As a stylist it wasn’t hard to get excited about the process of making a designated room for our soon to be little cherub. I was immediately flooded with an array of ideas (too many really!) and spent a couple of months in early pregnancy slowly piecing together an initial design board (you can see it here) and seeking out details for the space that didn’t necessarily scream ‘baby!’ As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we knew we were gonna to be up against a space issue – our home only has one 10×10 bedroom on the main floor with our other two bedrooms on the lower level, so making a nursery posed some logistical challenges.
A couple folks suggested we just forgo having a nursery all together, but I was determined to prove that even in the most constricted spaces you can have a beautiful area for your baby to dwell in, which can not only be a direct reflection of your personal style, but also offer a fluid extension of your traditional space. We went back and forth over and over again about the possibilities of where we would put baby (all of us downstairs? all of us in our bedroom? him in our bedroom, us downstairs?) and finally settled on us all staying on the main level of our house. I loved the idea of converting our kitchen/breakfast nook to our “baby nursery” and although I knew it would be a tight fit, on the flip side the idea of being secluded in a room away from our main living space while breastfeeding him 40+ hours a week was a horribly unattractive idea.
Being that the space is super teeny (8×8) I started the design process knowing I wouldn’t be able to fit much. I therefore wanted to be really intentional about making a few investments that would offer a lasting and beautiful bang for our buck. The design of the space initially centered around this gorgeous cloud print by Megumi Shauna Arai (a local artist here in Seattle) and I could see myself happily gazing at it in the wee morning hours of exhaustion in the those early months of motherhood.
We had the artwork professionally framed and placed it above this vintage Drexel Kipp Stewart credenza which was a piece we had coveted in our home for a while but had been in storage for the past year and half during our remodel. It has offered such a great way to store all our baby clothes/supplies and paired really well with this Dwell Studio changing station which we secured to the back of the credenza. It took about six months for everything to come together and each day that a new box of goodies arrived on our porch or I spotted something that would be perfect for the space while out and about I got so immensely giddy. The entire process has been so much fun!
The baby nook sits all nice and cozy directly off our kitchen and it makes me so elated to peer in there while I’m making dinner or moving about our home. That chair was seriously worth EVERY last penny and is SO SO comfortable. Being that I’m nearly 6 ft tall I needed a chair with a high back so I could rest my head in the middle of the night and catch some extra zzz’s.
After sitting in nearly 20 nursery chairs, this West Elm Graham Glider in dove grey stole my heart and made my lower back super happy. I also love that it’s not a traditional nursery rocker and can transition to other areas of our home long after baby boy grows. The shaggy pouf ottoman is a Land of Nod find and pairs perfectly with the comfort of the chair.
I spent a lot of time considering lighting for the space and gleefully settled on this hand crocheted chandelier my Grammie made nearly 20 years ago. I love it so so much and until now had not found the perfect spot for it. It adds such a soft and inviting touch, and helps make the space extra special/feel very personal.
The gold sconce above the chair is from Schoolhouse Electric and I’m OBSESSED with it. Their lightning is such amazing quality and I love that they are PNW pals with their headquarters just down the road in Portland. It will be so nice to switch on the sconce in the middle of night for diaper changes without flooding the whole room with light.
Also, that Land of Nod bassinet…uhhhhh swoon right?! I love how snuggly it fits right in the room and offers additional storage space beneath it. ***A little sidenote : being that we live in an earthquake state, I have NO intention of having our babe sleep in the bassinet while under the shelving. During his nap times I will be pulling the bassinet away from the shelves or into our living room to keep him safe.*** But when it’s not in use, it fits perfectly under the white custom shelves Adam made and those West Elm antique brass prism brackets.
In conjunction with the nook, we are also planning on having our babe in our bedroom for the first few months after bringing him home. I wanted him to be visibly accessible in the middle of the night (new mama worries!) without having to leave our bed. We borrowed this sweet Babyletto origami mini crib from our friends Andie & Christian and it instantly became our solution for overnight sleep. The cozy vintage african mud cloth crib blanket was custom-made for us by One Fine Nest and the blue quilt was made by hand by Adam’s Aunt Sandy using fabrics from my friend Keli over at Drygoods Design. The cute polka dot mini crib sheet is from Land of Nod.
These GORGEOUS baskets are from The Citizenry and have been so ideal for storing toys and all of the beautiful blankets we were gifted by friends and family at our baby showers. The colors of the baskets are so dang pretty and vibrant, and I love that each one was handmade and is one-of-a-kind. The persian rug is a vintage find from an estate sale a few years back, and the macrame wall hanging was made by me and my mama about a year ago for an Anthropologie photo shoot. The mobile consists of drift wood and shells I picked up along my beach walks at Discovery Park here in Seattle. The vintage black and white african mud cloth pillow as well as the pillows in the bassinet in the baby nook are from The Mod Boho.
It has been such a treat to set out all of the amazing items and teeny shoes we have been gifted on these simple shelves. The little wooden toy cars were actually Adam’s from when he was a little boy, the maternity photograph was shot by pal Catherine Abegg when I was about 29 weeks pregnant, and those adorable wooden name blocks are made by Little Sapling Toys and were a gift from my friend Laura. The vintage painting was a treasure found during my travels in Berlin last year; the bear piggy bank was a sweet antique find from my sister Coli; and the stuffed knit raccoon doll from my Aunt Sue is from Blabla.
Everything about this space gives me a rush of happy mama feelings. I absolutely cannot wait to bring our little guy home to this loving space as it has quickly become my favorite spot in our home. I’ve already spent many an hour sitting in this space with our pup and am counting the minutes until I’m holding our babe in my arms.
images captured by : Belathee Photography (thank you Dorothee!!)
white changing station : Dwell Studio (similar here) | mixed media hanging mobile : Attalie Dexter | ‘hey babe’ framed art : Oh My Deer | brush/comb cup and cement plant pot : Anthropologie | chair : West Elm Graham Glider | ottoman : Land of Nod shaggy pouf in white | curtains : Land of Nod Tie Die curtains in blue | sconce : Schoolhouse Electric Isaac Plug-In Sconce in brass | custom shelving wood from Home Depot | shelf brackets : West Elm Prism Bracket in antique brass | bassinet : Land of Nod Norse bassinet | white & black crib blanket and blue chair pillow : One Fine Nest | white mini crib : Babyletto | white and black polka dot crib sheet : Land of Nod | baskets : The Citizenry Bombo Basket and Sauda Basket | black african mud cloth pillows and pillows in bassinet : The Mod Boho | side table, brass shelf and green triangle rug: Urban Outfitters | soft blue nook curtains : Anthropologie
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