Thursday, August 1, 2013

Thoughts On Designing a Nursery


Simple, Modern Nurseries // Bubby and Bean

Today I thought I'd share some of the rad nurseries I've discovered online over the last few weeks while seeking out inspiration.  Although we still have five months to go before baby arrives, we've already started gathering ideas (and paint chips galore) for her/his room.  My husband is off the road for a few weeks right now, so we're doing our best to get organized while we can on the weekends and during the evenings when I'm done with work.  I remember just a couple of years ago, feeling like the ten month period we had to plan our wedding was so much time.  But with Robbie gone for over half of it and me scrambling to get everything done on my own as the date approached, I ended up feeling pretty overwhelmed.  This time (albeit a much different situation) I've learned my lesson, and we're taking advantage of our time together to get plans into place and projects started.


We currently live in a two bedroom townhouse.  I'd really like to move into something larger (with a yard!) before baby becomes a toddler, but for now, we're doing the best we can with what we have.  The room that will become the nursery is now a guest room (that admittedly also doubles as a storage unit; don't open the closet in there or you'll be bombarded).  We're trying to figure out a way to possibly set up a space in our unfinished basement for guests to stay (that will be an entirely different post; sigh), so the plan is to take the bed apart and reassemble down there.  Completely cleaning out the closet is another task on the list.  And the paint color in the room is gorgeous - a rich, warm, dark grey.  But it's much too dark for a baby.  So we'll be repainting as well. 


As much as I love design and redecorating, this nursery is a bit of a design challenge for me, because I know that I have to break away from my usual tenancies.  My decorating style leans toward the minimalistic end of the spectrum.  I'm a fan of neutral colors (white, black, and grey) and clean, modern lines.  I just have to remember that this room is for a baby - which means incorporating fun, colorful elements.  The crib will be white, and we'll be painting an old dresser and bookshelves white as well.  For the walls, we're thinking a pale grey.  This will lighten up the room, but won't make it look quite as 'sterile' as plain white walls might.  The plan is to stick with whites and greys throughout the room, then add a few pops of vibrant colors and a few rustic, organic details throughout the space.  Regardless of whether baby is a boy or a girl (and yes, we're finding out), we'd like to keep the nursery pretty gender neutral.  My vision is simple, modern, and fun.  I'll be sure to share before and after pics once the project is (eventually!) completed.

Nurseries, from top:  1. Design*Sponge  // 2. Apartment Therapy  // 3. Rosenberry Rooms //
4.
Apartment Therapy  // 5. Lecons de Choses  // 6. Rosenberry Rooms  // 7. Houzz

Have any of you designed nurseries recently?  Or transformed a space in your home from one type of room to another?
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15 comments:

  1. I don't think the dark gray walls would be a problem because when the baby is in there you're going to want it as dark as possible for them to sleep anyway. We ended up getting blackout curtains for our son within days of him arriving home. And sleeping was just about the only time both of them spent in their rooms until they could walk. We always had them wherever we were. But I love your inspirations- so clean and cozy.

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  2. I love all of the rooms you picked. We're not going to plan too much until there's something to plan for, but I do know we're going the gender-neutral route with a lot of white, too.

    Since four of those rooms had an Eames-inspired rocker, are you getting one? (You should!)

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  3. These are all so pretty even for an adults rooms, I love the color schemes!!!

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  4. These are all super cute and tasteful! Gives me inspiration for if I ever have a little bambino.

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  5. Love all your finds.I'm sure your baby's room will be beautiful <3

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  6. oh, your baby is going to have a stunning nursery! these inspirations have got me drooling!

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  7. I know your nursery will be great, and I like gender-neutral picks. I also love nurseries that don't have the pastels (which is way too common). =0)
    ~Kim

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  8. Fab finds, I love the chair from number 1, the blanket from number 2 and that grey pouf! Those rooms all look very, very chic. I wonder what the nursery will look like.

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  9. These are all great picks! I agree with Kristen that most of the time they will be where you are, so having an entire room decked out for them isn't always necessary, especially when space is limited. I know people get really excited with the first kid and want to make a "proper" nursery, but making room for them doesn't have to mean changing your style. xo

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  10. Great choices!

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  11. oh my gosh if we ever have a boy i would love to do those skateboard shelves! i mean a girl could have them too but, you know. Anyway, I love ideas like that :)

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  12. Love these rooms! I have an obsession with looking at baby rooms lol. I've been planning a nursery since about 8 weeks along haha. Granted I changed my mind a million times but I've finally settled on something and now we just need to wait and see if baby is a boy or girl although we have started ordering furniture which is fun! :)

    J.

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  13. All the nurserys look amazing! I'm faaaar from thinkng about having a baby, so I have no idea how I would decorate one, but I think Elise Cripe nursey is just lovely and even though is not as gender neutral as what it sounds like you want, I think you might like the black+white with pops of coral. You can see it in this post: http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/golden/2013/06/a-tour-of-baby-girls-room.html
    And you should tottaly check her post on pregnancy and having a baby!

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