I've been helping our good friends Jon and Lauren brainstorm nursery design schemes for their sweet baby due in a few weeks. Their home's style is cheerful mid-century (in love with their yellow front door!), which we decided should carry over into the baby's room. They wanted the room to be gender neutral and not too too "baby-ish", so we worked together to find pieces that could relate to the rest of their home, while keeping the room plenty cheerful for a baby. She's a professor at Rice University, hence the darling owl hamper in this first concept.
Our first inkling was to search for a knockout oushak rug, like the one above, since they are timeless and nearly indestructible (been around forever, and they're great at hiding stains!) Then I stumbled upon this incredible whimsical crewelwork rug from Anthropologie (and nearly purchased it for myself):
But we ultimately opted for a soft jute chevron rug with tassel ends, and layered a super fun leaf rug Lauren found from Urban Outfitters on top. The stained wood crib and painted chest still felt too masculine, which led us to the next, brighter scheme. We decided on white furniture to keep the room neutral and to bring in fun colors through pillows and accessories, which allows for an easy design change as the baby grows up.
I found these great black and white ikat curtains from West Elm, and Lauren found a brass drapery rod from CB2 similar to the one pictured below.
Inspiration photo by Ashley Hizer
The couple also found an amazing deal on two Oeuf pieces, a popular modern eco-friendly furniture maker out of Brooklyn, and I gave two thumbs up on purchasing!
Next on the list - picking out new hardware for the dresser, and selecting lamps, art and accessories. We're kind of leaning toward the precious animal knobs from Anthropologie:
It's been so fun helping these two brainstorm on this sweet little nursery, and I can't wait to meet their baby in just a few short weeks! Know someone who's designing a nursery and would love some of the sources from these schemes? Email me at sari.imber@gmail.com.