We are ready to Dress our Nest! Since we have already chosen fabrics options while strolling down the aisles of online fabric stores and we began our search for inspiration, textiles and possible color palettes in Part 1 of this series, we were able to choose a crib style and color in Part 2 of this series, after putting together some possible fabric swatch color palette inspiration boards from our fabric adventures in Part 1. With Part 1 and 2 behind us, we had a solid foundation building and could appropriately consider choosing a paint color in Part 3 a basic color palette for this room, and were then able to decide on a paint choice in Part 3.
This stage is the portion of design that is truly the most fun! We will be dressing our nest, our baby bird nest to be exact, and choosing from accessories and gear that are eco-friendly, stylish and perhaps even accidentally cause a little learning or growth to occur (oops, hate it when that happens). Every item will coordinate with one or more of the color palettes we have been working from and they are such that you can pick and choose whichever you like best and you won’t have to worry about whether or not it “goes” with the room. Mix and match till your heart’s content or draw inspiration from some of the design plans and resources I am providing. Good design is all about creating a space that represents you, your family, your lifestyle, and your loves. You will feel comfortable and relaxed if you design your space using items that you enjoy and find beautiful, above and beyond simply accommodating for the intended functionality of the room.
We will begin with the boyish blend color palette and expand into the girly palette with a pinkish persuasion and continue on our way to the gender neutral color palette.
I will use many of the same accessories in each of the plans to show you just how easy it is to work within your chosen design plan and color palette, regardless of the whether or not their are accessories you have your heart set on or if you have existing pieces that you might need to work into your design plan, Whether for cost savings or sentimental value, existing pieces have one commonality and that is that they do not come in the perfectly coordinated hue you would have chosen. Not to worry, you can make it work. Given the flexibility of the color palettes that work with these accessories, you also have the option to keep these items for later use even in another room with a different color palette, and may even allow you to keep some of these pieces as your child transitions into a more grown up space or decides he suddenly loves red and orange and hates blue and green.
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Aside from purchasing furniture, it’s the accessorizing that can put you over the limit of your financial edge. It is easy to let those little numbers add up. With a few helpful hints and some fabulous options you should be able to stay within budget and still achieve your dream nursery while maintaining a healthy and environmentally conscious space for your little one.
Dress Your Nest:
It’s true that eco-friendly options can occasionally be more expensive, and that not every company has been able to lower the cost of production given the more strenuous or less available means of manufacturing and obviously isn’t able to pass such savings on to all of us..yet…
In good time this won’t likely be an issue. Hopefully this happens sooner rather than later as far as I am concerned.
1. Keep in mind, that all of those adorable outfits, toys and baby gear that you must purchase or have been given, are often beautiful enough or well designed and can absolutely take center stage in your nursery decor. Choose items for your registry or for purchase that continue the color palette you have chosen for your room. Chances are you love the same colors for both clothing and diaper caddies.
2. Buy or make only a few decorative items that have big impact rather than big ticket prices. You have enough to think about with the impending 18 clothing changes throughout the day, thanks to the spit up (among other things), oh the dreaded spit up…ugh. Items like decorative alphabet cards are perfect for use as art in addition to displaying something educational, and they come in most adorable and beautiful designs. Toys and activities for your child will take up enough space as it stands, you may as well use them as colorful decor for your room in a non-traditional take on accessorizing. Arrange them for ease of use, obviously, but also try and arrange them with a pleasing color balance and proportion or according to a wonderful and appropriate use of scale for a given area of your room. You should probably steer clear of placing the 6 foot stuffed bear, given to you by your mother in law, on top of a medium sized shelving unit or in a place that makes moving around the room inconvenient. Color balance may very well be one of the most prominent aspects of design, in determining whether the space is viewed as pleasing or not. Place your colors (items) by arranging them in such a way as to not provide too much or too little of any one color in a particular area. If you have 4 red objects, 2 yellow objects, 3 blue objects, and an orange object or two… you can spread them around the room and give each important area some of the benefit of that color. If your room has a shelving unit, dresser, side tables and a sitting area for nursing or reading bedtime stories you can place one red item in each of those areas. If you have an uneven number of items for a particular color, you can simply celebrate that by pairing them well. 2 of the 3 blue in this instance, can be place near 2 of the 4 red items. Then you can place one blue with a yellow and add a yellow to a red. Bring in and ground your orange by adding it to either the least prominent area of your space( least prominent perhaps based on a lack of color saturation or location) or the area the red and perhaps alongside another color like second yellow instead of placing that yellow with the red, or place the darn thing with a red and let them add drama to your space.
3. Consider a mobile that hangs from the ceiling, and make it a major decorative component in the room. You can purchase picture hanging mobiles that are very light weight and safe. Attach alphabet or black and white picture and word cards and watch your child learn and absorb. If your child is anything like mine, they will figure out how to pull a crib attached mobile down within the first couple of months, ceiling hung and light weight is a fabulous alternative to keep them safe and will cost half the price of a traditional mobile.
4. Build your own floating shelves to display your child’s first books and special plush toys. This will act as wall decor, cost very little, will be easy to build, and are safe option for your child since they are out of reach from climbing and being pulled over on top of themselves.
This design plan was created using the New Neutral Color Palette and the boyish blend color scheme outlined in Part 1 of the Eco-Chic Nursery for Less series. I have chosen a series of furniture items that will work with all of the color scheme options we have covered, and will work with many more I imagine, and it isn’t specific to this design plan. I began this project using and suggesting fabric swatches as a starting point and to begin to formulate a color palette. I hope to show you the transformative nature of fabric and pattern, and to promote the idea of choosing furniture colors and styles that can be used with many color schemes, just in case you change your mind, or would like to update at any point.
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