Aquas and Reds Nursery

by Jennifer Thomason
(Helena, AL )

The inspiration for my nursery came from random ideas on Pinterest that captured my eye, and after I bought the bedding, I just let my creativity flow.


What brand and color of paint did you use?

Sherwin Williams-Lakeshore for the walls. In certain lighting, it looks turquoise and in other lighting it looks aqua. Home Depot's Behr paint- coral red (with homemade chalk paint added) for the furniture.


What brand of crib did you buy? Where from?

From Buy Buy Baby, we purchased the Sorelle Tuscany convertible crib and changer set. We bought the espresso finish so that it would match my husband's recliner which I stole from the living room. ; ) He wasn't too happy about that.


What brand of nursery furniture did you choose? Where did you buy it?

Since we had a ton of drawer space and shelf space from the crib/changer set, we decided to only add a small amount of furniture in the room. One of the pieces (not pictured) is in Ella's closet. It is the Studio 3B Storage Cart with fabric drawers from Bed Bath and Beyond. It is tall and narrow and fits nicely in the section of the closet without shelves.

Another piece of furniture we added is a small red leather ottoman from Ross-which serves as storage space.

The other two pieces of furniture were re-finished by me and my mom. We took an old dvd wall rack and painted it with red chalk paint to made into a corner book shelf. Lastly, we used an old Bombay night stand purchased at an auction and painted it as well with red paint by Behr combined with homemade chalk paint. We replaced the copper knobs with porcelain French knobs from Hobby Lobby.


What nursery bedding set did you use? Where did you buy it?

I chose the 10 Piece DK Leigh Nursery Crib Bedding Set, Red Graphic Floral Girl from Amazon.


Tell us about your window treatments, nursery lighting, rugs, wall decor and accessories. Where did you buy them - were any handmade?

I purchased a canvas painting from Hobby Lobby which inspired me to make other canvas pieces.

I used chevron and polka-dot fabrics to staple on canvases, then painted and accessorized letters of Ella’s name to put above her crib. I saw on Pinterest about mod- podging fabrics onto canvases to make art work. So, I bought my fabrics from Joanne's and Hancock’s and free-hand cut out shapes and animals to mod-podge the other canvases. I also purchased picture frames from crafty vendors, then added flowers and accessories to them.

My mom and I also re-framed the lamp shade using two different fabrics from Joanne's. My very favorite piece to make was her door wreath. I took the additional fabrics and cut small strips in them, then tied them in four sections to a metal framed wreath. Then we painted a plaque, her letters, a tiara, and a bird to go on the wreath. So cute!


How did you store all your baby goodies? In baskets, on shelves?

I added collapsible baskets on the shelved side of the changing table, (not pictured.) I used additional baskets in the closet to organize her other goodies. And then we have the small red leather ottoman to keep Ella's toys and blankets in.


How long did it take you? Was it easy, fun, difficult? What was your favorite part?

Overall, everything took about 3 months. Some things were more difficult than others,(putting together the baby bed-hard! lol)... but it was definitely all worth it for our sweet precious princess! My most favorite part was working on the canvases with my mom. We made a girls day out of it and had a blast!!


Did you do the entire nursery on your own or did someone help you? Who? What did they do?

My mom is the most creative woman I know...luckily I got the creative gene from her! She and I worked on pretty much everything together! God Bless that dear woman! She is my best friend and I don't know what I would do without her.


What do you love most about your little one's finished baby room?

I love the overall colors...it is so vibrant and full of life! It just makes me smile from ear to ear!

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