Monkey in a Tree Nursery

by Heather
(Dexter, MO, USA)

We used a collage of several ideas we saw online and our personal touches to come up with the design for our nursery. The mural was from an image we found online, and the shelves were from a separate picture we found that had nothing to do with a nursery.


What brand and color of paint did you use?
Behr Paint/Primer for the walls and craft paint for the tree.


If you added stripes, polka dots or other paint effects, tell us how you did it.
We took the image from the web, copied it onto a transparency, and used an old-school projector to shoot it onto the wall. Then we basically did a paint by numbers. We tried to use a combination of laptop and digital projector, but the image was too small with the width of the room limiting how far back we could place the projector.


What brand of crib did you buy? Where from?
Graco - Target


What brand of furniture did you choose? Where did you buy it?
For the changing table, we used a chest of drawers from our last home. When we moved, we had extra furniture, and it fit perfectly. We did the same thing with the shorter dresser for his clothes storage. For the rocking chair, we purchased a very nice microfiber chair from the Treasure Room in St. Louis.


What bedding set did you use? Where did you buy it?
We used white with brown stripes for the bedding and brown with white polka dots for the bumper. Trendlab - Target.


Tell us about your window treatments, lighting, rugs, wall decor and accessories. Where did you buy them - were any handmade?
The main shelves are all 6' long by 3" tall by 18" deep, and we purchased them individually at Ikea. The "V" shaped shelves span 4' wide by

2' tall and were also purchased at Ikea. We measured everything out, and built both walls in their entirety in powerpoint before we actually put them up to ensure that it looked like it should.

The lighting was also purchased through Ikea. The rug was a gift from my parents from Lowe's. It is very plush and stain resistant.

The lettering on the wall above the changing table was a mixture of paint and wooden letters. All of the crafts were purchased at walmart.

The blue dots were painted using a compass and blue craft paint. The letters were unfinished wood painted with brown craft paint. We stuck them to the wall using a very strong putty-like adhesive that can be removed without damaging the wall.

The curtains were hand-made by my grandmother with material from her collection.



How did you store all your baby goodies? In baskets, on shelves?
We store all of our baby goodies in baskets on the "V" shelves and in the drawers from the changing table and dresser. In addition, there is a large walk-in closet in the nursery.



How long did it take you? Was it easy, fun, difficult? What was your favorite part?
It took about 4 hours to paint the walls, 4 hours to paint the tree, 3 hours to put up the large shelves, 2 hours for the "V" shelves, 1 hour for the crib, 2 hours for the lettering and another 3-4 hours to decorate. It was very easy to do and loads of fun. Our favorite part was painting the tree!



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



What do you love most about your little one's finished room?
We love the combination of the tree and the bookshelves!

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TIP: If painting or making your own tree seems a bit daunting, try an easy stick, removable tree wall decal. There are lots of beautiful ones available and they really brighten up the room!

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