I can’t wait to share with you my favorite room in the house! Around this time last year, we found out we were expecting our first baby. It’s hard to believe so much has happened in such a short amount of time and I’m still getting used to the fact that I have a DAUGHTER and I am a MOTHER.
Like any expecting mom, one of the first things on my mind was THE NURSERY. From the moment I found out I was pregnant (and probably even before, let’s just be honest here) I spent countless hours looking at nursery themes online and bookmarking ideas. There is SO much to look at and there are a million ideas out there. While scavenging through all of the main baby sites I was having a hard time finding a theme that I could imagine bringing Baby W home to. I’ve always like different things and buying a nursery theme in a bag seemed way too easy to me, so I decided to see what I could come up with.
Since I was giving up my sewing/craft room for the little one (sigh), I needed to be absolutely IN LOVE with the design so I wouldn’t miss my little piece of heaven. One thing we knew for sure was that the nursery had to be gender neutral (we decided to keep the gender a surprise), which narrowed down the color palette pretty quickly. The second thing I knew for sure was that I wanted birds and trees to be the main focal point. There is just something about nature and the thought of birds chirping that makes a space feel peaceful and I knew we were going to need as much peace (-fullness, -of mind, -and quiet) as we could get during those first few months!
Here is a peak at the finished product. Keep reading to find out how I got there and to see more.
For my inspiration, I found a few nurseries on HGTV Rate My Space that caught my eye. I loved how these spaces are modern, clean and didn’t feel like your typical nursery. What I also loved, they weren’t over the top ‘baby’ and could work for years down the road.
Baby P's Modern Nursery by twiggymin
Retro Rockets and Robots by ladyamare
On March 13, 2011 we welcomed a Baby E (our daughter’s first initial) into this world and this is the nursery she came home to.
I spent many hours searching for the perfect crib and I finally found the one below. It’s the Madison 4-in-1 Convertible Crib in White and Espresso
I bought the tree decals on Etsy. They took FOREVER to put up, but well worth it. I was really happy with how they turned out and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
My plan was to use orange as the only accent color, but the room started to feel a little over powered by the bright color so I brought some teal in to balance it out. I was hesitant at first, but I think it works. I’ll probably change my mind in a month or so but for now it’s staying this way.
I had some left over branches from the wall decals, so I added a little surprise by the window. Unfortunately, it distracts Baby E while I’m rocking her to sleep so I’m hoping she gets bored of it soon!
The rocking chair was my big splurge for the nursery. Pottery Barn makes such comfy chairs, I couldn’t resist! We chose the rocker over the glider because this one came with chair legs, so down the road we can use the chair in different room. Brilliant idea PB!
The space already had a built-in nook making it the perfect place to create a cozy reading corner.
Now that you’ve seen the big picture, let’s dive into some of the details.
Meet my DIY bird mobile. I handmade each of the birds using fabric I had in my collection along with a few new swatches I picked up at the local fabric store. After the birds were done, I attached them to a wreath I spray painted white.
I was having a hard time finding wall art that went with my bird/color theme, so I decided to see what I could come up with using the leftover fabric from the bird mobile. I ended up creating four nature scenes using the left over fabric pieces and then wrapped the fabric around wall canvases.
I just love these little guys. The owl is from Pier 1 and the bird is from Land of Nod.
I came across these birch branches at my local craft store and thought they would make the perfect nightlight for Baby E! Not only are they super functional but they add a little something too :)
I didn’t think it was appropriate to have a bird theme without a birdhouse. I picked up this little guy for a few dollars at none other than the local craft store and spray painted it white.
In case you are wondering:
Wall Paint: Java from Eddie Bauer at Lowes
Birch Tree Decals: DesignedDESIGNER Esty Shop
Crib: Madison 4-in-1 Convertible Crib in White and Espresso
Owl Pillow: Pier One (unable to locate online)
Bird Pillow: Land of Nod
Changing Table:Madison 3-Drawer Dresser
Changing Table Pad: Orange Organic Pad from Land of Nod
Cube Storage:ClosetMaid 9-Cube Organizer
Cube Drawers:Kids Canvas Cube Storage Bin from Land of Nod
Rug: Target
So there you have it, Baby E’s modern nursery. I crammed a lot into this post so apologies if you got a little lost. If you have any questions feel free to email me at taryn@designdininganddiapers.com!
Taryn! Your stuff is just awesome!! :) So talented! :) Hope you are well! Can’t wait to read more of your blog! L&L, Fleisch
Taryn, great job! I love that you started a blog. I’ll be following!
Thanks for taking a look at the blog! Hope all is well :)
Taryn! I saw your blog link on facebook and wanted to say hello. I think it’s so great that you started a blog as a creative outlet for you while you stay at home with E. I did the exact same thing in March when I started my blog. It’s so fun, huh?! Her nursery is spectacular! You’ve always had an amazing eye. I’m so jealous of your creativity!
amy day to day
Hey Amy! Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I am loving blogging. I subscribed to your blog, it’s so cute :)
BEAUTIFUL! Love the trees and colors! Well done
i adore everything in this nursery and so impressed to read you made all of it! the bird mobile and artwork on the walls are incredible and i would buy them in a heartbeat! so well done :) congrats on baby E and her stunning nursery. i know you will always love this room and how great it can be transformed so nicely as the years progress. great, great work!!!!
Thank you!
This nursery is gorgeous! I love so many things in it. You put it together beautifully and congratulations on the baby. Thanks for linking to the Home Decor & Organizing Link Party. I’m featuring this on my FB fan page.
Thank you, Leanne! I appreciate all the sweet comments and the support.
WOW. wow. that’s all i can manage to say here :) gorgeous!!
This is sooo adorable, cute, well-thought out, etc. etc.! The colors, details, EVERYTHING is wonderful.
Great, great job!
http://www.whatyoumakeit-coley.blogspot.com
Absolutely beautiful! If I didn’t already have a theme and design picked out, I would totally steal yours! It’s gorgeous and peaceful and calming and interesting all at once… wow!
You are the best!! So very cute and I love love the colors!
I love the orange… so stimulating and yet calming when paired with the brown. Great looking room. I love the tree/bird wall.
You had me with the trees and birds!! :) Love everything about this room. Very well done.
Kristi- Thanks so much! That’s means a lot coming from you, your work is amazing!
What color did you paint the walls? The entire room is lovely.
Hi Claudia! The wall color is called Mocha by Valspar at Lowes. In some lights it looks more gray and other lights looks more brown. Thanks for stoping by :)
My mistake! The paint color is actually called Java, I double-checked the paint can :)
I absolutely love what you’ve done with this nursery! I am afraid to use color sometimes, but boy, this makes me want to add some pops of color to my place :)
And I really love the tree/bird decals on the wall. Great job!
Taryn,
Absolutely love the nursery design! Can’t wait to show it to my daughter who is expecting baby #1.
Came here via Tip Junkie and just wanted to say how much I love the nursery. Perfectly done! (I do have such a soft spot for orange!)
Love the room! I am trying to talk myself into not finding out with our second baby but designing the room keeps making me rethink it. After seeing how cute you really can make a unisex room I might just be able to do it. Thanks for sharing.
Also would you ever consider making another one of your bird mobiles. I just love it and I can not sew :)
Hi Misty! Thanks for the note. I was a little nervious about designing a nursery when we decided not to find out the gender, but there is actually SO much you can do. I loved the surprise at the end, so I encourage you to wait, but thats just based off my experience. Yes, I would be willing to make another bird mobile. Send me an email and we can talk details :) taryn@designdininganddiapers.com
This room is amazing! I love the colors, and all the sweet details. I think the bird mobile is my favorite! :)
Hmm is anyone else having problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.
I just have to compliment you on all the effort you put into the baby’s nursery. I know how long (although fun and exciting) it can take to do each project. Your creative wall canvases, mobile (love the wreath idea!), and overall planning are just great. What a sweet and modern nursery!
Thank you for stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment! Yes, it did take just about the entire 9 months of my pregnancy, but it was a blast and I loved every minute of it :)
that looks amazing! i love the color combo and the not overly babyness that you were going for. that little reading nook is a great space. fabulous! i’m sure baby e loves it!
Such great inspiration! I’m currently designing a grey nursery as well, but can’t decide on accent colors. I was just looking at this crib. Have you been happy with with crib/dresser?
Hi Sarah! Thanks for stopping by. Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the crib/dresser combo. I LOVE how it looks, but to be honest I haven’t been too impressed with the quality. The espresso finish is already rubbing off on the corners of the dresser and my daughter is only 4.5 months. It’s not terrible, but enough where I notice. The crib has been great, I really love the design and I love how it is lower than most cribs. It makes it really easy to put her to sleep. Hope that helps!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! The color combo is great! So, I saw that you said the color was Java by Valspar. I went to get a sample of it and it was in the green family. So I looked at one called Mocha Java and it looks um, well, not like this. Definitely does not have any gray tones. Sorry to bug you about it, but I really like it and just wanted to make sure it was by Valpsar or if you had them color match a paint chip from another line? Thanks!!!
Hi there, thanks for leaving a note! OK, so I just went and triple checked the paint can and it is definitely Java by Valspar. That is so strange that it was in the green family! We’ve had the paint since 2008, but I don’t think they would change name/colors right? Let me copy down the paint code on the can and maybe they can match it for you. I’ll shoot you an email :)
Hi Kelli! So I think I discovered the issue, the paint is from the Eddie Bauer line of Valspar. Java EB36-2 The paint can didn’t indicate that it was Eddie Bauer so I had completely forgotten until I found the paint card. I’m so sorry for the mix up!
Thank you so much for checking! I love the color and you are so sweet to check. Thanks for letting me know!!
Hello! I love these colours together, and am going to be using the grey and orange combo for my son’s room! Are the orange birds on the wall a sticker or did you paint them on? If you did paint them, can you let me know the colour orange that is? I’m STUCK on a GOOD orange that goes with that grey! Even if you knew a colour that would be really close to those birds would be incredibly helpful! thanks so much!
Hi Ashley! Thanks for the note. I totally know what you mean about finding the right orange, it was hard at times because the wrong shade could change the whole vibe to the 70′s real fast :) The birds are actually decals that came with the trees so I don’t have a color name for them. I wish I could be of more help!
I LOVE YOUR NURSERY!!!!!!!! Totally in love :) I am useing orange in my childs nursery as well and I can not find an orange changing pad cover….where did you get that and also the pillow???? Thanks so much and GREAT job on your room!!! :)
Thanks, Amber! The changing pad cover is from Land of Nod and the pillow on the rocker is from Target :)
We are so in love with this room and I can’t wait to have a nursery like this one. It won’t be exactly the same since we are incorporating more colors, but WE LOVE IT! And I never thought of myself as a “modern mom,” but you just may have changed me! Everything is so crisp and clean and that’s what I love. It doesn’t look “babyish.” Thank you so much for sharing and telling us where to find the items :))))
SOOOOO pretty! I moved around WAY too much when my babies were little… Your nursery is beautiful, modern, and refreshing!
Gwen, thanks for stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment!
LOVE the orange and teal!! Beautiful nursery!! Thanks for linking up to Roomspiration today :)
LOVE LOVE LOVE your room! I kind of have a thing for “bird decor” so this totally speaks to me (http://designbuildlove.co/?p=453)! Also, the teal was a great addition to the orange and I am totally IN LOVE with the light-up tree branches! How awesome are those as a non-traditional night light! Beautiful room!
OH! Thank you so much for the sweet comment! Thanks for stopping by :)
Very sweet, I’m loving the rustic feel.
You have been featured today!
http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/2011/10/featuring-you-adorable-bird-nursery.html
Stop by and grab the I’ve been featured button at the bottom on my sidebar.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful nursery.
DaNita
I saw your nursery on Pinterest and had to come comment. I’m doing an orange and grey color scheme for my 2-year-old son’s and (unborn and sex undetermined) baby’s shared room, and had planned to use some dark blue/navy as an additional accent, but I’m loving your use of the teal.
I love the reading nook! Could you tell me where the drapes are from and if they are thick enough to block out the light?
Hi Jen! I got the curtains at World Market. I have blinds behind them that I use to block out the light so I haven’t actually tried using the curtains by themselves. But the material is a heavy linen so I would imagine it would only help a little bit.
Love your nursery, great job. Wondering about the branch nite lights? Where did you get them? Are they plug ins or battery. Have grandbabies and great grandbabies, so they are not for the nursery; but would look great in our foyer.
Thanks, Geri! I found the lights at Ben Franklin craft store. The ones I used were plug-in and I hid the cord behind the vase. However, they do make battery operated ones and I would have bought those but the battery pack wouldn’t fit in the vase and it didn’t have a long enough cord to leave it out. I hope that helps, I think these would look beautiful in your foyer.
This has to be the cutest nursery I have ever seen!
You are so sweet! Thanks for stopping by :)
Hi Taryn, I am not sure exactly how I stumbled onto this post but my husband and I are absolutely loving it. He walked in as I staring and he said, “That is so cool!” We are having our 3rd daughter in February and are inspired by this. My question for you is what fabric collection did you use? I plan to sew the crib bedding and love those colors that you used, maybe even adding in a pop of red/pink-ish! We’ll see.
Thanks for such a lovely post. It is really getting me excited!
Hi Morgan! Thanks for the sweet note! I am really flattered. I used a variety of fabrics, some I already had on hand and have no idea where they are from and others I picked up at the local craft store. Let me look into it and I’ll see if I can find the name of some of them for you. I love the idea of adding a bright pink. Once we had our baby and found out it was a girl I thought about adding the same color but never got around to it :)
Fantastic space!! I love the colors and the branches!!!
–Katie
http://www.blah2beautiful.blogspot.com
Creatively Living
Love those orange birds and how they come back in different forms. Beautifully done!
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Beautiful work. I love it.
I just love everything about this nursery! The color combination is to die for!
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Thank you so much! I love your blog, I have seen a lot of your projects featured around blog land. Fabulous stuff.
WOW, what a fabulous nursery!! I love the colors, the bird theme, all the little details. You have skills, girl! :0) I came by from I Heart Nap Time.
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I am in LOVE with that crib! but I’m so sad it’s so expensive :( $429 isn’t bad, but the $155 in shipping is the killer! But gosh…it’s so gorgeous.
And the room as fantastic! LOVE the bright colors!
I love the artwork you made! Very cute nursery!
Britta @ TheHandmadeHouse.net
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Hi I LOVE this baby room and want to use some of the ideas for my 3rd child’s room – i was wondering what color you had for the birds as there is orange and then dark orange- do you know which one it was? THanks!
This is just gorgeous! I love the orange accents. I added orange into my sons room and I just love it. I actually painted a couple of walls orange. It is defiantly and eye popping color!
I would love if you would post it and share it with my readers! Join the Community and share any of your creative project!
Susan @ Oh My! Creative
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What an absolutely amazing tranquil and fun nursery you’ve created! The wall art and colours totally drew me in. I want to sit in that chair and enjoy! :)
Shared on FJI Facebook and pinned for SNS 131. :)
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Donna
How beautiful! Love the Bird Theme, Love the Trees, and I love the color scheme! Great job, I’m visiting frorm your Feature at FJI,
These colours work so well together, just love it!!! And does not look babyish either, so hopefully you can keep the decor for sometime. I am hoping to do something similar for my two little men. Wall decals are a life saver and inexpensive too. Thanks again for posting ;)
I love this room! Would you be so kind as to email me the paint formula? I live in a romote area where there isn’t a lowes. Thank you!!
Hi,
I love this room and am going to do something very similar for my son’s nursery. Do you have any tips for installing the vinyl decals? They look very intimidating to me. Did you use flat paint for your walls? My walls are painted with flat paint and I was wondering if the decals will stick to flat paint.
Thanks!
Amy
Hi there
How did you make the birds for the mobile?
You are not the first person who has asked this question about the bird mobile, I really should make a tutorial for it! I used the pattern below for the birds, and then I added wings and eyes to them. I sewed the bodies of the birds together with my sewing machine, but left the tails open. I stuffed them with pillow/craft stuffing found at your local craft store, and then hand stitched the tails together. For the wings, I cut little pieces in the shape of a leaf (narrow oval), and then top stitched them with a zig-zag stitch. I hot glued both the eyes and the wings on because they were a last minute addition.
Bird pattern: http://www.diysayhi.com/2009/06/bird-mobile.html
Before I stuff the birds, I threaded fishing line through the bodies so the fishing line came up through the top. After everything was complete I hung them onto the nest.
Hi! love your paint colour…any idea what brand/what the colour was called? Thanks!
Love this room!! Nice job- I love the two accent colors and that it can change as baby grows up with very little effort. Found you via Thrifty Decor Chick’s link up party- check out our nursery (which has some similar themes!!) http://davenportdiy.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-tour.html
That looks amazing! Catalog worthy definitely! MY sons’ rooms are my favorites in the house. Nothing like a fun retreat for these little ones!
Wow! You have such a good eye for style! I absolutely love everything you did in this room. So pretty and unique. The colors are so fresh and modern and really give the room a current look. (And I’m loving the woodsy theme, too!)