Thoughts On Designing a Nursery

Today I thought I'd share some of the rad nurseries I've discovered online over the last few weeks while seeking out inspiration.  Although we still have five months to go before baby arrives, we've already started gathering ideas (and paint chips galore) for her/his room.  My husband is off the road for a few weeks right now, so we're doing our best to get organized while we can on the weekends and during the evenings when I'm done with work.  I remember just a couple of years ago, feeling like the ten month period we had to plan our wedding was so much time.  But with Robbie gone for over half of it and me scrambling to get everything done on my own as the date approached, I ended up feeling pretty overwhelmed.  This time (albeit a much different situation) I've learned my lesson, and we're taking advantage of our time together to get plans into place and projects started.

We currently live in a two bedroom townhouse.  I'd really like to move into something larger (with a yard!) before baby becomes a toddler, but for now, we're doing the best we can with what we have.  The room that will become the nursery is now a guest room (that admittedly also doubles as a storage unit; don't open the closet in there or you'll be bombarded).  We're trying to figure out a way to possibly set up a space in our unfinished basement for guests to stay (that will be an entirely different post; sigh), so the plan is to take the bed apart and reassemble down there.  Completely cleaning out the closet is another task on the list.  And the paint color in the room is gorgeous - a rich, warm, dark grey.  But it's much too dark for a baby.  So we'll be repainting as well. 

As much as I love design and redecorating, this nursery is a bit of a design challenge for me, because I know that I have to break away from my usual tenancies.  My decorating style leans toward the minimalistic end of the spectrum.  I'm a fan of neutral colors (white, black, and grey) and clean, modern lines.  I just have to remember that this room is for a baby - which means incorporating fun, colorful elements.  The crib will be white, and we'll be painting an old dresser and bookshelves white as well.  For the walls, we're thinking a pale grey.  This will lighten up the room, but won't make it look quite as 'sterile' as plain white walls might.  The plan is to stick with whites and greys throughout the room, then add a few pops of vibrant colors and a few rustic, organic details throughout the space.  Regardless of whether baby is a boy or a girl (and yes, we're finding out), we'd like to keep the nursery pretty gender neutral.  My vision is simple, modern, and fun.  I'll be sure to share before and after pics once the project is (eventually!) completed.

Nurseries, from top:  1. Design*Sponge  // 2. Apartment Therapy  // 3. Rosenberry Rooms //
4. Apartment Therapy  // 5. Lecons de Choses  // 6. Rosenberry Rooms  // 7. Houzz

Have any of you designed nurseries recently?  Or transformed a space in your home from one type of room to another?

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