The Inspiration
Such a special little room to bring home our baby O! It’s taken me some time to get my thoughts together on this sweet space, but I’m so excited to finally share with you Olivia’s serene baby girl nursery.
You might remember this little room used to be my office. And while I loved having my own space to work, there’s something so special about its transformation into Olivia’s sweet space. Before we knew the gender, I’d always been set on incorporating greens into the room. I love a pretty sage color; it’s just so serene and peaceful. So when we found out we were having a girl, I knew I wanted to mix in a feminine color with the green. Pink felt too predictable, so I opted for lavender accents and hit the ground running.
In my initial search, there wasn’t much that felt like my vibe, when it came to green & lavender nurseries. So I began pulling inspiration from my favorite home decor sites like Kathy Kuo and Ballard Designs, along with different fabrics in the shades I knew I wanted from Pindler and Schumacher.
I put together the below mock-up of the space as a jumping off point for our serene baby girl nursery design.
Serene Baby Girl Nursery
I’ll admit that it’s very easy to get carried away with designing a room you’ve dreamt of for months. I had to be steadfast and strong when it came to budget. If there was a way I could save money or breathe life into older furniture pieces for Olivia’s nursery, I’d do it.
Enter Facebook marketplace! My grandmother used to work at Baker Furniture, so I’ve always known that their pieces stand the test of time. I started searching different keywords on marketplace like “Baker Ottoman” and “Baker traditional furniture”. Low and behold my searching paid off because I came upon an absolutely perfect ottoman on casters (minus the 80s floral fabric), that I knew had great bones to become the perfect addition to the nursery… and at a fraction of the price (just $60!)
Truth be told, I began building the nursery around this piece of furniture. It became a source of inspiration and the launching off point for the vision to become a reality!
When it came to choosing upholstery fabric, I opted for a performance varietal. I figured people would be using it to prop up their feet, and who knows if they’d take off their shoes, so I wanted to make sure the ottoman withstood the foot traffic. I chose a pinstripe performance fabric by Pindler to do the trick. There’s someting I love so much about the simplicity and traditional look the fabric offers. And it made the perfect pleated skirt detail, too.
Paired with a simple eco-performance fabric swivel glider, the chair and ottoman combination has become a special spot to nurse and read to Olivia. I’ll even admit I’ve taken my fair-share of naps here, especially back in the early days of newborn sleep-deprivation! I opted to keep the chair gender neutral for future use. But I had an insert made from this dotted stripe Schumacher fabric in lilac.
When it was previously my office, I invested in a chest of drawers that I knew could one day be used for a child. It once used to store a variety of PR samples, paper goods and other office supplies. Now it’s become the perfect large chest of drawers for storing Olivia’s onesies, blankets, and more. It’s also the perfect changing table.
You might remember the teeny-tiny office closet organization project I tackled with my friend Amy of EcoModern Concierge. The organization we put in place years ago, came in handy. I simply re-utilized it for Olivia’s clothing and other necessities. The Elfa over the door organizer is a gem, and it has continually paid for itself year after year. I highly recommend it if you’re trying to maximize on closet space. It’s the perfect spot to store extra diapers and wipes, little baby shoes and additional toys or accessories.
Another piece that I opted to save money on was Olivia’s crib. There are some absolutely beautiful cribs out there, but those come with a steep price tag. Friends had told me about the DaVinci Jenny Lind 3-in-1 crib. That it was a great piece, that grew with the baby. For $199, I was sold! It was really easy for Rick to put together and the white finish was exactly what I wanted. We opted to not put it on the included casters and have been happy with that choice.
The crib skirt is a custom creation that is the chef’s kiss to the space. I saw this fabric and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I searched high and low everywhere for something that was a bit more reasonable, but had no luck. The Schumacher Camden Cotton Check in Lilac was the perfect piece to my lilac puzzle. I opted for a box pleat skirt style and I adore it so much.
In my original idea board, I pulled some florals prints in my favorite flower, the hydrangea. Essentially these prints evolved into pieces that I commissioned from Carolyn, a talented watercolor artist, whom I found on Instagram. Can you believe the power of social media?
Carolyn was amazing and worked with me completely via email to discuss my inspiration and ideas. She mocked-up the custom watercolor pieces to go above Olivia’s crib in a few weeks. We chose Hydrangeas, Roses and Delphinium – all summer flowers based around Olivia’s birth season. Even more special, Carolyn chose to create some symbolism in her paintings, that I’ll cherish forever. A single Delphinium to symbolize our baby girl; two hydrangeas to symbolize the bond between mom and baby; and three roses to symbolize our family of three. You can shop Carolyn’s ready to purchase artwork online, too!
I had the prints framed locally at my go-to frame store – Warehouse Frames n Gallery off Fondren.
And on the opposite wall, I was able to incorporate three small paintings my late-grandmother painted for my college apartment years ago. I love that these special pieces of art are also in Olivia’s nursery. It feels like my grandmother had some sort of inkling that they could be used down the road in a baby’s room…
Lastly, the glass panel french door leads out into a teeny tiny open space that just serves as a light source for the adjoining rooms in our home. Initially I was going to keep the custom shade previously installed, but it was made with the intent of letting light in. I opted to have a custom roman shade made for the door with the most precious ditsy floral Liberty fabric I stumbled upon at a local fabric store – Universal Fabric. I initially had my heart set on a floral fabric that was over $150 a yard, so this was a true treasure sourced with some close friends one weekend.
Olivia’s nursery has quickly become on of my favorite rooms in our home. It’s such a sweet space that can grow with our little girl, and continue to be timeless. I can’t wait to spend more days playing on the rug as she gets older and reading books before bedtime in the chair. The memories this precious room already holds are countless, but I’m so excited to continue to create more!
Linking below as many details of the space as I can, but feel free to reach out with any questions on the serene baby girl nursery design and decor.
Crib: DaVinci Jenny Lind 3-in-1 Convertible Crib
Crib sheet: Watercolor Butterfly organic crib fitted sheet
Glider: Namesake Crawford Modern White Eco Performance Pillowback Comfort Swivel Glider
Changing pad: Keekaroo Peanut wipeable changing pad; also love the Bumbo changing pad
Changing table lamp + Shade: At Home Stores 21″ Ceramic Gourd Lamp; Ballard Designs Wicker Lamp Shade
Toy baskets: Tulip Shaped Woven Baskets, size large
Laundry basket: Woven Paper Dot Natural floor hamper
Floral artwork: Custom floral watercolors by Carolyn in Virginia
Rug: Shaw Floors Charming Transition custom cut area rug in Washed Linen
Diaper caddy: Woven diaper caddy with dividers
