Simon's Nursery

We've been fixing up our house from the time we moved in just over three years ago. We've made a lot of great improvements so far but I have trouble focusing on one room or project at a time. Because of that, I haven't shared many photos of the improvements we've made because I feel like a room has to be "done" in order to share it. I'm learning, however, that no room is really ever "done." There are always going to be little changes here and there I'll most likely make as we live in our home. I really wanted to focus on Simon's room and get it decorated because babies grow so fast and I knew he'd be ready for a big boy room way too soon. Of all the rooms in my house, Simon's is the most "done" so I decided to share some details of his nursery.

This is Simon's room before. In the photo it looks brown, but it was more of a mauve color.

And here is the after:

I didn't care much about interior design or decorating when Rachel and Isaac were born so we just chose some furniture and a bedding set and called it good. When I found out I was pregnant with Simon, I knew I wanted to start with a clean slate to decorate his nursery. We sold the dark cherry baby furniture we used previously and I started pinning and keeping my eye out for good deals I could incorporate into Simon's nursery. I knew I couldn't justify getting rid of perfectly good furniture and going out and buying all brand new just because I wanted a different look. I was determined to spend as little as possible while still getting the look I wanted.

We didn't find out the gender while I was pregnant because we wanted to be surprised so I knew I was going to decorate with a neutral color palette with a little pop of color. My main inspiration was a woodland fabric from Birch Fabrics that is cream and grey with pops of color from darling little woodland creatures. I thought the little banners just made this fabric over the top cute. His room is mostly whites, creams, and greys, with a few pops of blue and orange to add a little interest.

As far as the furniture, I knew I wanted white. I contemplated painting our current furniture white, but I just didn't think that it would look very good white and wasn't the right style. I started looking at white cribs online and decided I'd love to have a Jenny Lind style crib. We ended up getting one for free because someone was getting rid of it! It was a warm wood and a little beat up but I cleaned it up and painted it white. The crib sheet is white with grey polk a dots and came from Target.

The name banner I made from twine, the woodland fabric, and scrap cream fabric that I ironed on the letters for his name to. I found the deer antlers at hobby lobby and spray painted them white as well.

The dresser was one we already had that we were using as a TV stand. It was the first piece of furniture I ever refinished. I got it off craigslist for $25 and painted it white. All it needed was some new pulls and it was ready to be used as Simon's changer. The changing pad and cover are from Target. The prints I found on Etsy and the frames are basic white frames from Meijer. I made the chalkboard wood slice scripture quote by painting chalkboard paint on the wood slice, creating the typography in photoshop, using wax paper to transfer it to the wood slice, then going over the writing with a white paint pen. The embroidery hoop I got from the craft store and put a scrap of the woodland fabric in it. The arrow also came from the craft store and I stained it a warm brown.

I had my eye on a nice plush upholstered rocker but they were way too expensive so I started looking into other options. This chair was an old paisley print armchair that didn't sell at a garage sale fundraiser we had so I decided to reupholster it and put a rocking base on it to convert it to a rocker. I got the fabric from Joann's and the rocking base from amazon.com. The baby blanket pictured was one my grandma made for my stepdad's sister-in-law when her baby was born. When I found out I was expecting Rachie, she sent it to me with a note that she thought it would mean more to me to have it. I was really touched. I grew up watching Mamaw sit in her chair crocheting day in and day out. Any time a family member, someone from church, or anyone even remotely close to us had a baby, Mamaw made them a baby blanket. It's so special to have one for our own kiddies.

I made these photo ledges from scrap pallet wood and painted them white. The books are gifts Simon received for Christmas last year.

The bookshelf was something we already had that used to be black that I painted white as well. The stuffed animals were gifts, the frame and clock came from Ikea, the pillow was also made by my grandmother, the blanket is from Target, and the wire baskets are from Meijer. The fox bin was a Christmas gift and the stripe hamper also came from Meijer.

I've been slowly updating the doors in our house to these DIY 5-panel doors. I've also been updating and adding this DIY craftsman style trim as well. I updated his doors and trimmed out the closet and window, which hadn't been previously trimmed out. It adds so much interest to his room now. I can't wait to finish the rest of the house's doors and trim.

Here are a few more details you can see in the wide angle photo of the whole room: the end table was a $4 goodwill find that I painted white, the lamp also came from goodwill and I painted it blue for a pop of color (the lamp shade I got at Walmart). The owl humidifier we got on amazon.com and the crate it's sitting on was something we already had.

I still need to change out the light fixture and I'm also hoping to put in hardwoods soon. I still plan to hang curtains and get an area rug (when the hardwoods go in) so I'm not completely finished but I knew if I waited until those things were "done" I'd never share what we've done so far.

Thanks for looking! Leave a comment below to let me know what you think!