Angela has done a divine job at creating the most dreamy nursery around! She mixed style with function and did it flawlessly!
The teal ombre stripes set the tone for the entire space, and make the room for nice and cozy. Angela layered in fun accents and accessories, a superfab rug and beautiful storage to finish it all off. Here she is now to share more details about the process and her happy space.
What is the main function of the space?
"When we were pregnant with our first baby, we decided not to find out the sex, which meant designing a gender neutral nursery. Many of my family and friends, who are well acquainted with my Type A personality, were surprised that I wouldn't want to know whether we were having a boy or a girl so that I could plan the nursery accordingly. But the way I saw it, creating a gender neutral nursery would actually be the ultimate form of planning for the future! Knowing that we planned to have a second child in the future, I wanted to decorate a nursery that could become baby number two's room without the need to spend the money to redecorate.
Right now, this nursery belongs to our 16 month old son, Beckett, and baby number two {gender also a surprise} is due to arrive soon! Baby number two will stay in a cradle in our room for the first months before moving into this nursery when we create a new "big boy" room for Beckett.
This nursery sees a lot of action each day - between diaper changes, playtime, reading LOTS of books, naps and bedtime. When Beckett was younger, the nursery was also where we did most of his feedings."
Any superstar tips for keeping it organized?
"Since every inch of this room gets used on a daily basis, the key to organization has been having a designated space for everything. Each part of the room serves a specific function, which makes it much faster and easier to find things and to put them away. The changing station is located right by the closet on one end of the room, while the rocking chair and books are together at the other end of the room. We spend a lot of time playing on the rug - so toys are kept in the cabinet right there in the middle of the room.
When it comes to the nursery closet, the first thing that made a world of difference was removing the sliding doors and replacing them with doors that pull open. With the sliding doors, only half of the narrow closet could be accessed at the time - making it really hard to get things in and out. Just switching out the doors made the closet seem much bigger and allowed us to add a custom Elfa closet system with drawers right down the middle {the sliding doors wouldn't have allowed for these drawers}.
But the real superstar of the closet has turned out to be the clothing rod dividers that separate and label different sizes of clothes! Many generous family and friends gave us clothes for Beckett, in sizes ranging from newborn up to 18-24 months. And when I see a clearance rack, I like to pick up cute items that I know he'll eventually grow into. But having so many different sizes in one closet can be a challenge, and, without the clothing dividers, I know we'd run the risk that he might outgrow something before I realized it was the right size. The left side of the closet has three rows for hanging - I use the middle row {my eye level} for his current size of clothes, the bottom row for the size he'll be growing into next, the top row for bigger sizes that he'll wear further into the future. Dividing the clothes this way also helps to ensure that I don't over-buy in any one size."
What items did you find were essential in organizing the space, and why?
"For the nursery, the essential organizing items all come in the form of furniture. I opted to buy an inexpensive Ikea dresser and add a changing tray to the top, rather than buying a traditional changing table - so it will serve as functional storage for many years to come. The top drawer holds diapers and all of the diaper changing essentials, which keeps them concealed but still within easy reach without every taking my hands or eyes off of the baby. The cabinet in the middle of the room - called the Eiffel Bookcase - is great for organizing toys in the nursery because the open middle creates a fun display space while the doors around the edges help conceal the toys and giving Beckett easy access.
There are also many necessities in a nursery that can't easily be hidden away in a drawer or cabinet, but that can create visual clutter - so I found other ways to "hide" some of these items within the room. For example, little things like nail clippers and the nasal aspirator are stored in cute decorative jars by the changing tray, our white noise machine is tucked behind a grouping of picture frames and the Diaper Genie is tucked in the corner behind the door leading to the attached bathroom. The clothes hamper is also somewhat "hidden in plain site", since it looks like a monkey rather than a typical hamper.
In the closet, in addition to the clothing rod dividers, the baskets and drawers have been essential. The drawers hold items that get used on a daily basis, like socks and pajamas, while the baskets sort and store all the clothes that have been outgrown, but which might be used for baby number two or handed down to friends and family in the future. I hesitated about spending the money for the Elfa closet system, but I got a great deal at the annual Container Store Elfa sale and I think it was a worthwhile investment because it allows the flexibility to reconfigure the set-up in the future as our kids grow and their storage needs change."
What did you do to go the extra mile and "Make it Pretty"?
"I would say that we definitely went the extra mile by painting the ombre stripes on the walls. It was a big project, but once we came up with a good game plan, it turned out to be very manageable - albeit time consuming. The goal was to design a gender neutral nursery, but I'm not much of a neutral color person - so we went with shades of teal on the walls, and added pops of red, yellow and green throughout the room. But I think it's really all the white in the room - including the furniture and the white animals throughout - that ties the space together and balances out the bright colors.
My mom is a fantastic quilter and I really wanted something handmade by her for the room, so she and I collaborated to create the quilt that hangs above the crib. I came up with the idea for the white animals on the bright blocks of color, and I drew all of the animal silhouettes by hand. Then she worked her quilting magic! I especially love the hand stitching around each animal! My mom also made the elephants for the mobile, and used some of the same fabrics from the quilt for the elephant ears.
I also put in a little extra effort to tie together some of the pretty elements of the room. I used red washi tape with white numbers for the drawer labels in the closet - which ties in with the red numbered drawer pulls that we added to the Ikea dresser. And I made custom labels for the closet rod dividers using the same animals that I drew for the quilt."
What items did you DIY to stay on a budget?
"We definitely saved money by painting the room ourselves. I don't know what it would have cost to pay someone to paint the stripes - but I am sure it would have been much more than the cost of ten quarts of paint, a couple rolls of painters tape, and our sore backs.
The changing pad cover was another great budget DIY project. Really cute changing pad covers can get pricey - especially when you want to have a couple of extras for when one goes into the laundry. But my mom can always be counted on for sewing projects, so I enlisted her help. By cutting apart one crib sheet with cute red, yellow and grey animals {purchased on clearance}, and adding some super soft red minky fabric, my mom was able to make us four changing pad covers.
DIY'ing the labels for the closet dividers was also very budget friendly. I bought the plastic dividers for only $.99 each and custom made my own labels using some glossy, printable sticker paper that I already had around the house. By making my own labels for the dividers, I was able to design them to match the quilt above the crib for no added cost."
How has it impacted your life for the better?
"I can't even put into words how much we enjoy hanging out with our little boy in this room, and how much we look forward to sharing it with baby number two.
Now that Beckett is mobile and becoming a toddler, it's so much fun to watch him explore his room, and to see how much he loves being in that space. His favorite game these days is the "Look! That?" game, where he points and says "Look!", and then when we take him to what he is pointing at, he says "That?" and waits for us to tell him what it is. Nowhere do we play this game more than his nursery where he points at all the different animals around the room.
Having the room well organized makes getting ready in the mornings and at bedtime much simpler, and cleaning up after playtime is quick and easy. This allows more time for us to just enjoy being in the room, spending quality time together as a family."
Such a feel good story right? So much to heart about this!
- Those walls. Sigh, I could kiss them!
- Any room that can create smiles for the entire family, and promote play, wins big!
- I adore they replaced the bi-fold doors with doors that open out, to create more effective storage and access.
- The jars on the changing table make my heart pitter patter with joy.
- The handmade elements will be treasures to cherish for life.
- Angela's system for organizing clothing by size is so super smart. I love that it ensures that no clothes are left behind.
- The girl can label! So good!
- She was resourceful in her use of space, ensuring she won't have to reinvest in nursery items a second time when their new baby is born.
- The room has a great mix of open and concealed storage and display.
- Did someone say Elfa? What's not to love about the versatility of the fabulous Elfa systems? Closet systems really allow someone to utilize the entire space within the closet vs. being left with standard shelf and rod issues.
Isn't the space just overflowing with amazingness? It left me grinning and grinning and grinning some more! And it makes me so happy to hear how loved it is by the entire family. That is what it is all about my friends, creating spaces that you want to spend your time in. Kudos to Angela for doing just that, and a huge congrats to her and her growing family.
You can snag all of the nursery details on Angela's blog here.
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