Decorating our Baby’s Room

UPDATE: We had a baby girl! Since I need a little push to complete this space, I’m entering this nursery project into the One Room Challenge as a linking participant. I will have six weeks to finish up and perfect this space for baby Olivia.  So here you have Week 1: my plan. The pressure is on! 

Well this is a first. I’m blogging about nursery design just one short week before baby is due. Talk about leaving things to last minute!

Truthfully, I’ve been putting off this project for some time. Since being pregnant, I’ve come up with a million and one ideas that I could possibly do for this nursery but committing to any single design has been tough for me.

I guess the challenge arises from the fact that baby’s sex is still unknown. I’ve been anxious to know what has been growing inside me since day one. However, it all took a turn when we went for our ultra sound and we were not able to see the big reveal. I’ve since come to terms that maybe this is life’s way of telling me to take a chill pill and enjoy the very few (amazing) surprises we get during our lifetime.

With that being said, I’ve been planning a gender neutral space. Since baby won’t have a preference in design for quite some time, this space will have more of mommy’s serene aesthetic.

The Space.

We are using one of our spare bedrooms for the nursery. I always love showing what the space looked like before we moved in #TheModHouseProject because who doesn’t love seeing a dated mid-wall boarder with beige walls and 20-year-old carpet?!

During our big reno last year, we’ve since removed the carpet, replaced the floors and eventually painted the walls.

The Design.

Creating a nursery that will evolve as the years go on is high on the priority list.  I want to incorporate a design scheme that will remain fresh but every bit whimsical yet sophisticated as it should be for a growing child.

For me, there’s something cozy and warm that comes from a nature-inspired setting. Not only is it neutral but it’s fairly easy to transition the room from baby to toddler whether you have a boy or girl.

When I think of nature, I see cute animals, enchanted forests and lots of rustic touches.  I find it easier to stick to a claim and soothing colour palette especially when it comes to the larger areas of your space such as the walls.  It’s always easier to interchange accessories than it is to repaint a wall later on.

Accent Wall.

As a starting point, we’ve painted our walls an off-white with a ever so slightly grey tinge. I knew I wanted an accent wall behind the crib, which eventually will be home to a future bed. I’ve searched high and low for the perfect wallpaper and this is what I’ve found. . .

This amazing wallpaper is from Brewster Home Fashions (Anahi Light Grey Forest Fauna).  Honestly, I’m obsessed with this pattern!

Up close, it has this wonderful child-like whimsical feel but as a whole, it reads as very sophisticated and chic.  It really is the perfect balance I envisioned for this space.  This wallpaper does come in five different shades. I chose to go with the most neutral of them all, light grey.  I did have my walls painted before I picked out this wallpaper and the best part—I couldn’t have found a better match if I tried.

TIP: The perfect colour match to this wallpaper is Silver Drop (790C-2, Behr Paints)

This wallpaper was fairly simple to install. It’s prepasted which means to activate the glue on the backside all you need to do is submerge the wallpaper into a water tray.  Brewster’s website has great step-by-step instructions and video on how to hang wallpaper.

This was our first time installing a wallpaper with an intricate pattern. However, lining up this wallpaper was a lot easier than I imagined.  It does require a little more planning time as you need to pre-cut your pieces for the wall and ensure each strip begins at the same pattern repeat.

Once you place it on the wall, you want to make sure all the air bubbles are smoothed out.  Even if it looks like you don’t have any air pockets, still work the entire strip with a sponge or plastic scraper. You’d be surprised what you can miss.

My favourite tool to use for trimming the edges or corners is a large 2ft metal ruler. If you want a guaranteed straight edge every time, this is the perfect way to achieve it. It’s literally impossible to mess up for newbies!

Overall, both the hubby and I were ecstatic with the end results.  With a little patience and a couple of hours, we had our accent wall in place!

I’m extremely excited to pull this room together and can’t wait to show you guys the end result.  Baby will soon be here and it will be a little easier to add some personally touches.

Stay tuned.

Disclosure: I’m thrilled to have collaborated with Brewster Home Fashions in this nursery project. I was provided with product for this project but all views, opinions, and of course, countless hours spent cruising their awesome wallpaper collections are truly my own.