Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Nursery Decor - Tips on Making it Your Own

Hello everyone, it's Erika from small shop! So honored to get to step in for Julie while she is enjoying her new love and life! Since she no doubt has had baby brain the past 9+ months, I thought it might be fun to talk about ideas for personalizing a nursery.
We all want the picture-perfect, off-the-shelf, brand-spanking-new nursery, but sometimes that can look, well, Stepford-ish, right? I collected a few really easy ideas to make sure your wee one's space doesn't look like it was ripped from a catalog.

#1: Adding a few items from your own childhood.
personalizing nursery childhood items rocking horse books
Some of us are lucky that our parents were thoughtful enough to hold onto items from our own childhoods, and many of these items come with fond memories. Why not incorporate a few into your nursery? My husband's mom gave us a rocking horse bank that used to be his, and my parents gave us two books that I loved as a little girl.

#2: Incorporate vintage items.
personalizing a nursery: vintage chest changing table by Amanda Kingloff via Parents
Mixing in vintage items is the best way I know how to balance the vast amount of newness we all acquire when creating a nursery — repurposing a vintage chest is so easy! Customize it further with unique knobs. You can often find knobs on Etsy.com or eBay.com for cheap.

personalizing a nursery: vintage letters by Jenna Lyons in Domino
Combine vintage blocks or letters to spell out your child's name - Etsy.com is so great for this! No one will ever have the same collection.

personalizing a nursery: Barrie Benson in Domino
Hang a vintage chandelier. Always great options at flea markets!

#3: Incorporate a piece of family past and present.
personalizing a nursery: family crests DIY art
My brother and his wife made easy DIY art out of our families' crests.

personalizing a nursery: photo wall by Laura Day in Lonny
Love the way Laura Day created a photo collage into one large art piece.

personalizing a nursery: family handmade item
We were lucky to get a crocheted blanket that my grandmother made. It hangs out in a very special nook of our daughter's room.

#4: Hang a few pieces of their artwork (or their siblings' ) on the walls.
personalizing a nursery: kids' artwork by Betsy Burnham in Lonny
personalizing a nursery: kid's artwork by Nicole Cohen in RUE
personalizing a nursery: kids' artwork by Palmer Weiss in Lonny
Framed or unframed (using cork or grasscloth as wallpaper), it's a meaningful touch.
Pretty easy, right? I hope you got an idea or two out of this post!
Thanks for having me today Julie!
Images: 1. small shop / 2. Amanda Kingloff in Parents / 3. Jenna Lyons in Domino / 4. Barrie Benson in Domino/ 5. personal photo from my brother / 6. Laura Day in Lonny / 7. small shop, 8) Betsy Burnham in Lonny, 9) Nicole Cohen in RUE, 10) Palmer Weiss in Lonny

10 comments:

  1. Love these ideas, especially kids art and pieces from your own childhood. The photos are all beautiful. xo

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  2. All such wonderful ideas Erika. Love the idea of incorporating vintage items! Such a personal touch.

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  3. Thank you for having me Julie! Hope you and your babe are well. xoxo

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  4. I love the siblings artwork idea! How special!

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  5. I love this post! Too many kids rooms are 'parent pleasers' not practical or for the child. It's great if they look magazine worthy but mostly if the child is happy in their room :) My eldest son chose everything for his baby brothers room revealed on my new blog soon :)

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  6. Great ideas! Personal touches here and there make such a huge difference!

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  7. I do not have a baby but these nurseries make my ovaries want one! Awesome post as always...
    xoxo -e (modern24seven)

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  8. good ideas! I like these nurseries because they are not too "baby-ish".

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  9. Love the large framed collage! Great way to make a photo collage look modern and stylish!

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Thank you for your comments! I appreciate you stopping by :)