Creating a Playful Nursery

As a newborn photographer, I LOVE getting the opportunity to see so many different nursery styles. It’s so beautiful the way that parents choose to put personal touches in their baby’s room. Every nursery I’ve seen has its own personality and uniqueness. My sweet friend Leslie took her time decorating her daughter’s nursery and putting a creative and playful feel to the room. I spent the afternoon with her and her daughter photographing this sweet space to share with all of you. Hopefully, it gives you a little inspiration to have some fun designing your own nursery.

 

First off, I have to introduce you to sweet little Everly Paige. She is so full of personality!

Create Darling Book Shelves

Take a peek at those beautiful bookshelves. I think a good reading nook is essential for every nursery space. Wondering which books you should fill your baby’s shelves with? Here are Leslie’s Top 5:

1. Little Blue Truck, by Alice Schertle
2.  Too Many Carrots, by Katy Hudson 
3.  Giraffes Can’t Dance, by Giles Andreae
4. The Pout Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen
5. That’s Not My Puppy, by Fiona Watt

Display Your Favorite Items

One of my favorite things about Leslie’s nursery design was the way she designed her shelved to display Everly’s items. She did a great job with the playfulness around the room in general. Here are a few of her favorite items on display:

1. Headbands courtesy of Little Poppy Co., a headband subscription company!
2. Wooden Teethers from Etsy. One of her favorites is from Litenlark.
3. A wooden block with all of Everly’s birth information from Craft-E-Family.
4. Floral Print from CarolynGavin Etsy Shop.

 Inviting Lighting

Besides the beautiful light fixture hanging in the room from Pottery Barn, I noticed that Leslie had string lights hanging from the window. I thought they were just a cute way to bring in fun lighting, but they actually had a sweet story behind them. When Everly was around 3 months old Leslie noticed she took a liking to the Christmas lights on their tree and hanging in the living room. After the holidays came to an end they decided to bring the lights into her bedroom since Everly enjoyed looking at them so much. They have stayed ever since and provided for beautiful ambient light.

Nursery Furniture

Did you notice that beautiful grey rocking chair? Well, we’ve got a little secret! That rocking chair is actually a creative Ikea Hack. The family purchase a normal chair from Ikea and then added on the rocker legs themselves. Here is the story behind the chair:

“We did a lot of upgrades throughout our apartment over the summer before Everly was born & every time we went to Ikea, we kept seeing this armchair. One night, I just said to Michael (husband). I wish we could just make the Ikea chair into a rocker. Then I realized, maybe someone had! Sure enough, Google produced a few blogs which gave us step by step instructions & even a link to where to buy the rocker bottom from! Voila!” -Leslie

And there you have it! A beautiful playful nursery in San Francisco, CA. Do you have a nursery you love? Since my hubby and I are expecting now, we’ve been working on building out our little nursery ‘nook’. I LOVE getting inspiration from all of my clients.