A Bright and Modern Boho Nursery

We have spawned.

Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but come March, Matt and I will be adding a human child to our little family of five. The meme below does a pretty good job of succinctly summing up my feelings.

Now before you go all white knuckled clutching your pearls and preemptively dialling the number for CPS, I am like 78% kidding! OBVIOUSLY I will love my own child, I am not a total monster. But I’d be lying if I said I was ready to dive into the whole motherhood thing with complete confidence and surety, because I just don’t know a whole lot about babies (and nor have I ever been interested in learning). This is new terrain and basically the only shred of comfort I’m clinging to at this point is the fact that my wonderful mom, who is basically Queen of the Babies (official title), lives directly across the street from us. This baby went from doomed to luckiest kid on the planet in the blink of an eye. My mom and dad are serious #grandparentgoals and they don’t even have any grandchildren yet!

While babies may not be my thing, DIY sure is — and god DAMN did I ever have fun with this nursery (for the most part)! There was definitely a hormonal-infused meltdown about halfway through when I started to hate everything and nothing looked right and I felt like it was reminiscent of a Pink Floyd acid trip (but not in a good way) and it was just THE END OF THE WORLD. So I bawled my eyes out and consumed an entire row of Fudgeeos smeared with crunchy peanut butter while Matt looked on, unperturbed. It’s all part of the creative process and at this point he is used to my ridiculous hysterics.

Anyway, I’m back to being happy with how everything turned out, and Matt and I are both getting more and more excited to bring the baby home. It’s surprising how much better you feel knowing you have an actual spot for it to sleep that isn’t just a laundry basket in the corner of a dank room.

Since we opted not to find out the sex, it was a little challenging for me to make choices that were neutral without being boring. I did a lot of looking around on Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration, and found myself gravitating away from the quintessential gender-neutral grey. This was an opportunity to do some stuff that I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) necessarily get away with in an “adult” room, so I definitely wanted to take advantage of that without going too bananas. My inner-self battled between a space that was perfectly serene and simple, and one that had a lot of visual interest, textures and pattern. I normally hate anything that screams BABY LIVES HERE (the word “whimsical” makes my teeth hurt) but at the same time…a baby will live here.

SO enough with the boring drivel and let’s get to the good stuff! The reveal. Are you ready?

It has come a long way from what we started out with. The room was being used as a makeshift office that also had a guest bed, but if we’re being real it was basically a haven for junk.

We cleared most everything out and gave all the walls and ceiling 3 fresh coats of paint. (Polar Bear by Behr.) I also took down the infamous “boob light” and replaced it with this glammed-up sputnik chandelier I’d gotten at Wicker Emporium last summer on a CRAZY sale. (I think it was $64 marked down from $299.) It was black, but I wanted to bling it out a bit so I gave it a few coats of my favorite Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint.

Once the walls were painted and new fixture installed, we were working with a fresh blank canvas.

The lunar cycle accent wall was my jumping-off point for the whole room. I DIY’d my own “wallpaper” to hack this removable version from Chasing Paper (which is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s but also $$$). The how-to is up on Remodelaholic so please check it out! I can tell you guys this project was cheap, quick, and easy.

I knew right from the get that I wanted a GIANT print for the middle of the accent wall, and I wanted it to be an animal, because animals are amazing and we don’t deserve them. Also, animal prints can pretty much find a home anywhere in our house, so I knew if I ever wanted to switch it up, it would be easier to do with a giraffe than it would a giant typographical “MOMMY LOVES YOU”. I found this print on Etsy and knew it would be perfect. I purchased the downloadable file from JuniquePrints and had it printed as a poster at Walmart: very cost-effective. The frame is a Value Village find, so the entire project only set me back about $75 total, which is pretty insane for a framed, matted, 24″ x 36″ piece of “art”. I’m obsessed and love how the gold frame pops against the wall.

You’ll be noticing a theme as we continue the tour: a lot of the nursery was thrifted. This dresser-turned-change-table was also a Value Village score that needed a little bit of TLC by way of a nice coat of white paint (the classic Allison go-to).

I will have a brief makeover post up soon, but after a quick sand, prime, and paint, this was the perfect piece and just the right size for the not overly large space. But let’s talk about those starburst knobs. HOW AMAZING ARE THOSE KNOBS?? The patina alone brings a tear to my eye.

My wonderful BFF gave them to me because she is WHACKADOO (seriously). She bought a mid-century home that hadn’t been touched (I kid you not….EVERYTHING was original to the house) and these were the knobs on ALL her kitchen cupboards. She just…gave them to me. She cray…but also I love her. These knobs are the bomb. How many more times can I say knobs? Knobs.

The mobile hanging above the changing pad is a DIY, and you can check out the tutorial here. It was really, really easy, and I love how modern it is. I debated painting the wooden balls, but keeping it natural really helped to warm up the rest of this wall, which is heavy on the white.

Another favorite from this view is the beautiful alphabet watercolor from belliesartboutique. See — I can sneak a little “baby” in here and there. Seriously though, you guys should check out her shop because she has a TON of amazing prints and I want them all.

Our crib is the DaVinci Jenny Lind Crib and it is available on Wayfair, Amazon, and Land of Nod. It was the first piece of furniture we got for the nursery (it was gifted to us by lovely family friends), so a lot of the other choices we made had the vintage look of the crib in mind.

It really is a beautiful and special addition to the room, giving it a bit of vintage flair that pairs well with the other more modern touches.

It was SO hard to find a rocker that ticked all the boxes for me: comfort (I wanted something that was high enough in the back to rest my head, no exceptions), style (no fuggo chairs up in here), and price ($700 for a rocking chair? NOT LIKELY). Seriously, I looked at a LOT of rockers and could not find anything that fit all my criterion…and then one morning I was cruising Kijiji and found this rattan rocker and ottoman for $30! Sold. When I showed up at the seller’s place to look at the chair, it turned out we knew each other and it was hilarious. You can get these rockers on Wayfair, and they are seriously so comfortable! The one I bought didn’t have a cushion, but it was easy to purchase a replacement and it fit the chair perfectly. My ass will be spending a lot of time in this chair, so I’m glad it’s comfy.

This little nightstand was another Value Village find! I got a pair of them for $30 and it’s the perfect size.

The round mirror on the wall and black blanket ladder are both DIYs as well — I will hopefully have the tutorials for both up soon.

I would have loved to have left the ladder natural, but there were a lot of wood tones competing in that area so in the end I opted to paint it with Rust-Oleum matte black spray paint.

I got this little console shelf at — you guessed it — Value Village.

It was just a black metal base, so I painted it white and added some slats of pine to make the top. It’s the perfect little place to store books and toys…how cute are those horsey book-ends?

Matt started getting me the illustrated Harry Potter series three years ago for Christmas when they started coming out and I am way too excited to read them with our kid…is three too young to start?!?

Although it’s looking a little bare currently, I’m sure we’ll fill this shelf up with crap in no time. I LOVE this little bunny I found at Winners for $7.99. His ears are crinkly and he has a rattle inside. It may or may not be a dog toy, but it’s fine.

The large white shag rug is from Wayfair, and this burgundy beaut was a splurge from Rugs.ca. I would have loved to skip the white altogether and just go for a giant Persian rug, but layering becomes a necessity when you don’t have $1,500 to spend on textiles. Also, I’ve heard babies are expensive, but that might just be a rumor.

Jack has already made himself quite at home in here. I have a sneaking suspicion he will often be keeping me and the baby company during those late night feedings.

There are still a few little details I need to finish up, but for the most part we are DONE and it feels really good. I’m so happy with the vibe of the room and how bright and fresh it all is without being too blah.

I’d love to hear what you guys think! Love it or hate it, leave me a comment and let me know which tutorial you’d be interested in seeing first!