Jayden's Nursery
Designing and putting together Jayden's nursery was one of my proudest decorating moments. From the beginning I knew I wanted to put together a nursery that wasn't necessarily "boy" but was also not neutral–because this mama likes color! I wanted his nursery to be a fun place that we could hang out in and both enjoy together. Functionality was important and also maximizing storage. While our second bedroom comes with a full closet, it's currently being occupied by Daddy and while he could've moved into the master closet, Mommy wasn't ready to share just yet... so as I said, storage (without the using the closet) was important to us. When I sat down to start designing the nursery I had two items that started it all – the Melissa & Doug giant stuffed giraffe and the "Gray Malin at the Parker" photograph series. I originally had my heart set on four prints from the Gray Malin series, but ultimately I had to limit myself to just two ("Welcome to the Parker" and "Room Service") for the sake of staying on budget. From there, I created an inspiration board, which I worked on this for about a week, pulling together pieces that were unique, yet affordable. Some of the items on my inspiration board we went with, some evolved as I started putting the room together.
We ended up with a smaller dresser, which we added a smart changing pad to the top and changed out the knobs with more unique ones from anthropologie and added a couple of these storage box sets to the inside of the drawers to organize all Jayden's little clothes, which I highly recommend. We also found an even better light fixture at ikea, that I fell in love with, which we elevated with a ceiling medallion from home depot. As the room was coming together, we decided against an end table/lamp and went with a book case instead.
Check out the inspiration board I put together below...
Inspiration
Final Reveal (17 months later)
Over the past 17 months, we've added a few things to the original room, my favorite being what I call the keepsake gallery, which includes three different cross stitch pieces of art, that my mom created, along with a framed canvas of Jayden's first art project (9 months old, while on vacation in California) and he's latest from our Valentine's Day Party. We've also add this piano and this basketball hoop and of course, our recent diy project. These few additions, along with the following key elements, really pulled the nursery together. Key Elements-
- bedding and accessories
- furniture
- custom art work
- toys and accessories
Bedding and Accessories from Petit Pehr
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Furniture, plus a few key pieces from Ikea
Dress, PAX wardrobe unit (used for storage and one of the BEST, most used pieces in our nursery), Floating Book Shelves, Bookcase and Wardrobe all from Ikea
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Custom art work, from Minted
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Toys and Accessories
Sunburst Mirror (pre paint) from Target, click here, to see --> DIY project
I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into Jayden's nursery! It has served us well for the last 17 months and I can honestly say, there is not one item I regret purchasing. Wait, I take that back... we originally got this toy chest, which is great, but with a climber the lid had been destroyed and I now realized I want vertical toy storage to put in its place. We're still deciding how we plan to handle the crib situation, our options or to either go with the same one we have and just get another or get the smaller mini crib option. The good thing, is we have time, since the new little one will be sleep with us for the a little while. Then obviously, we need to swap out a few of our minted prints for a few custom ones for bebé number two.
Mamas of two – what else do we need to make this nursery work for two? Anything in particular you would recommend?
If you're in the process of designing your own nursery or will be doing so soon... start with an inspiration and then keep the four key elements I mentioned in mind. Putting together a room from scratch can be intimidating, but as long as you break it down, I promise it's easier than it looks. And if all else fails, hire a professional ;)
xxo, Fallon