“She has fire in her soul and grace in her heart.”
We had so much fun transforming this small, but special room into our baby girl’s nursery. And by fun I mean that I was having the time of my life designing, ordering, arranging, and organizing everything while Jake was sweating his butt off as the muscle power behind this operation. Let’s just say there were over 18 different items to securely hang on the wall NOT including the LED twinkle light wall project OR the fact that we had to demo the original closet (and door) and then custom build/install a new, more baby friendly design to maximize the space. The award for best, most patient Daddy-to-be (and hubby) in all the land goes to him for putting up with my crazy. HANDS DOWN.
The inspiration for her nursery is a combo of white and blush tones, floral accents, and Anthropologie vibes. You’ll pretty much see Anthro inspiration throughout my entire home as you get to know me better on this blog since I clearly have an obsession with the store that simply cannot be tamed. Don’t roll your eyes because I know some of you are at the same stage five clinger level as me where my idea of a perfect day is just hanging out in the store for hours and smelling every candle on every display. Don’t lie. You’ve all made the “I am totally smelling ‘Volcano’ for the first time face” even though you have it permanently stored in your sensory palate and would eat Anthro candles for breakfast if you could.
The antique dresser that we are using as her changing table is almost 100 years old and originally belonged to my great grandmother, Lila Lee Tickel, who I am named after. The entire bedroom set was passed down to my Mom who used it as a little girl and then had it refurbished and saved for me as my first “big girl” furniture. Jake and I repainted the entire set using a matte mineral paint so we could continue the tradition for our little girl (the other pieces are currently in our guest room) and it’s definitely one of my favorite details in the space.
Other details to note:
Walls: “Eider White” Sherwin Williams (As per recommendation from my cousin Brooke Ganter who is brilliant with interior design!)
Antique Dresser: “Fusion Mineral Paint in Raw Silk“
Custom Sign: Smallwood Home (I custom designed the graphics for it when they were having a big ole sale so I could put her name in the bottom right hand corner. Don’t freak out and start zooming as it’s covered up and we aren’t revealing it until she arrives. You know you were about to.)
Rug: Safavieh Paris Shag Collection in Ivory
Curtains: 96 inch blackout panels from Target (online only) of all places! They are currently sold out but I will tell you the fabric is sooo soft, the “blush” color turned out perfect, and I’m amazed at the quality for the price. Target for the win!
Twinkle Wall: Order these lights from Amazon and then two panels of sheer white curtains that are at least the height of your ceiling. Flip the lights so that the “top” of the light strand runs along the baseboard (so you can plug it in and hide any extra wires from small hands) and then tack the individual light strands up, one at a time, as close to the ceiling as possible. Once you have all of the lights in place you can cover them with the sheer curtain by tacking it in place with small nails. This helps you achieve a classy, clean look during the day, and a magical look at night.
These wreaths are handmade by my beautiful cousin Brooke with materials from Michaels and her brilliant designer’s eye. To say I’m obsessed is an understatement. And what could possibly be cuter than baby shoes? Probably nothing. To recreate this yourself, just order a curtain rod and “drapery curtain clips with rings” off Amazon in whatever color you need (I got the 2 inch rings and they were perfect). You could also use this storage solution for hair bows or hats instead of shoes!
Speaking of hair bows… another favorite nursery detail is the hair bow display that I made myself thanks to a little bit of Pinterest inspiration. While flea market shopping with my Mom-in-law and sis-in-law, I found a gorgeous, antique wood shutter engraved and distressed with a feminine design. I loved the long, vertical shape of it too! I then had my hubby put some hanging hardware on the back and I hot glued strips of white lace ribbon all down the front. For some reason I have a ridiculous amount of clothes pins at my house (which… LIFE HACK… I’ve been using as chip and bag clips in the kitchen…) so we painted those white while watching a movie one night. (Correction: I started painting them and then Jake saw what I was doing and refused to let my pregnant self continue being close to paint fumes. So, he finished the job and looked like he was doing more finger painting than brush painting by the end.) I actually feel like smaller clothes pins would have worked better so if you are recreating this definitely look for half size or mini ones since baby bows are super light weight and delicate.
The main challenge with this space was the fact that we were trying to fit A LOT of different components into a very small room. I opted for this gorgeous lace canopy tent instead of the play teepee I had originally picked out to save room but still create a comfy playspace. We wanted her room to not just be for sleeping but a place where she wanted to play, learn, and spend time with us!
I always want to remember how much joy I have felt while growing a life inside of me and this pic says it all. I jumped on Father’s Day Shutterfly deals to order canvases of our Cameron Faye Photography maternity shoot. Pretty much every photo in my house from every important event of our lives was taken by my super talented cousin Cameron Fulginiti. She is THE best there is. Period.
These shelves are from Home Depot of all places and the antique frame is another farmhouse market find. The gold elephant bookends are from Target and if you look closely you’ll see some Disney princess figurines. Yep, those are mine from when I was a little girl and let’s face it… Baby Rude has no chance when it comes to accepting her role as the new princess in town thanks to our family’s Disney obsession.
If you think baby clothes are the most adorable things in the world, then baby hangers are a close second. My Mom found these age organizer tabs from Marshalls and all of my organizer bins came from Target. We bought the closet shelves and rack design from Home Depot and then customized it a bit so there are three levels of hanging space on one side instead of two which is perfect for baby clothes!
My Mom gets full credit for this amazing Homegoods find! This bathroom cart / hamper combo turned out to be the perfect piece to use next to our changing dresser. The hamper part is on a hinge so it opens out at an angle for easier access and I love the metal details. When putting a space together I’m all about going into the project with inspiration but WITHOUT an exact plan. Also it’s best not to be super rushed because when you let yourself just wander around unique markets and stores, you tap into your creative side and you find perfect components that you had originally never even considered. You can always hit up Amazon Prime to fill in the gaps once you’ve had your shopping fun!
All of the pillows are from Target and we opted for a more compact sized glider from a local baby furniture store here in Charlotte so we could fit more in this corner. I know there are going to be so many special moments in this chair, feeding and rocking our baby girl to sleep and I can’t stop smiling just thinking about it. I’ve always been a huge believer in spending the time and resources to truly make your house feel like a home. Your home is where your most precious memories are made and even just a little extra love put into the interior design can make all of the difference in the world when you are reminiscing on all of the special stages and seasons of your life.
Her going home outfit options, all from Posh Peanut, are a constant reminder of the gift we have received from God and I could stare at them all day. (That’s exactly why they have been on display for months on her Kekaroo so I don’t waste hours pulling them out of her drawers only to have to put them back.) To say this season has been sweet would be a major understatement. It’s been full of day dreaming, preparing, learning, growing as parents-to-be and trusting in the Lord’s timing. We know everything in our lives is His perfect design and we are so grateful for too many blessings too count. So cheers (with a mocktail right now of course) to getting to meet our daughter soon! We hope she loves her nursery as much as we do!
