Now that I've settled into the reality that we're going to have a baby, the next logical step is planning the nursery- right? So I've been soaking in and collecting ideas lately. I have to admit, I don't have too much experience with infants and only recently have my nearby friends started having kids so I don't even have that many nursery's to draw conclusions from. In my lack of knowledge and creativity, I resorted to surfing.. the web of course. So I put on my wet suit and dove in for inspiration. I went to BHG.com but they try to make you sign up and pay money just to look at their designs so I found a great site that allows you to pick some color schemes and themes and shows you a whole bunch of pictures, which is where I found my inspiration. (Below)
What I'm looking for in nursery design:
- Fresh, Alive, and Calming feel- like a breath of fresh air
- Non- pastel colors- not my thing
- Color that enables me to paint the walls a neutral color that will be good for resale (I hate going to buy a house and seeing the ugly pink and purple walls)
- I suppose more modern- may be a problem getting the traditional husband on board
- Good flow through the colors- truth is I've been obsessed with the brown/blue scheme but I figured I'd switch it up a tad
- Interesting patterns- for baby Wilson to study with his bright eyes
So I made it to my favorite store, Joann's Fabrics, yesterday. While picking up little smocking material to make the easiest dresses ever (one seam to sew and it's a dress, Pictured on the right), I browsed the quilting fabrics too. My very talented friend here at Luke is going to make me a quilt for the baby and she has appointed me as the designer of the quilt too. That's actually what got me thinking nursery design since she was encouraging me to pick colors for the quilt and I wanted harmony in the nursery. Anyway, with the help of John's Aunt (in town because her husband, the pro-bowler, had a tournament in the Phoenix area and they stayed over our house) I picked out some sample swatches of 
fabrics that I liked that had a similar feel to my inspiration picture. I'd say it's a "go" for the circles and stripes fabrics and the solid brown, but the three greens I'm debating and will end up with just one of them. I'm thinking the stripes can be the skirt on the crib, curtains, and details on the little crib caddy. The polka-dots can be pillows. And the more solid colors can accompany the striped material to smooth it out a little. By the way, I do plan on sewing most of the room's decor (and may send the hard stuff for one or both of the grandma's to help with... after all, I'm sure they have nothing better to do and they are amazing "sewers"- wink). Let me know what you think and I give you permission to be honest. That being said, I reserve the right to do what I want after considering other's opinions! :)
6 comments:
i too have been obsessed with the brown/blue scheme!! i'm trying to save it for when we redo our kitchen, though! i like your idea for the nursery...very neutral...plus, it's not a "theme" that the baby will grow out of in a year or two! love it! i think we're going with fish this time around...Em's got a purple room with bugs -- dragonflies and butterflies and such...she's really into dora now, so her toddler bed and furniture has dora with butterflies, so it still matches!
yay!! i'm so excited for you!! this is the fun part!! and super cute dress by the way!
Love the smock dress! Very cute...let me picture this. Is that the material that is already has the elastic part on it? I think I might even be able to get a handle on that. I am looking to get more experience with sewing. Did you say you put two side seams? Or just one? Very cute! Like the baby room colors, and I agree with the previous comment about themes. You look great and hope all is well!
Grandma opinion: I like either the green or tan and not so much the yellow/green (middle); can you find a brown closer to the brown in the print(s).. are you using both circle prints? I like both, but I like the lighter one just a little more. With that one, I could see more of a teal (blue/green) than the greens you have on the left. You have lots of choices, huh! Your dress looks nice and cool for the summer!!! : )
I came across the brown/green one while searching too. Trav really liked it as well. The earthtone idea is a really good one. I guess you guys are more related than you think.
I'm going to do neutrals in blue. Here's the link: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romnur/romnurchm/index.cfm
The problem I found is that everything online is in sets. My mom is making the quilt so I had to find somewhere I could buy the skirt and bumper seperatetly so she could make the quilt accordingly.
Also, since the majority of bedding out there seem to have themes, it was hard to find a basic one without bears, tigers, etc. Since I also suck at sewing, I thought the pottery barn one was a good fit.
Enjoy sewing! I found the closer we're getting the more excited I'm getting. It's nice to actually start to plan a little!
Pam
If you can't get to the link, it's the Chase Nursery under the baby rooms link on the main page.
Pam
Jenny- the material for the dress comes with the elastic top and seriously all you have to do is sew the cut parts together and va-laa!
Pamcakes-love the PBK stuff! Very cute! I'm glad the excitement has come. I'm getting it too- I was messing around and just started a registry just because it's fun to "shop" and makes me more excited!
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