Liddy's Nursery

Hello blog! It's hard to believe years have passed since my last post and as I get inspired about a new path I'd like to try, I returned to my blog as a starting point, since for such a long time it used to be a platform I felt comfortable sharing my thoughts. I will talk about the design process of Liddy's nursery, the inspiration point, and how it all came together. These days I'm into sewing and maybe everyone who is new to sewing goes through this "pillow" phase, where all they want to do is sew pillows (they are relatively easy to make and they are pretty, right?). As I browse through fabric.com, I see so many amazing fabrics that inspire me to decorate a whole new nursery all over again but I'm pretty sure we are done having babies. But there is no reason I shouldn't be decorating nurseries! One thing I thought I can do is help parents-to-be find the inspiration to come up with a fresh theme and follow that thread to curate the objects that pull the room all together. And in the process, helping pick out fabric patterns and sewing crib sheets, pillows, and changing pad covers. We will see where this leads me. First I have to procure some fabric to serve as my portfolio! While I do that, here is what I did with my pretty Liddy's "nursery" space and how I did it.

Liddy's "nursery" is a part of the master bedroom, because we didn't have an entire room to dedicate to a nursery. All I knew when I was starting out was that I didn't want it to be "too pink" and that I was on a budget. I found on Craigslist a plain white Pottery Barn changing table and a tall dresser that looked fun because its knobs were little blocks with letters and numbers. With the small space we had, I couldn't do a normal sized dresser and I like using baskets for storage, so I knew a regular changing table with a shelf was what we needed. Then I saw this wall shelf at Pottery Barn Kids, a playhouse made of gold metal, and I was in love. The gold house gave me the inspiration for the colors of the nursery, coral and gold with splashes of mint for refreshing tone. I started curating coral and gold objects and my husband had the idea to paint the furniture coral with some gold accents. We already had a crib, and even though we felt uneasy about placing the crib away from our bedside, I didn't want to give up my bedside table and dresser. The space saver Stokke crib filled the space in front of the screen door beautifully and it is easy to move it around since it has wheels. I think the biggest challenge about the nursery was the limited space which might have resulted in a coral and gold overload instead of dispersing them around a bigger room. Still, I love the serene but cheery feel the nursery brought to an otherwise rather boring room. I also would have loved to have hardwood floors instead of carpet but I'm on the lookout for a kilim rug to cheer up the floor.

The first thing I picked up when I got the coral and gold idea was a bottle of Martha Stewart liquid gilding, which I used to gild the blocks on the tall dresser. I love the idea of something unexpected, such as children's blocks, painted gold. I'm so thankful for the fabric banner dressing the screen doors, sewn by a friend of mine for my baby shower. The colors on this banner serendipitously reflected my vision for the room and took it to the next step. I found a hot air balloon mobile in these very same pastel colors. I had been collecting wicker suitcases for a while, and about a year ago we had revamped this antique suitcase I had for years, covering the fabric with a gold and cream paper from Paper Source. With the hot air balloons and the vintage suitcases, an "Around the World in 80 Days" theme began to emerge. The cream and gold globe I came across at the World Market got a coral touch when I covered its axis with coral ribbon. The decorative fans hanging on gilded tacks were decorations for the baby shower. My dream for this space going forward is to bring in more objects with that sense of "curated during travels around the world." We also have handmade artwork on the walls. I cross-stitched hot air balloon in the small hoop while I was pregnant and the framed cross-stitch above the banner is something I made as a teenager. My younger son made the painting in the pink frame and I made the ensemble in the wooden frame with the gold letter L. Both frames are Goodwill finds, as are the wicker baskets. The doll sitting on the shelf is custom-made by an Etsy seller and the oldest brother made a Lego house for Liddy. I should also mention the washi tape I used around the border of the the changing table. I couldn't get over how beautifully my colors were woven together in that pattern and I thought it would bring together the gold and the coral on the furniture.

I am so happy that each and every object placed in this space has a story, fitting into the overall theme and as Miss L. grows, maybe the whole theme will grow with her into her toddler and maybe even teenager years?










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