No matter how much parents insist otherwise, decorating a nursery has little to do with a baby and more to do with a parent. We basically just decorate how we want to decorate, but really, who can fault a parent for that? When you’re decorating a nursery you’re decorating a room for a tiny, little person you don’t even know yet. You have no idea what their color preferences or interests are, so you just go off of your own aesthetic.
This is what I did when I was creating a space for Fern (see some of her nursery photos here).
I really did like the space, but as she got bigger, it became more and more clear that the space didn’t suit her personality or interests. As a nursery, Fern’s room was very gender neutral, because that’s how I decorate the rest of our home. I’m not into flowers or shabby chic prints…it’s just not my thing. That said…pure and unadulterated girliness is most definitely Fern’s thing. Her favorite colors are pink and purple and she loves all thinks “park-uh-lee” (sparkly). She loves smelling flowers and spinning like a “ballina” (ballerina) and taking care of all of her little “friends” (i.e. her dolls and stuffed animals). As such, I knew it was time to create a space that was all her own and that would appeal to her aesthetics and interests…without creating a space that looked like a Barbie dream castle exploded.
I knew there had to be some pink, but it had to be done in a way that wasn’t overly girly or baby’ish. The entire room inspiration was based off of this Rifle Paper Co. wrapping sheet I purchased while on a trip to Seattle. I knew it was destined for something special.
After I had a jumping off point for inspiration the rest of the room sort of fell into place. I was lucky enough to work with some really great companies on this project including The Land of Nod, Target, MUR and a ton of great Etsy shops and I’ll be mentioning them throughout the post as well as including a comprehensive source list at the end of the post.
So without further ado…here is the “big girl room redesign”…
Here’s the overall view of the room – I never realized how hard it was to take photos of a space! …Especially when the lighting is so terrible like it is in Fern’s room. We live in a super wooded area: tall trees + an overhang = no good natural light. I like that the white accents (the walls, the doors on the book shelf, and the rug) help to brighten things up and balance some of the darker elements in the room (like that grey comforter that I just had to have).
{storage book shelf: c/o Land of Nod, rug: c/o Target}
{comforter: c/o Target, sheets: c/o The Land of Nod, sham: c/o The Land of Nod}
Fern’s first response when she entered her new room? “Pink bow pillow Mama!!!” Apparently I’ve been depriving her of the color pink or something with my pink-hating ways. I really like the pink when it’s grounded with more neutral colors and clean lines though. It almost makes me want to extend pink into the rest of my house! I also love the little pops of whimsy and color brought in with items like the tassel garland and the deer bust (which she thought was super cool: “Mama! Deer is lookin’ at me!”).
{tassel garland: c/o Graphique Bazaar on Etsy, faux deer taxidermy: c/o Near & Deer}
The cool, modern book shelf storage from The Land of Nod is such a great example of bringing style and function into a space. I love that it’s a lovely piece of furniture that can grow with Fern over the years, but that it’s also super practical. It holds a ton of stuff and it’s really well-made to stand up to toddler antics.
{Portland print: Lark Press, bunny light: New Seasons}
{matryoshka set: Fred M}
This little reading area is probably Fern’s most favorite part of the room. She’s totally obsessed with that wire basket for her books and I adore that little vintage school chair I happened upon. It was exactly the perfect shade of pink, so I knew it had to come home with me.
{wire wall basket: c/o Land of Nod , chair: Vintage Pink, coat rack: c/o Land of Nod}
{custom glitter name banner: c/o Graphique Bazaar on Etsy, scallop closet decals: c/o MUR}
I love this glitter name banner and I probably could’ve DIY’d something similar, but I truly despise working with glitter. I just don’t do it, which is why I’m thankful for people like Sara at Graphique Bazaar who make them for me. Oh, and those scallop decals at the top of the closet were simply the polka dot decals cut in half. A friend came up with that idea, so I can’t take any credit for its cleverness.
This cute, little, cozy area is definitely my personal favorite part of the room. I loved putting together the gallery and all the little details! Also, Fern is totally obsessed with the wall decals. She just loves polka dots! I think it’s because she’s such a big Minnie Mouse fan and Minnie wears polka dots. Whatever the case, she was a fan and was especially excited that they were “park-uh-lee”.
I just want to hang out and cozy up with these pillows all day long. The carpe diem one is so cute!
{polka dot wall decals: c/o MUR, carpe diem pillow: c/o Bright July on Etsy, blanket: thrifted, other pillows: made}
I’ve wanted to create a cool art gallery wall for Fern for a really long time, but I wasn’t sure how to make it safer for a toddler, since they are prone to destruction. I kind of just envisioned all those frames falling off the wall on top of her. But, I was able to use these super cool 3M Command velcro strips to secure them to the walls. Some of them are so strong I can’t even pull them off the walls! If I ever decide to rearrange, I’ll definitely have to have Craig help me with that one. But they definitely make me feel safer knowing that everything is securely stuck to the walls.
{“mama said” print: Ashley G, fern botanical prints: 1001 Treasures on Etsy, pink girl + cats print by Ashley G: c/o Land of Nod, chalkboard: Michaels, wood cookie heart: DIY, desert print: painted by Craig’s Grandma, floral wrapping sheet: Rifle Paper Co., others: photos/gifted}
And of course, no space for my girl would be complete without ample storage for her dolls and stuffed animals. These baskets from Target are totally perfect and I love the little chalkboards.
{woven storage basket: c/o Target, doll bed: IKEA, mirror: vintage}
And there you have it! I’m so happy that I was able to create a space that reflects who Fern is and the things she enjoys, in a way that didn’t compromise my design aesthetic. I’m really pleased with the final result and so thankful for all of the wonderful partners I had in creating this space…along with my friend who got 8,000 picture texts from me asking her opinion on the set-up from afar :).
Thanks for checking out Fern’s new space!
Love and home decor,
Lauren
P.S. Here is the complete source list for items that weren’t DIY’d or vintage:
Polka Dot Sheets: Land of Nod
Pink Bow Pillow Sham: Land of Nod
Comforter: Target
Rug: Target
Woven Storage Basket: Target
Storage Bookcase: Land of Nod
Coat Rack: Land of Nod
Wire Wall Storage Basket: Land of Nod
Carpe Diem Pillow: Bright July on Etsy
Faux Taxidermy: Near & Deer
Tassel Banner + Custom Glitter Name Banner: Graphique Bazaar on Etsy
Art Gallery Mounting: Command
Wall Decals: MUR
Pink Girl + Cats print Ashley G print: Land of Nod
“Mama Said” print: Ashley G
Fern botanical prints: 1001 Treasures on Etsy desert print:
Floral Wrapping Sheet: Rifle Paper Co.
Doll Bed: IKEA
Very cute! Love the feminine touches without being a pink princess hell hole. LOL
Haha! That’s totally what I was going for Cassidy :). I didn’t want to stifle her love of pink girliness, but I also don’t want to totally give in to all the princess pink craziness…this seemed like a good balance.
Cute cute!
Thanks Lacy!
Love this! My baby Magnolia’s nursery was inspired by a piece of wrapping paper from target that looks a lot like your inspiration.
Katy – Great minds ;).
Very cute Lauren! I have just started decorating the nursery for baby #2, a girl this time and we moved my son into his big boy room a couple of weeks ago. It’s fun creating a space for him. I do have a question though – Did you attach the mirror to the wall with the Velcro strips as well Lauren? My son is about fern’s age and I’d like to have a mirror for him to make faces in, etc, problem is the one I have is so heavy but I love how big it is…
Jaclyn – In these photos the mirror actually wasn’t attached yet, but I was able to go back later and attach it. The 3M Command strips are surprisingly strong. If you check the package it says what the weight limit is and you’d obviously want a pack to hold a large amount of weight for something big like a mirror. It’s worked great so far!
Thanks Lauren, I will check them out.
I am moving in! I love it. We have the same doll bed too for her “McKenna” doll. Its her best friend and has to sleep with her but she also needed her own bed. Girls.
Yanira – You can sleep in that doll bed :). That’s so cute about the doll bed – little girls are seriously so funny!
Super cute! I bet Fern loves it. Kind of jealous of all of the c/o’s you’ve got going on there 😉
Kira – Haha! We were super blessed by all the awesome partners we got to team up with. I’ve become a Land of Nod convert for life. The quality of their stuff is seriously so good! And the design is just ridiculously spot-on.
Oh my word I love this room! I am no pink-lover either but this is just a brilliant use of pink and I love it! I love the reading area and the polka dotted wall! Great job, mama!
Thank you Brooke! A good balance to make Mama and Fern happy :). Maybe I’ll become a pink-lover afterall!
I love Fern’s room! We’re expecting our second daughter in June so I’m in the middle of mentally redecorating the nursery and turning our guest room into our oldest daughter’s room. I love seeing where you got each item. That’s definitely handy for me since I’m looking for ideas!
Thank you Jana! Glad the source list was helpful for you. I know I always like when people are really clear about where they got things – saves me the trouble of asking :).
so darling!! I have a question about the decals…are your walls flat or textured? I’m curious if the decals will stick to textured walls?
Ruthy – Thank you! And our walls are textured, but they stuck just fine. I didn’t use a squeegee to apply them like the directions recommended…just my hands and made sure to rub them on well to get out all the bubbles. At first I thought it would look weird on the textured walls too, but I really like them! Couldn’t be easier…well…at least not if you don’t get all OCD and measure them out perfectly. I knew I couldn’t handle that so I took the random approach :).
Lauren! Fern’s big girl room is perfection. She is a very lucky little lady! That little gallery wall/pillow corner is my favorite!
Katie – I think that’s my favorite part too!
This is SUCH a beautiful room!!
Thank you so much Eliza!
The gallery wall is my favorite part. You did an amazing job!
Wow! That looks amazing! Nice job! Will you come & decorate my place, please!!!! 🙂
Haha! I’d love to Mandie!
I love it Lauren! We are building a house in the country right now and I cannot wait to make Leona’s big girl room. Right when I showed my husband this he instantly said he knew it was my dream for her space, just right amount of girly. We are in a temporary space right now with her room sharing ours and I am just so giddy for her to get to play in her pretty new room. Daydreaming 🙂
Chelsea – So exciting to be building a house exactly the way you want it! And I’m happy I was able to provide a bit of bedroom inspiration for you and Miss Leona! Happy decorating!
Hmmmm. Still seems very gender neutral to me. You claim this room is more feminine but I feel you got it ALL WRONG. Try again, and this time every accessory and item should be PINK & PURPLE only. And where are the plastic toys for her to play with?? If you want it to truly be kid friendly it needs to be covered in Fisher Price (and if you can find them in pink and purple you will have it made!) I think this room should be for your baby boys if you ask me!
Haha! I love you Echo…even though you’re a punk 😉
Really love the gold polka dot decals, the paint gray heart on the wood cut, and the vintage peachy pink school chair. Nice touches!
So cute and full of details, I love it!