My absolute favorite room in our house is my daughter’s nursery. It’s the prettiest in the morning right after the sun is coming up and shines through the window. When we found out we were having a girl, I instantly starting Pinterest-ing for inspiration and found so many ideas. I knew I wanted pink, but not an overwhelming amount or the typical “baby” pink. A muted, rose/mauve pink was the idea. I also wanted a little bit of floral for an additional feminine touch, but very subtle. My goal was to have a theme in the sense that everything went well together, but a “theme” was unidentifiable… I know probably doesn’t make sense.
Overall, I am so happy with the result and I can’t wait to share it with you in detail. Almost everything I talk about in this post is linked HERE. If you just want to see the pictures, they are at the bottom of this post!
The Grey Debate
The first thing we did was pick out furniture. We did this SO early (before my first second trimester) but we were still living in the “back ordered” times due to Covid. Stressing about our nursery furniture a few weeks before I was suppose to deliver? No thanks. Originally, I wanted a white crib and dresser, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. So, we went with grey. We found our crib, dresser, changing table topper, and rocker at Nebraska Furniture Mart. I know there are big opinions on the need for a changing table or not, but we use ours All. The. Time. I liked the fact that we could incorporate it into the dresser and remove the topper when we were done with it!
I debated and debated and debated on whether or not to paint the nursery. The walls were grey. All of the furniture was grey. And I kept thinking it was going to look like a big grey blob in there. Buyer’s remorse for the grey furniture set in and I kept telling Colin that it was going to look so “blah” with grey paint and all grey furniture. He reassured me that it would look just fine, but if I really wanted to paint it, that we could. Ultimately I decided to not paint (mostly because I did not have the energy at this point in my pregnancy). I figured that with curtains, wall decor, and some other items in there, it wouldn’t look so monotone and I really liked how it turned out!
We also decided to “redo” the closet which was a pretty quick and simple upgrade that really maximized the space. There are no closet doors (they were gone when we moved in) so you can see everything. I keep things very organized, but it only had one wire rack up high which felt like wasted space. Colin went to Lowe’s and got two black clothing rods, black brackets, and two white shelves. We agreed that since baby clothes are so small, it would be better to have two rods instead of one to maximize the space. He spend one evening putting these up and it turned out so good!
Then the furniture was delivered, and Colin assembled it. We arranged it basically the only way we could in a tight space. With just the furniture in the room and nothing else, I was reeeaallly kicking myself for not painting because it was a lot of grey. But just like Colin said, it turned out fine in the end!
Pretty In Pink
After the furniture was assembled and the closet was finished, I was ready to start adding the touches of color that I wanted. I started out by finding a crib sheet and matching changing pad cover that fit exactly what I was envisioning. The print was absolutely beautiful and was just what I was looking for. It’s covered in the most gorgeous pattern of pink flowers and loved them so much that I ended up ordering a blanket for the chair, and a car seat cover in the same print. (We actually wrapped her in the car seat cover for her newborn photos and they turned out beautiful.)
Then I found curtains that matched – a shade of pink from Target that matched the crib sheet perfectly. With just the curtains up, and the crib sheet on, I could see a light at the end of the tunnel with making sure her room didn’t look so grey.
I learned this tip for hanging curtains a while ago and it truly does make a huge difference. When you hang curtains, do not place the end of the curtain rod at the edge of the window. Place it 6-12 inches further than the edge of the window. It makes the window and room look SO much bigger. When you place the end of the curtain rod directly above the edge of the window, you won’t be able to see all of the window when you push the curtains open losing lots of natural light.
Little Details
At this point, it was starting to come together and didn’t look like such a grey blob anymore. We hung a mirror (also from Target) above the changing table which also made the room look bigger, and some acrylic bookshelves (from Amazon) on another wall to take up some of the grey space which helped even more. Her name was a surprise so after she was born, we hung the sign above her crib and it fit perfect. It’s a large sign from Etsy and I love it because it’s very neutral, but also feminine.
The only light we had was the overhead light and any natural light that came in during the day, so I added a lamp from Target which is basically all we use. It’s the perfect amount of light for feeding and getting her ready for bed. I wanted a place to set her sound machine, my phone, drinks, bottles, etc. So, a small, round nightstand from Amazon found it’s home between the crib and rocker and it fit perfectly in the small space. I also bought two larger baskets to use for dirty clothes and blanket storage. The most perfect addition that we got was an elephant rocker from Pottery Barn. It was the sweetest gift and it tied the whole room together.
A Few Months In
After using the nursery for several months now, I don’t even notice the overwhelming amount of grey so I’m glad that I didn’t spend the time painting it a color that future buyers wouldn’t like. Of course like any room in any house, there are always things left unfinished. Our newborn photography session was months ago and while I did print some of the pictures, they have yet to be framed and hung… mom life. But I definitely plan on doing that sometime soon!
I love everything about her sweet little room and the sense of calm it brings me when I walk through the door. By the time she’s old enough to remember things, we will most likely be out of this house and it makes me a little sad that she won’t remember this cozy little nursery of hers, but I am so glad I have pictures to show her.
I have everything linked at the top, but if you missed it, you can find *almost* everything here!