Once Upon a Time Baby Nursery

by Jennifer Palmer
(Calhoun, Ga)

I've always loved to read, and the idea of a story book nursery was always an idea in the back of my mind for when we had children. My husband and I's story of how we met and ended up together is a bit like a fairy tale...

A Southern Gentleman and a California Beach girl met Once Upon a Time...

So, When we found out it was a girl I immediately thought a whimsical story book nursery was the perfect fit!

We used Sherwin Williams bubblegum pink, and cotton candy pink paint. We added the chair rail first to divide up the room and make it a bit more classic looking. Then we made the stripes, painting the solid light color pink first. Then layering over with the darker pink. After that I had a muralist come in to paint the Once Upon a Time and my daughter's name Savannah Nicole.

The polka dots were a last minute decision and were done easily with a plastic stencil and a sponge brush with the same pink paint from the stripes. I felt like there was too much white and the polka dots finished it off!

The crib and furniture is from JCPenney.com where I found the quality is great. The crib is by Savanna in color Espresso and I love that the crib is convertible to a full sized bed!

The bedding is by Migi in the sweet collection. I wanted a shabby chic look that had small flowers to keep it fresh and happy.

More Shabby Chic Crib Bedding...

The window treatments are valances from PBKids in pink gingham. The finials and rods are also from PBKids. The muralist matched the flowers on the finials for the walls. I loved that touch!

The light and shade are the same pink gingham fabric from PBkids. The braid rug is from Target in the shabby chic collection, and the round mirrors are from there as well. I first fastened them to the wall for safety and then I bought the ribbon online and tied them to the wall for decoration.

I bought matching baskets with pink gingham for all the diaper needs, blankets etc. and they keep everything very tidy while looking cute!

It took me about 6 months to complete the nursery. It was a true labor of love. I dreamed about the nursery day and night and played with ideas online and on paper. It was so much fun putting it together.

I'd seriously recommend deciding on your furniture first. Some pieces can be on back order for months and in my case the dresser was for 6! It came in the week before my daughter was born.

I was dying to put her little clothes away! The day we found out it was in I made my husband drive 45 minutes to get it. You would have thought she needed it right away! Ha!

For the most part I designed the nursery, my husband did all the muscle work with the furniture and he helped with tying the blinds. It was mainly my little project to keep me busy until my beautiful daughter arrived!

It's such a serene place to be...

To this day we love reading books in there and she's almost 3. When I was pregnant I'd just go in the room and sit in the glider and think about this little person inside me. I'd read books out loud, talk to her, and just dream. When she was a tiny newborn I'd sit in that same chair and stare at her for hours.

Now 2 years later we've moved to her big girl bed and we snuggle under the covers and read together each night. Its our little ritual that began so long ago and I look forward to her reading to me one day in that same room. Once upon a time...




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