Here's the nursery reveal, it is my favorite room in our home! I had so much fun putting together my baby boy's woodland nursery. It took a while of sourcing items and refurbishing others and then collecting those pieces that I wanted to make the room pop. I did it all on a super budget, I'll break down where I shopped.
I went with a neutral color palette of grey, black and white, with goldenrod yellow and mint as accent colors. The room was already a light butter-yellow so I worked with that. And for patterns I stuck to woodgrain, triangles, chevron and some yellow polka dot ikat for fun. There's an overall woodland-adventure theme with some Native-American details. I'm a sucker for arrows and it coincides since our baby's name is Archer.
The tall Ikea bookcase that once held our collection of books and frames is now filled with lots of cute boy things, including recurring foxes. The woodgrain wrapping paper I used to (alternately) line the back panel is from The Container Store. The square grey fabric bins are from Target's dollar section, $3. I'm using them to hold keepsakes and his growing collection of shoes.
My sister-in-law made those cute arrow cushions/plushies in the coordinating colors/prints. I made the chalkboard art on a wood slice (from Michael's) with Martha Stewart chalkboard paint, here's a tutorial. The colored pencil twigs are from Cost Plus World Market , $7.99 but I also saw them at Marshall's. The wooden frame was on sale at Hobby Lobby, $1.50. I used it to frame a printout of a dictionary page with a fox illustration (I searched Google) and then colored it in.
The typical parenting and baby books are there along with The Hunger Games books which are from my collection. The Fellowship of the Ring and The Guide to Bird Finding were thrifted. The little Don'ts for Mothers book was gifted, it's quite cute. The mini fox figurine is from Michael's and the ceramic owl is from Marshall's. The grey and white chevron canvas bin is from Home Goods (a score at $16.) I like that I can use it for toys or a hamper later on. My favorite plush toys are a mama and baby fox from Ikea, you can see them in the bin. I used yarn to make poms for a garland.
The crib was a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law, I believe it's this model. My husband sanded and repainted certain areas that had some wear and it's now as good as new. The chevron crib sheet ($9.99), the white chenille blanket that was gifted, and the arrow throw pillow (on sale) are from Target. The little fox plush toy ($4.99) is also from Target, I got it during Easter. The black and white blanket was gifted and is from Bella Bundles. It has a super soft minky swirl fabric on the other side and converts into a nursing cover or car seat cover, too. My sister-in-law made the adorable striped arrow cushion/plushie.
I decided to make my own crib skirt using Heat n' Bond since I don't know how to sew. I only needed a front panel because of the way the crib faces out so I tackled it knowing I'd only have to make one panel. I ordered my fabric from Fabric.com (yellow ikat | b&w triangles.) Some careful measuring, an iron, and I was on my way to a custom crib skirt.
Here's the overall how-to of the crib skirt DIY:
You pretty much just measure the width and height of the space under the mattress that needs to be covered. Figure in about an inch to each side and 4 inches to the top (where it will go under the mattress and be attached.) Then, you measure, cut, and iron on the hem of your chosen fabric. I used 3/4" Super Heat n' Bond, I used up almost all of the 8 yard roll for the entire (front-panel only) crib skirt. You should have a big rectangle and a smaller one the same width if you want to have a border. I wanted a 3" bottom border in the triangle fabric. For the border fabric I only hemmed three sides and left the top part (that I ironed onto the bottom of the main panel) without a hem since I'd be attaching it to the back part of the fabric anyway. Iron out any wrinkles before attaching.
I used 3 adhesive velcro squares (you can find them at Dollar Tree) to attach the top hem to the wooden "box spring" part of the crib. Make sure and level the skirt with the floor and then mark where you'll be putting the velcro on the wood. If your crib has springs attach ribbon to your panel and tie on instead. Whenever the mattress needs to be lowered in the future I can just add another set of velcro squares according to the height.
Easy and cheap. I'm so happy with how it turned out!
Easy and cheap. I'm so happy with how it turned out!
Instead of a mobile (I will probably make one later) I opted for a small gallery wall with a dreamcatcher (believe it or not I found this one at Dollar Tree! Yep, $1!) and embroidery hoops- Michael's, $1.50 each. The sizes I got were 7, 6, 5 (X2), and 3 inches. I already had my fabric left over from the crib skirt as well as this brown woodgrain and grey woodgrain so I decided to use that to fill the hoops with.
Embroidery hoop wall gallery DIY:
Lay your hoop onto the back side of your fabric and leave roughly an inch around the outer perimeter, mark as needed then, cut. Insert your fabric into your inner hoop making sure the pattern is straight and press into the outer hoop adjusting the top screw to tighten. Then simply cut the left over fabric from around the edges. I used striped grosgrain ribbon (it actually came with Carter's packaging. I'm all about re-using and re-purposing!) to loop through the top and hang using clear thumbtacks. I hate leaving huge holes in the wall so these work great.
The dresser was a thrifted treasure that I found for $65! It was in great condition so nothing had to be fixed. I absolutely love it! This one was my inspiration. My husband and sister-in-law helped me with the makeover. I'm so thankful for their help, I could not have done it on my own. The color I chose is a neutral, warm grey from Martha Stewart called Grey Squirrel (click the link to see the real color, it looks a lot darker than it really is in the picture below.) Having such great attention to detail, my sister-in-law added some darker gloss in the detailing to make all the wonderful carved details pop. The original drawer handles were spray painted white.
For the dresser project I got a quart of paint but for smaller ones like painting picture frames I got Glidden's 8 ounce sample paints for $2.94. Just take the color swatch card up to the counter and you'll get designer colors for cheap in small batches, great for crafting small projects in your coordinating color palette! Boom, instant savings.
The minky changing pad cover in Ecru is from Carter's. It's super soft and fits my contoured changing pad perfectly. I have a Munchkin water-proof liner on top because I hear changing boy diapers can be messy. The Prince Lionheart wipes warmer was a hand-me-down. The white storage basket is from Target, I think this size was about $6 and fits newborn diapers, ointment, powder and lotion, and other necessities perfectly.
I'm planning to cover the simple white lampshade with an arrow design but have yet to get around to it. The lamp is from Ikea from a long time ago.
I just love organizing all of the teeny-tiny clothes! It's surprising how many loads of laundry I already had to wash! This Ikea drawer organizer, $7.99, was super helpful for storing swaddling blankets, burp cloths, wash cloths and tiny socks. If you search your Dollar Tree or Target dollar section, they almost always have $1-$3 plastic cubbies and baskets that are great for storage. I used a couple for pacifiers, grooming items, etc.
The gallery wall was a project I put a lot of time and effort into. I think it will continually change since I'm sure I'll keep doodling or finding quotes to put up. Some of the art was inspired from pieces I saw on Pinterest that I put my on twist on.
The 8X10 wooden frame is from Hobby Lobby- on sale for $3. It holds a watercolor I made. The deer silhouette was hand drawn and then cut out on black paper and mounted onto barnwood print scrapbook paper. The black 8X10 and (painted) yellow 5X7 frames are from Dollar Tree, they even came with matting. The grey 4X6 frame is from Home Goods. I printed out a triangle pattern to fit the frame and then a separate little saying "The joy is in the journey" in yellow and mounted that on top. Simple and cheap ways to color coordinate and add interesting pieces to the gallery wall.
If you don't want to put holes in your wall, either because you rent or plan on moving your gallery wall later on you should consider using these Command hooks. As long as your frames are light-weight. They worked for these.
There's a small area behind the door that is kind of bare so it was the perfect place for my little vintage side table. I've had this table since I was in high school when I found it at a garage sale and I finally got around to giving it a makeover. I painted its little drawer yellow and spruced it up with a brass owl knob $2, from Cost Plus World Market. The white vase is from Ikea and I filled it with found branches and more flower poms. The tiny fake potted succulent was a sale item at Michael's, $1.99 and oh, so cute. The ornate frame is from Marshall's with a J.R.R. Tolkein quote that I put onto a chalkboard backdrop.
Here's a download just for you!
Here's a download just for you!
This room was a guest room before and since we'll still occasionally need it to be one I gave the bed a makeover, on a budget, that is. I scored the full-sized Ikea bed frame on sale for $84 originally priced at $249. Um, can you say super sale?? And since I saved quite a few bucks I was able to get a duvet set, blanket and even a throw pillow-all from Ikea. Love when that happens! The little cream, yellow, and teal cushion is from Target- on sale.
The curtain panels with tree and bird/owl print are from Marshall's, the set was $19.99. A total score and they go so perfectly with the colors and theme of the room. The yellow and grey accent rug was another Target sale item that I impulsively bought, like the curtains, before the room had even begun to come together. But they both turned out to be a big part of my inspiration for the nursery.
If you see an item that captures the style, theme or color of the nursery you imagine go ahead and buy it! Especially if it's on sale, a seasonal item, or if you find it at a store like Marshall's where they have a fast turn-over of products. You might not see it again! I bought a lot of things on sale, some of them I had to wait for them to go on sale so that I could justify buying them. I love me a bargain! But it was worth it.
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