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Planning Our Little Boy’s Nursery

Yeaaaaaah, baby – it’s nursery time! Pun most definitely intended. The last time we shared a shot of this room (in this post) it was looking like this. Totally newborn ready, right?

Nursery Now

We started on Clara’s nursery in February and she was born in May, so it felt right to get moving in there now that it’s January (since the barnacle is due in April). We’ve had so many ideas swirling around in our brains for the last month after finding out we were having a boy, that waiting a hot second before running in there and going to town has been nice because the projects and ideas that we truly love have had a little time to float to the top.

We’re leaning towards using bold green along with graphic black & white (although we’re sure almost every color of the rainbow will end up in there in small doses) and we’d also love some natural elements (wood furniture, woven baskets, bamboo blinds, etc). As for the mustache doll, Clara picked one out for her brother at a craft sale we went to recently, so he’s just in there for fun, along with the same green alligator toy that Clara played with as a baby.

Nursery Ideas

The whole green accent color idea actually came from the bike prints that John framed in rustic homemade wood frames for our last house’s sunroom. Here’s a detail shot of those awesome rich-wood frames…

Bikes 11 After Frame Close

… and here’s my favorite shot from that post. For obvious reasons.

Bikes 12 Makeout

We think they’ll make for awesome large scale art in the nursery, and from there we can layer in things like a black and white striped bench, a neutral rug, bamboo blinds, built-ins to flank the crib that are spaced to accommodate a twin sized bed in between them (longwise) – or even a full-sized bed (widthwise) for when the barnacle is older and no longer chilling in a crib like a villain angel.

So our starting point for the room is definitely that bike art, but our first purchase for the room actually snuck up on us. We were in HomeGoods and saw this big 100% wool rug, and something about it just had us at hello.

Rug In Store

Even Clara was smitten.

Rug With Clara

Within five minutes we were checking out with it and stuffing it into the car. It’s an 8 x 10′ 100% wool Martha Stewart rug by Safavieh and it retails for $800 but it was marked down to $399. We liked that it was soft (not scratchy) and had a cool pattern on it that was somewhat subtle (so it won’t compete with other bolder patterns, like a thick black and white stripe on something, for example).

But the room was hardly rug ready, so we had some cleaning up to do when we got home with it. After we put all that stuff where it really should go (either in other closets/rooms/or the storage room) it looked a lot better – and we were able to take our traditional “us in the room before we start on it” photo.

Us In Room Final

We did one of them in Clara’s nursery before we started on that back in 2010 (apparently I automatically pop up onto my tip-toes whenever I’m in a picture next to tall John).

Nursery Paint Before Pic

And then we snapped this one when we were done, so we’re planning to do that in the nursery here as well. It was fun to compare how my bump changed after three months, and sort of hilarious that I “popped early” and just seemed to stay that big – well I grew a little more – in the last trimester).

Nursery Belly Pic2

Here’s the nursery now with the rug in it. It’s looking pretty big here since it’s shoved up against that side and back wall, but we think once we center it and load in the room it’ll hopefully be great.

Rug In Room

We’re loving everything from the tone-on-tone pattern to the nice wool feeling underfoot. Just ignore those unpainted walls and that half-constructed crib…

Crib Angle

Rug close up. Hubba hubba.

Rug Detail

So there’s still lots to do, but it’s progress! We’re sure our to-do list will continue to evolve as we go, but here’s a first-thought brain dump for ya:

  • clean out the room
  • paint the walls and ceiling
  • address the window (bamboo blinds + blackout curtains?)
  • get a rug
  • add built-ins to each end of the long wall so the crib (and a future bed) can nestle between them
  • add sconces to the sides of the built-ins
  • create some sort of slatted or trimmed out wall between the built-ins for interest?
  • get the ceiling wired for an overhead light fixture (none of the upstairs bedrooms have them)
  • find an armchair for all that late night nursing
  • redo the closet for little clothes (paint it, add a second hanging bar, cubby storage, etc)
  • maybe even paint the closet door a fun color like Clara’s?
  • add chunky crown molding
  • bring in a dresser/changing table (we’re 80% sure we’ll use the wooden hand-me-down from John’s dad that’s currently in our closet)
  • build custom shelves (since John did this for Clara, he’d like for this to be a tradition)
  • make a woodsy little cuckoo clock (since I made one for Clara, I’d like to make a charming little rustic one for the bun as well)
  • make a mobile
  • hang art (at least one or two prints will have a sea-faring reference, thanks to Clara’s baby boy nickname of “The Barnacle”)

We’re planning to document this nursery’s evolution exactly the same way that we did Clara’s: in real time as we go. We created hers over the course of three months and 17 posts (cleaning the room, painting the walls/ceiling, going shopping, crib hunting, adding curtains/blinds, getting a crib, painting & hanging a mirror, finding a chair, making a faux sheepskin, refinishing her dresser, adding drawer liners, organizing her closet, making a crib skirt, making a mobile, building nursery shelves, adding art, and sharing the full reveal when it was 100% bean-ready).

Clara Grid

So while we expect that many of the steps that we take will change this time (we don’t need a crib, but we want to add built-ins), it’s safe to assume that over the course of the next three months, we’ll probably share one or two updates a week as we go (along with progress in other rooms, showhouse updates, etc). We have a few loftier goals for this space (like built-ins, sconces, and chunky crown) so it might be down to the wire, but no matter what we hope to be done by mid April.

Oh man, it’s pretty crazy to think that in a few short months we’ll be a family of five (Burger counts!) with a former junk-room-turned-functional-bedroom for our littlest family member. I’m all grinny and hyper over here. Is anyone else working on a nursery? Do you have a big ol’ to-do list and a permasmile on your face? Or do you have memories of creating a bedroom for your little one that you’d like to share? I can’t get enough of that stuff.

Comments

  1. Timothy says

    i already know that even though im 13 ill be jealous of the little guys room:) i want to be an interior designer when i grow up so my room does look pretty good (if i do say so myself) haha..and whats funny is that emerald green color is my favorite color and my room is all black and white and gray with hints of emerald green and also yellow. i cant wait to see the finished product im so excited!!!

    Reply

  2. Autumn says

    No babies here yet (thanks, grad school…only one more year to go!) but I envision a black & white nursery using pieces we already have with an added pop of wall color. My current wall pick is softish yellow, but that may change. And I bought a series of cool prints painted over old pages from a French dictionary that fits my black/white motif & is currently guest room friendly but future nursery material. Found them thanks to the treasure chest that is known as Etsy :-)

    http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?q=dictionary%20prints&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&ref=auto2&explicit_scope=1

    Great room ideas so far!

    Reply

  3. Melissa says

    We’re expecting our first baby this summer, so I’m so excited you guys are doing a nursery now! I’m sure I’ll be getting a lot of inspiration from you.

    Reply

  4. Rebekah says

    Loved that rugso much that I had to go buy it for my living room. Thanks for taking the long search process out of the equation for me:)

    Reply

  5. Diana says

    Not like you want everyone having the same rug as you but that’s exactly what I want in a rug for our family room. I have searched and searched and can’t find it, do you have the name of it? I have searched amazon, rugsusa, overstock…lots of Safavieh rugs but I don’t know the name so i can’t narrow it down. And I live across country so it’s not TOO terrible that I copy you on the rug, right?!? Love your blog as I TRY to be a DIYer…although I think my husband is tired of hearing me start conversation with “So, you know that house blog I read…”

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Diana! A few others have asked for info and we’d definitely share it if we had it but all it says is 100% wool, made in India, Martha Stewart by Safavieh. Other have tried to find it online, but we found it in the store at HomeGoods if that helps.

      xo
      s

  8. Julie says

    I love that you were standing on your tippie-toes in all the pictures. lol

    Love the pattern on the rug too. I can’t wait to see the finished room.

    Reply

  9. Whitney says

    Love the nursery colors! Have you mentioned what Barnacles name is yet? I feel like I swear you did… but between the mommy brain of being a new mom and the crazy realistic dreams I have been having I am beginning to think I dreamed up his name?!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, it must have been a dream! We have no idea what we’re going to name him, but we’re sure it’ll be some sort of family name (Clara’s is, and we love to honor loved ones that way).

      xo
      s

    • Whitney says

      It was a family name in my dream too, funny! I wish I could remember what it was! My daughter was named Marlowe, my mother’s maiden name, and she was born 2 days after my grandfather’s birthday so it was a perfect way to remember him! Her middle name is Brooke after her auntie! We love family names!

  13. Amanda Comeau says

    Hi Guys! Love how the nursery has evolved since this January post :) I know you mentioned here that the rug was from Home Goods and was a 8 x 10? 100% wool Martha Stewart rug by Safavieh – any chance you have the actual name of the rug (pattern)? I love it and would like to see if I can find it online somewhere. THANKS!!

    Reply

  14. Joanna says

    Hola Sherry & John all the way from Puerto Rico! Just wanted to let you know how you inspire people with your blog YHL! I just bought a rug for a family room that I have very similar to the one you bought for your boy’s nursery room! I got the idea from you guys! I normally buy solid colors but when I saw how pretty your rug’s design looked like in the floor, when I saw a similar rug, I said GO FOR IT! Thanks to you two for such a wonderful blog. I read it EVERY SINGLE DAY! except weekends of course, you guys need a break! Joanna

    Reply

  15. Wendy says

    Hi John and Sherry – how’s the nursery rug working for you guys? Six months later and I finally found tracked it down on Overstock – it should be here in a week and I can’t wait!

    Reply

  17. Alli says

    Do you know where I could buy this rug retail? This is exactly what I’ve been wanting for our living room! Love it! Thanks!

    Reply

  18. Lisa says

    What a score with the Homegoods rug! I LOVE It. Any chance you have seen it as you browsed the web because I doubt it’s twin will be waiting for me at Homegoods this afternoon?! :)

    Reply

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