A Nautical Nursery

 

Something about designing a nursery just makes me fall in love with design all over again. We take so much more risks with color, and allow ourselves to keep the focus on being playful, and fun, which is always a recipe for good design.
This nursery is now home to two little boys, brothers Ethan and Tyler. If you recall, our client Samantha was pregnant with baby Tyler when we tackled an ambitious renovation at the family's home last year. You can see the full reveal of that project here
This is no easy feat for anyone to handle and kudos to Samantha for staying sane throughout the dust and overall renovation chaos, and delivering a healthy baby.


The goal: The boys are a year apart so the space needed to meet the needs of two. Samantha and hubby Risson wanted a nautical theme. Theme rooms can be tricky as you need to find a balance between highlighting the theme without going overboard. Pun intended! 

Our initial plan was to have the cribs side by side. But since there were two windows in the bedroom, it made sense to place a crib under each window for symmetry. The cribs can also be transformed into toddler beds and having this layout will maximize that option and give the boys their own little zone.

 

Once Samantha settled on the cribs, we moved ahead with the other design elements: Subtle striping detail on one wall, this knotted rug, a porthole mirror.

These rope shelves played off the ropes in the rug and added some texture to what would have been just ordinary white shelves. 

It's the perfect spot for baby Ethan's signed sonogram and the cutest little sail boats ever, that Samantha hopes will encourage the boys to set sail on many adventures.

We nestled a very comfortable glider in the corner for Samantha or Risson to rock baby Tyler to sleep, or to read to Ethan. This dresser served double duty as a space for much needed storage (two little boys equals lots of clothing!) and as a changing table.

And quite possibly my favorite item, these custom oars with the boys names, helped declare this as their very own chill zone to create some special brotherly memories.
Huge thanks again to Samantha and Risson for allowing us to transform this final space in their home to cap off our renovation project.

~ Get The Look ~

(1)Crib (2)Art; Art (3)Drum Light (4)Curtains (5)Glider (6)Storage Bins (7)Dresser (8)Area Rug (9) Floor Lamp (10) Pouf

A Colorful, Modern and Fun Nursery

 

Hellos peeps! I know, I know, it's been a very hot minute since I've been here. If there were a blogging police, I'd be arrested and banned for life for my lack of presence. I've missed y'all but soooooooooo much has been going on with your girl - projects up the wazooo, searching for a new house so the lil man can finally have a back yard to play (lord what a gut-wrenching process that's been), bracing for my 40th birthday in a few weeks - and lord, it's just all been a bit too much.
You can always see bits of the madness over on Instagram but I've longed to share some stuff here with y'all and what better way than a project reveal?
This colorful and fun nursery belongs to baby Jayden, who arrived just a week after we finished installation! Whew. We cut it close with that one. 
Alas, I cannot find my before photos of this room (refer to my manic issues above) but let's just say it was a blank canvass, zero, zip nada was in here but the carpet on the floors.
Background: We were hired early last year to design the living room of Jayden's parents, Chris and Charlene (project reveal of that will be next). And guess what? half-way through the project they revealed they were expecting a little one. Since we did a great job with the living room and building a relationship, we were asked to design and plan the baby shower and nursery. They are a young couple, and it's been my pleasure to watch them blossom and go through so many new stages of life.  
Anyway, enough chatter.
We started with this inspiration board. They loved it and so off we went.

We had a healthy debate about the colors for the accent wall. But ultimately settled on this mix of blues and coral from Sherwin Williams and Bher. Hats off to our fabulous painter Shaggy, who gained some notoriety over on Instagram for being able to free hand his stripes. No tape people. No tape. 

As much as I love the striped wall, this may be my favorite corner of the room. Every new mom needs a rocking chair, a place to prop up her feet and a collection of books to read to her little one.

Yes, I'm officially obsessed with these Read To Me signs from J+J Design Group. Each order is customized with a favorite children's book. Kinda genius. The signed Miami Dolphins jersey is from Jayden's baby shower.

I fell in love with this modern changing table. The white drawers added some lightness to the room since we had such a dark crib.

To stay within budget, we painted the closet doors a deep navy. Way cheaper than replacing them.

 

Daddy Chris is a huge sports fan, so there's no doubt baby Jayden will be learning some sports jargon as well. This light fixture, reminded me of a baseball, and feels right at home. 

 We saved a pretty penny by getting prints for the nursery from Ikea and for free! Hats off to bloggers like ChicCheapNursery for sharing loads of resources like free printable art. 

 

Every nursery needs shelving to display items and to keep items like a diaper warmer and extra diapers in reach and in this case, the head of our furry teddy bear was just the spot for a wee block - mommy's with boys certainly appreciate those cups. 

Photos by Circle Ten Media

And of course, the kid will be stylin in some fierce kicks for sure. 
That's it peeps. Another project wrapped and a little boy is now chilling in his new home. What are your tips and go-to items when designing a nursery?
Now it's time for me to go see what have y'all been up to?

 

Nursery Blues and Savoring Every Moment

When I was pregnant with Xavier, every mom/dad told me one thing: savor every moment, they grow so fast. At the time, I thought, Ok, how possible is that? I envisioned an endless life of diapers, pacifiers, strollers and formula.  Now at just 14 months, he is already quite the little man, fiercely independent, determined to learn and discover new things, translation, wreaking havoc everywhere as he runs from room to room, and pokes his hands and head into every little corner of the house. 

Xavier at 8 months.

At 10 months and chillin in the laundry basket, just because.

Chillin yesterday on his first little bike, a gift courtesy of Grandma Quinn. This bike also plays music by the Beatles, among my faves! I was too psyched to discover that.

I look at his nursery now and often get a little misty because I now see what those parents were trying to tell me. He is growing. Fast. I can barely rock him to sleep because he is busy twisting and turning and trying to escape from my arms. In no time, the kid will be at the University of Miami (his dad and uncles - UM alums -  have already pretty much ordained this).
You guys were right. I am now savoring every single moment. 

His nursery was a budget friendly affair. I installed simple shelves from Ikea to display his shoes, books, stuffed animals and other mementos, like that Rubik cube my husband had when he was a child. As you can see, he has a thing for hats so those had to be displayed as well.

I was knee deep in my love affair with yellow and grey when I did his nursery. My office too is the same color. Truthfully, I couldn't go too crazy with his room because it also serves double duty as a guest room for Grandma Quinn who stayed with us for the first 10 months of his life, the biggest blessing my husband and I could have asked for. If we could have done a solo nursery I would have so added a rocking chair! I soooooooo see the benefit of that on the nights I walked the room rocking him to sleep in my arms. That kid weighs a bit.

His crib was a gift from my boss (at the day job) and his girlfriend. We can hardly get him to sleep in it these days. Sigh. The matching changing table was a gift from the parents of dear friend Simone who died of cancer a few months before Xavier was born.

His initials, XQ and framed art of the many names he was called while I was pregnant. Debbie whipped that together and I used frames from Target for all the artwork seen here. My colleagues and friends had a field day with the names. Tito, Zion, Jabba, Encarnacion, Patricio? You know we live in Miami with those names right? He'll hopefully get a good laugh from those wacky names one day soon. 

Finding bedding for a crib was no ideal task for me. I hated all the Winnie the Poohs, cartoony bedding that was everywhere and wanted something simple. Good luck. Pottery Barn had a classic white with black trim that I yearned to have but it was on back order for months. Sigh. I settled for this yellow/grey geometric one from Buy Buy Baby. Oops, I clearly forgot to add the matching blanket in this photo.

In my never ending obsession with Looney Tunes, I printed photos of some of my faves with frames from Target. Rug and curtains are from Ikea. Changing table baskets are also from Target. 

That's all folks. We're house shopping later this year so this room will indeed soon be a memory. To all the expectant parents out there, here's my simple advice: savor every single moment.