Our Nursery Plans – It’s A…

A look at all our dreams and schemes for our baby BOY nursery: the colors, furniture, and decor we are incorporating in our nursery plans!

That's right baby Medlin is a BOY! We are just so thrilled to have this opportunity to be parents after the struggles we went through that the sex of the baby mattered very little to us. A boy will be such fun, and I am excited for the challenge of designing a nursery that feels youthful yet classic and traditional but fun.

I want the room and furniture to grow with our baby into childhood and not feel theme-y or babyish, and I want the space to be serene and quietly genteel. Of course my Grandmillennial tastes led me to search through traditional nursery ideas and to a light color scheme with soft greens and blues. Here are a few of my inspiration images...

Alexander Interiors boy nursery

Image via Modern Nest Kids

Image via Decorpad

Image via Paul & Paula

Image via Suellen Gregory

Our Nursery Plans Design Board

After hunting inspiration and zeroing in on the wallpaper, I had a clear vision of what I wanted the nursery to look like. The room will feel a bit English Country with a collected vibe full of traditional details. It will be handsome and masculine with woodland motifs.

Design Board Sources: Green & White Wallpaper // Wooden Crib // White Brass Sconce // Woodland Animal Plates, Vintage Moonlight Interiors Decoupage // Scalloped Shelves // Craftmaster Handsome Fabric // Thibaut Milanese Fabric // Acorn Fabric // Peter Rabbit // Henry Pillow // Wooden Train Toc Toc Kids // Rabbit Lamp // Antelope Play Pad // Craftmaster Glider

The Wallpaper

From the first, I knew I wanted to wallpaper the nursery whether it was a boy or girl, and I had several ideas floating around, but once we knew it was a boy I zeroed in on toile like scenes that had a mural feel. I really liked the idea of a woodland theme that showed the countryside with some sweet animals. Here are some of the papers I considered:

Wilderness Vilda from Clarke&Clarke

Forêt by Nina Campbell

Laura Ashley Elderwood in sage

Orchard in green from York

Fable by Rifle Paper Co in mineral

Ultimately, Countryside Morning from Boråstapeter in green won my affection! I love the watercolor feel of the trees and the sweet deer peeking out from the bushes. The greens have undertones of blue and feel so soft and calming.

We plan to only put the wallpaper on the top half of the walls and do a paneling or wainscoting on the bottom. I think this will work well in the long run with little sticky fingers and the inevitable marker drawing on the wall. I'll wait to make a final decision on the paint color for the paneling until the wallpaper goes up, but right now I'm leaning towards Garden Path from Benjamin Moore.

The Furniture

I did a bit of online hunting for our crib, but once I saw the Chris Loves Julia turned wood crib at Pottery Barn Kids my hunt was over! I adore the dark walnut stain and the spindle corners. The crib feels antique but not fussy, and I think the contrast it will bring to the room is key!

For the dresser and changing surface, I hope to find a long vintage dresser with lots of drawers. I want a traditional piece that will last our boy for years to come. I'll fix the changing pad to one end so the dresser is multi-purpose.

The glider chair was probably the most trying decision. I went back and forth between brands for several weeks then debated the fabric again and again. I think I also visited 6 different furniture stores! But finally, I let comfort dictate the chair choice and decided out of all the gorgeous fabrics I had seen neutral was best. I set my goal for the room to be long lasting and versatile early on, so a neutral fabric will suit that goal.

I ordered a Craftmaster glider from Knoxville Wholesale Furniture in a soft camel color with a small scale herringbone pattern. I think the warmth this color will bring to the room is essential. The fabric is also a performance textile, so clean up should be easy. I'm going to re-cover a tufted ottoman I already have to use with the glider, so I ordered extra yardage of the camel performance fabric to use on the ottoman too. That way the chair and ottoman will look like a matched set.

The Window Treatments

What to do for window treatments in the nursery was another difficult decision. Initially, I planned on full floor length curtains with bamboo shades, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted something simple. The fabric choice took some time too. I knew I wanted to introduce another pattern in the room and that a geometric would work best with the organic shapes of Countryside Morning.

After ordering dozens of samples and debating swatches of stripes and plaids endlessly for about three weeks, I finally settled on this gorgeous Thibaut plaid called Milanese. It has just the right combo of camels and taupes with a stripe of blue and a stripe of pale green. I ordered the fabric from Fabric Guru -- one of my favorite online discount sources for textiles!

Now I'm planning to have custom Roman shades made with a box pleat valance like those shown in the third inspiration image above. The shades will have a blackout lining, so they are functional and just right for afternoon naps.

While there are plenty more details to iron out for our boy Nursery, I'm thrilled to have the overall design finished as we head into the fifth month and all the major furniture and decor pieces decided. I can't wait to see it come together for our precious baby!