Victorian Angel Nursery

by Michelle Zimmerman
(Winston-Salem, NC)

I knew I wanted a Victorian Angel Nursery for our daughter's nursery as soon as we found out we were having a girl. I wanted it to be elegant and sweet just like her yet comforting like a nursery should be.

We used an Olympia paint from Lowes called Heavy Cream. I wanted a slight contrast with the beautiful white bead board and built-in shelves already in the room.

We added a pink Victorian stencil border to go around the top of the chair rail and bead board. My mother stenciled it for us.

Our crib was bought from Target. I was originally going to use my old crib, but thought that for safety reasons it would be best to buy new. I bought two wood molding pieces from Lowes. My grandfather stained the pieces to match the crib wood and then my husband placed them where I wanted on the crib. I liked this creative way to make a reasonably priced crib look classy and custom.

This is the best part! The little table beside the glider came out of my great grandmother's home. My mother and I went treasure hunting in her garage and found it. My grandfather stained it to match the other furniture in the room and it looks like brand new, yet has tons of sentimental value. The changing table/chest of drawers and the rocking chair both came from my husband's aunt when we got married (she gave us a whole bedroom suit and I chose just these pieces for the nursery). The pieces are antiques that were my husband's grandparents. They were used in their farm house. Again, they have great sentimental value.

I also have an antique child's chair that my mother and I bought at an auction when I was pregnant and an antique/handmade doll cradle that was my mother's when she was a little girl. I love antiques and wanted to incorporate them into our baby's nursery in a safe and effective way.

The crib bedding was the first thing I bought! I loved it and found it at Babies R Us. I thought that this was the essential piece to be the starting point for the entire theme of the nursery. I love that fact that my baby is surrounded my angels every night when she's asleep. It's a classy yet still sweet combination with angels, sweet pink roses and soft tan velvet.

The window treatment in the nursery is very dramatic, but I like it that way, because that is what wakes my sweet baby up every morning - that sunshine coming in through her window. This was a way for me to incorporate the gold that I wanted combined with the cream and pale pink in the room. My mother and I picked these out at JC Penny and my wonderful husband hung them for me.

The angel wings were something that I new I wanted to go with the bedding and the other angel accents. My mother bought these for me in a quaint little store in the wonderful town of Southport, NC. Southport has wonderful memories for me, as my mother and I make a point of going there a couple times a year. It's a great little port town. They were a bronze color and my husband thought they would look better gold, so he bought the paint, painted them, and then he hung them.

There's an angel wall decor above two of the doors that I actually bought for less than $2 each at two different yard sales. Most of the pictures in the room came from either my room when I was a little girl or from my grandmother.

There is a special poem in a frame with our ultrasound which was given to me by my mother and father for Christmas when I was pregnant.

The chandelier is another item that I knew I wanted in our nursery and it also came from Lowes. I added a few more crystals, because I LOVE THEM! My husband replaced the ceiling fan that used to hang in the room with the chandelier. The flower wall lamp I ordered online. I don't remember where I got it from, but it is definitely a perfect fit for the nursery.

Going out of Bryton's nursery above the door reads "Always Kiss me Goodnight" and above the same door on your way into her nursery reads "Because Two People Fell in Love." I got the first from Michael's and the second from Target.

We also have hanging in the hallway entering the nursery an antique picture that came from my grandmother of a guardian angel watching over two children as they cross a bridge. It's one of my favorite angels.

Bryton has shelves full of dolls and stuffed animals and books, most of which were mine when I was a little girl. When we found out I was pregnant I went through my mom and dad's attic to see what I could find. I lined the two bottom shelves with lots of pink baskets and pretty pink hat boxes to add that Victorian touch. The baskets hold toys, hair bows, bibs, pacifiers, and lots more.

It took us a long time, because I wanted it to be perfect for our new little girl. It was hard because I was pregnant, but it was so much fun knowing that soon our baby would be joining us in this room.

The best part was definitely doing the room with my great husband and my wonderful mother. My mother and I did the ideas and the errand running, picking things out, etc. My husband provided the man power by hanging things.

What I love most about my little one's finished room is her being in it! I love the fact that it's a beautiful, elegant room, yet it is very cozy. My little girl sleeps so well in it.
She is 4 months now and has been sleeping through the night since she was 2 1/2 months.

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