Affordable Nursery Decorating Ideas and Inspiration, Great Finds For Baby and Mom, DIY Projects, and Parties
Happy Friday, lovely readers! We’re welcoming the weekend with a sweeps from our newest sponsor Henry James Paper Goods, an independent Etsy shop dedicated to designing art prints for baby.
Henry James Paper Goods features personalized art prints for children, nursery art for your newborn, and illustrations for your home. All art prints are printed with super heavyweight and archival Velvet fine art paper and Ultrachrome inks to last a lifetime.
Oh, the places you’ll go! The Dr. Seuss books are beloved by generations — and admired by the whimsical and colorful illustrations at the turn of every page. They remind parents of their childhood and inspire a child-like whimsy in the grinchiest of grinches. Fans around the world will go bananas when they feast they’re eyes on this one-of-a-kind whimsical Seuss-themed nursery!
Child’s Name: Peliah Purgason
Child’s Age: 21 months
Location: Richmond, VA
Decorating Style: My husband and I are both commercial interior designers which makes working on our own home very interesting. I guess I would classify our style as transitional with very personal flair. More than anything we want our home to be comfortable. We love having lots of photos and some personal artwork around. We do most of the work on our home ourselves and make a lot of our own decorations.
Inspiration for the room: When I was a teenager I first read the book “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. I was so inspired by the messages and inspiration in the book that right then I knew that if I ever had a baby I wanted to include something from the book in the nursery. Fast forward 18 years I just so happened to marry a man who is very artistically talented. We took my idea and his talents and merged them together to create this nursery. We chose the characters and designs from the book that had the most color and movement to create an overall energetic vibe.
Advice: Start early. This took us almost 3 months, but the time we spent together was priceless. Make sure you love the room you will be spending a lot of time in it all hours of the day and night.
I’ll give you a moment to catch your breath.
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Ok. I think that’s enough.
Now on to the details!
This real nursery comes to us from Stephanie Hanna, Owner of Brag About Baby, Inc. (a chic online boutique offering stylish baby/toddler clothing and accessories). It’s whimsical. It’s chic. And it’s GORGEOUS! Read on to find out how this new mom created a space where her daughter’s imagination will soar for years to come.
Child’s Name: McKenzie Raine Hanna
Child’s Age: 6 weeks old
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
What was your inspiration for the room?
I wanted to design a whimsical room that my daughter could grow into. A magical place where she could get lost in her imagination.
Describe your decorating style.
Contemporary Chic
Tell us about the design process.
The room all started with the painting above her crib. I saw a similar painting somewhere but it was very expensive and the colors weren’t right. I’m lucky to have a very talented best friend that painted it for me. We bought the canvas at Michaels and I gave her all the paint swatches I wanted to use in the room so she could match them.
Instead of the traditional mobile I wanted to do something a little unexpected. I purchased the butterflies online, and my husband and I suspended them for the wall and ceiling to make it look as if they are flying. I think our daughter will love this when she’s a little older.
The next step for me was deciding on the wall color. I chose gray because I wanted all of the bright colors to pop. It is actually very soothing. My husband and I put up the crown molding and also the molding around the rectangles. The three fuchsia rectangles make a big impact in the room and was again very inexpensive. We used a high gloss paint to apply the swirlies inside the rectangles. The swirlies complement the painting on the opposite wall. The monogram letter ‘M’ was purchased on Etsy and I painted it to match and added the butterfly to tie it all in.
We chose sleek modern white furniture to brighten up the room. The lighting is a scene stealer. What little girl doesn’t love bling? The bling floor lamp and the bling table lamp were bought for me as a shower gift from my besties, also the crystal wall sconces. The light bounces all over the room making it feel magical.
The tissue poms hanging above the glider are a dramatic pop of color that adds so much. We strung them with crystals to tie in the bling.
The bedding was the most challenging part of the room. I didn’t want to do anything too crazy and take away from the painting so I chose a solid fuchsia color with the polka dot pattern.
The birds and owls scattered through out the room are one of my favorites. I found them on Etsy. They are very well made and I feel they add a touch of whimsy to the room.
The frames and the toy box were also painted by my best friend. The frames we got from Michaels on sale and the toy box was another shower gift.
I feel that one of the greatest parts of being a kid is being able to imagine anything. I designed this room for my daughter to have a place she can go to feel like she is in a whimsical world where anything is possible, she can be anything in life and do whatever brings her joy. I want to instill this in her at a very young age so she can grow up being confident and secure in herself and the path she chooses :)
Any words of advice?
Don’t feel you have to follow any rules when decorating your nursery, it doesn’t have to be baby pink or blue, use your imagination!
Room sources.
Owls and bird | Bellamina
Furniture | AP Industries
Bedding | The Land of Nod
Butterflies | The Butterfly Grove
Lighting | Chiasso
Tissue poms | DIY Project
Wooden M | Wooden Letters
*** This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Jill Baines.***
Finny and Zook is a Brooklyn, NY based shop offering a line of simple yet whimsical, modern alphabet nursery prints.
The perfect addition to your child’s modern room or nursery, these prints can be easily mixed and matched to create a fun collage and can be used to spell out a word or your child’s name!
See how I ‘cleverly’ spelled the word BABY with some of Finny & Zook‘s prints?
Have you ever been on the hunt for the perfect gift?
Nothing seems special enough but you don’t loose hope that something magical will just fall right into your hands and you’ll think to yourself “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Well hello, Pink Olive!
A shop filled with hand selected goodies for every special occasion or special someone in your life. Pink Olive offers unique objects that are beautiful, innovative, inspiring and thoughtful.
These are some of my favorite items for baby from the store. Perfect to gift to your little loved ones or incorporate into your nursery design!
And did I mention that Pink Olive also offers an eclectic mix of items made by local and national artists?
If you’re in New York, you have to check out Pink Olive. They have locations in the East Village and Park Slope.
Or you can visit Pink Olive online at www.pinkolive.com.
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*In case you were wondering, we were not compensated in any way for this feature.*
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Teepees add a little ‘whimsy‘ to your nursery or child’s room and they’re fun for the entire family!
With the right fabric, a teepee can look great in almost any room, not just the nursery.
Which one do you like best?
image sources:
1. source unknown
2. Restoration Hardware Baby and Child, $149
4. birch and lily*
5. Southern Grace*
* I found these through pinterest or tumblr. I don’t have the original source so I’m linking to where I found them.
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Let me introduce you to Gifts Define, makers of the most whimsical and sweet handmade mobiles I’ve ever seen!
When I first stumbled upon these, my ovaries immediately staged a protest and demanded that we have another baby just so we could get one.
True story!
1. Counting Sheep; 2. Elephants; 3. Woodland Trails; 4. Friendly Owls and Birds.
{Ok. Not really but you get the picture.}
These cuties are all hand-stitched, hand-cut and assembled by with love.
What baby wouldn’t have sweet dreams sleeping under these whimsical pals?
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