Jungle Theme Baby Nursery

by Michelle Linquist
(Dallas, TX USA)

The inspiration behind my baby’s jungle theme baby nursery was found in trying to imagine what our little one’s transition from Mommy’s warm womb to the outside bright and busy world would be like.

My husband and I love to watch Monk and one night when I was sitting there just a few months pregnant humming the show’s chorus “It’s a Jungle Out There” it hit me. I decided to change it to “It’s a Jungle Out Here” to make it from a baby’s perspective and had a blast building wood letters for the wall that could hold stuffed animals, customizing lamp shades for the jungle chandelier and much, much more!

The walls in our nursery are mint green contrasted with an “antiqued” light brown trim. We had painters complete the trim which involved using a cream color eggshell base paint followed by applying a coat of stain to achieve the antique look.

The hardest part of the nursery, but probably the main thing that makes it unique, are the letters that read “It’s a Jungle Out Here” above the crib. I utilized an online company to cut them in the font and size I specified. I then purchased wooden pegs and squares from Michael’s Arts & Crafts store. After staining the wooden letters, I used a wood burner to make holes in the back of the letters for the pegs. I painted the pegs and wooden squares the same color as the wall so that they would blend as much as possible. I glued the pegs into the letters and then glued the other side of the pegs into the wooden squares. On the back of the wooden squares, I glued picture frame mounts so that we could hang them on the walls with nails.

After determining what letters would hold which stuffed animal, I attached velcro to the applicable letter(s) and then hot glued the other side of the Velcro to the applicable place on each stuffed animal. There is also Velcro adhered between the wall and part of each stuffed animal as added support.

When I first started, I never could’ve imagined what it would take to be able to have the stuffed animals there but, thanks to Michael’s and the help of my wonderful husband putting up with my creative/crazy “projects” we finally finished! Amazingly enough, our son already notices them and loves looking up at them from lying inside his crib so it was more than worth it!

We purchased the furniture (Brighton) consisting of a lifetime crib/bed set, two dressers (one which I combined with a wood “changing station” from Pottery Barn Kids), nightstand, armoire, rocking glider and ottoman as well as the jungle theme bedding set (“Savannah”) from Lone Star Baby & Kids.

The bedding set also included a diaper stacker which I customized with a padded hanger and trim. I ordered the matching wall hanging squares which each feature a jungle animal and of course throw pillows for the rocking glider & crib! Things only Mom can truly appreciate!





I have mixed in some Zanibar jungle theme accessories such as a wood growth chart which has small little frames along the way to picture your pride and joy as they grow; the table lamp (I used a different lamp shade with the Zanibar base); and nightlight. And what nursery can be without a rocking horse…although that wasn’t quite the right fit for ours so we have a rocking zebra instead!





The jungle chandelier was ordered from ababy.com. I customized the lamp shades by buying an extra set of the wall hanging squares, cutting them to fit and hot gluing them to the original shade. It was pretty challenging because of the conical shape of the shades vs. the square shape with each animal cut out I had to work with but it turned out ok.





Probably considered an eBay fanatic I found a lot of wonderful things for our nursery there! All of the light switches, outlets and plug safety covers are in a jungle theme; our diaper pail has a cloth “skirt” around it that of course has the jungle theme. On the closet door we have a rustic cast iron door sign that reads “Beware Wild Animals” which has small little stuffed animals (no more than 4-5 inches high each) hanging on each side. The animals’ feet have magnets in them so that’s how they hang together. The large stuffed elephant, alligator and lion on the dresser were on eBay as well.

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If you are looking for stuffed animals for your jungle or safari room here's a link to a great place I found! Alternatively, add some pizazz with these amazing life-size animal stickers!

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Thank you for letting me share my nursery decorating safari – I can’t begin to describe everything but I hope what I’ve highlighted helps provide some ideas for other decorating Moms out there!

I think the most important thing is that you have fun preparing for your little one’s arrival and that the finished product is soothing not just for baby but also for Mom and Dad. This little room is occupied a lot during those sleepless nights and exhausting days. It’s nice to have a room that feels refreshing to help get you and your little one through each day!





Jungle Theme Nursery

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If you're considering a jungle or safari nursery theme for your little one, check out the great decor options in ababy.com's African Safari Theme section.

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