Here’s the final round-up of the details of Harrison’s nursery. It was a process of collecting things that we loved and I think that the end result is a room that works for us and how we live, and a room that reflects our personality and will grow as Harrison grows.
As you know we didn’t know if we were going to be welcoming a little boy or a little girl. (I had pretty well convinced myself I was having a girl, though. So much for mother’s intuition!) We wanted a gender neutral nursery that is playful, bright and full of personal touches. A combination of splurge and “save” items came together for a space that’s not too modern and not too traditional. The room also has lots of interesting patterns to look at without being too busy. I think old pieces add charm and personality and inject so much of yourself and history into a room.
We wanted a room that would grow with Harry, so we didn’t want it to be too juvenile or cutesy, but still wanted the room to have some whimsy. My personal taste is to not have any licensed characters (ie: no Mickey Mouse) The direction of the room came from finding the giraffe ottoman at HomeSense (Canada’s version of HomeGoods). I loved that it had a great contrast of white and lime green, was playful and modern at the same time. That’s where the safari animals and green colour scheme came from.
The giraffe ottoman was the jumping off point for the room. Husbandman and I waffled on a green or blue colour scheme, but once I found the ottoman we were definitely seeing green. I’ve seen the giraffe fabric on the web (ie:Fabric.com) so you could easily DIY a poof or ottoman of your own to incorporate it into your room in your own chosen colour scheme.
I loved the Jenny Lind-style crib that we found on Kijiji. We only paid $70 for the crib. I contemplated painting it white, but after it was in the room with the other elements I decided that the natural wood tone worked well to warm up some of the large stark white pieces like the Expedit shelves from Ikea that we use as storage/display and as our change table. The crib also has a more traditional look to it which was a great foil for the straight modern lines of the bookshelves. As for the bookshelves, we already had one white Expedit bookcase so the room really got two for the price of one since we re-purposed one bookshelf and purchased a new one. We also got the green storage boxes, and the clock from Ikea.
Most mothers will agree that a comfortable rocker is a nursery must-have. I didn’t really want something that screamed “I’M A NURSERY ROCKING CHAIR!” so that if/when we move it out of the nursery it would look like it fit with the rest of the furnishings in our home. We opted for the San Marco rocker by Ashley Furniture. It fully reclines! And looks like leather but is a composite material so it’s very kid friendly (read: spill friendly). Compared to other similar options we saw that were specifically marketed as nursery chairs this one was budget friendly – about a third of the price – and it has a lever for the recliner which is crucial when wanting to recline while holding a baby. The two-handed push method on other models wasn’t going to work for me. (Just imagine trying to push with both hands with all your might WHILE holding a sleeping baby). I love the chair we chose and would also recommend it because of the wide arms which are great for snuggling, propping your arm while feeding, or story time, or even just for resting a bottle etc. on while you’re in the chair.
The bedding is Dwell Studio for Target. The Dwell Studio line for Target is really affordable, cute, modern and graphic. I was a bit worried about ordering online and not being able to feel before buying, but I am more than happy with how soft, snuggly and durable the bedding and change pad covers are. The bedding set we purchased is apparently no longer available but we also purchased this one, since it had green in it and figured it would work for boy or girl also. I considered for a long time having custom crib bedding made on Etsy, but I wasn’t feeling confident about the quality of the fabrics or my ability to put a coordinated look together. And for all the work I’d have to do, it was going to be just as expensive as regular retail options. And now I’d like to give a shout-out to my brother who enabled my US purchases because he lives on a border town and owns a shipping box on the US side and was able to bring my purchases over for me since both Target and Home Decorator’s Collection currently don’t ship to Canada. (Sidenote: I’m so excited that Target will be opening stores in Canada in 2013! Not sure I can wait that long. Yikes!)
The drapes are discontinued from Pier 1. I love the oversize print and that they have a jungle vine feel to them. Hope they’ll be inspiration for lots of imaginary play time to come.
The elephant lamp is from Pottery Barn kids. Also discontinued. I scored it for a mere $16 because it didn’t have a lamp shade. The elephant laundry hamper is from Home Decorator’s Collection.
The poster and picture frames are from Michael’s. The posters are from PosterText. We have Alice in Wonderland (above the chair) and Peter Pan (over the crib).
The gallery wall is made up of pictures of baby animals, a print of the word “love”, Harrison’s hospital bracelet on scrapbook paper, the letter H, and a quote from “The Night You Were Born” that reads: Not once had there been such eyes, such a nose, such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes”. All of which I printed myself, except the H which was given to Harrison as a gift.
The accent cushions (seen in the crib) and on the chair are from BouClair. The stuffed animals are a combination of our favourites saved from our childhood and new ones given to Harrison as gifts.
What I learned through this process is that “finishing” a room takes time. I clearly watch too much HGTV and usually just want a beautiful room to appear in 30 minutes, but I learned that a mix of old and new makes the space feel well-loved, and collected. Starting is easy when you have a piece, be it a fabric, accessory, piece of furniture, or paint colour, that you love that will help you carry through with the rest of the room. Shop around, we found great stuff at many, many different stores (as you can see above).And most importantly you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a look you love.
I’ve set my sights on another room in the house, now. While we were putting the finishing touches on the nursery I did actually paint the kitchen on the Canada Day weekend as I said I would. I just need to take some after pictures before I can share.
to london with love 