds in the entire house. However, I wanted a little extra light blocking, and I wanted the look to be softer, which is easy to do when you bring in window treatments. We had been doing custom treatments in other parts of the house, and while I love them so much, and you get EXACTLY what you want, the price tag was a bit much for a room that will likely change in a few years! The search was on, and Bethany found cute, reasonably priced drapes and roman shades (which still need to be hung!)!
Okay, are you still hanging in with me? I'm sorry for the long post, but this room was so fun, and I love it so much because the most special little boy fills with so much joy!
I promise, we are in the home stretch! I wanted bookshelves, but didn't really want another piece of furniture in the room. Thankfully, I have an extremely talented brother, who can make me anything my heart desires! I knew what I wanted and the size, BUT, I wanted the stain to coordinate with the white oak stain of the furniture. At the time, he lived in South Carolina, and couldn't see the furniture in person, so after a quick call to our furniture company, they sent him a sample of the wood so that he could coordinate the stain! They turned out perfect. Add in the brackets from Signature Hardware, and voila, exactly what I wanted for bookshelves!
