A lot of people don’t know where to start when it comes to tackling a makeover, especially a nursery makeover. There are so many fun possibilities! When my dear friend Erin told me she was expecting a little boy, I immediately started to find design inspiration (see my previous post). But before I could get too ahead of myself, she had a few stipulations. To spend the least amount of money as possible (not surprising), to use this beautiful chevron pattern she had found and to avoid painting the space if it could be avoided. Oh, and she wanted to recycle her furniture from her previous baby. And that was a great starting point. For your own space, I say: decide on a budget, have a list of wants vs. needs and then start with something special to build off of. For Erin it was a fabric but it could be a beautiful piece of artwork, a specific wallpaper or even a stuffed animal.
For baby Novak’s room, we discussed one other important factor. The need for the room to be timeless! Erin wanted the space to feel cozy, warm and delicate but above all, she wanted it to be a space this precious baby could grow into. So naturally I gravitated to a neutral palette of white, cream, grey and a bit of brown – making the existing paint colour and furniture work just fine. We pulled in a variety of textures from soft drapery to wooden letters and chose artwork that was not “baby” in the slightest. We actually avoided anything that screamed baby boy…
Here are the before photos:
And after!
The chevron changing pad and wooden storage basket were added to the large, white dresser. And above the changing station, we added picture ledges to store books and bring in small pops of colour. It’s the perfect place to store little figurines and stuffed animals too. We also framed a neutral tree print that we found at Ikea. Again, don’t be afraid to stray away from the typical nursery prints.
We covered a magnetic bulletin board with fabric. Erin can easily change up her photos, letters, words…whatever! And on the other side of the window we added a shelf with some handy hooks for added storage. The chalkboard will be full of adorable sayings I’m sure!
You are my sunshine!
Since we had to work with the existing furniture, the glider stayed which is understandable when you see their price tags! But we did manage to purchase a new side table at a great price from Ikea. The grey brown wood fit perfectly in our design. Tin pails and wooden baskets store everything away easily and we added some task lighting with this steal of deal table lamp from Target (6.99!!). And Erin found the same chevron pattern in a pillow as well to tie in the change pad.
My favourite part of the room has to be the crib area. I absolutely love the reclaimed wood letters we found at a small boutique shop in Kensington. Our one splurge in the space, really! Instead of spelling out baby’s name (which was yet to be determined), we went with the word Dream, perfect for a peaceful, sleeping baby. And dangling above his sweet little head, we hung our owl mobile. Instead of buying one, I found some wooden owl shapes and a hoop from Michaels and secured it all with fishing wire. The easiest DIY ever and really, really affordable.
So what do you think? Just because you may not have a huge budget, doesn’t mean you can’t achieve a great nursery. I think we really achieved a subtle, neutral space that could work for any baby boy or girl. Instead of focusing of colour, we looked at textures, we varied the tints and tones of our neutral scheme and we found accents that can stand the test of time. Dream can easily become READ one day for a little reading nook in a young boy’s room, for instance. And the books on the picture ledge that teach the alphabet can be replaced with comic books one day.
Sweet dreams little one!