Sweet Alphabet Nursery

The first room that I was able to get my hands on and transform from blah to a breath of fresh air in our home was Claire’s sweet alphabet nursery.

I’m going to walk you through the steps I took to create a nursery that is peaceful, functional, sentimental and organized.

You can follow these 6 steps to create a nursery, child’s bedroom, play room or really any space in your home that makes you do the happy dance and sigh deeply… ahhhhh!!… every time you walk into it.

1. Get Inspired! 

I was inspired by a nursery that one of my favourite designers, Sarah Richardson created a few years ago with a white chair rail around the top section of the room and a painted wooden alphabet above.  In season 2 of her show, “Sarah’s House” she created an adorable letter adorned nursery.  I instantly fell in love and knew that one day I would try my best to create the same for my baby.

Maybe it’s the Kindergarten teacher in me, but I just love letters in a nursery or playroom!  So, when I came across an amazing home based business located in Cochrane, Alberta called “Bouncing off the Walls” who just happened to re-create Sarah Richardson’s wooden letter alphabet I literally eeeeeked!! so loud I’m sure my neighbours could hear!  We bought the letters unpainted so that we could paint them exactly how we wanted and they were very reasonably priced!

Take some time to peruse Pinterest or Project Nursery or take a look at what your favourite blogger or designer on HGTV has created and get inspired!

2. Choose your Colours 

When I was pregnant with our second baby, we decided to wait to find out what we were having (I love surprises!) so we chose to keep the paint colours neutral.  We headed over to our local Dulux paint store and chose an airy grey called Dolphin Fin for below the chair rail and a light blue called Seafoam Breeze for above.  We used their Dulux Lifemaster brand, which is free of VOC’s. I figured I could accent with coral, pink and grey if we had a girl and green and navy if we had a boy.

We were overjoyed when Claire was born and we knew that Ava would not only have a sister but a friend for life.  I’ve always dreamed of having 2 girls as I grew up with sisters and loved the close bond and friendship that formed between us.

On another note, I was also very excited to bring some pops of coral and pink into the nursery! We painted the wooden alphabet coral (cabana coral), pink (puppy love), dark greige (smokey glass), light grey (dolphin fin) and the same basic eggshell white as our trim. I brought the beautiful handmade quilt that is hanging over the crib in the picture below into the paint store and matched up the pinks and corals to the quilt.

3. Think about Function 

When deciding which pieces of furniture to bring into the nursery, we chose items that could serve more than one purpose and would also grow with Claire.  We plan for this room to last many years before needing to change it.  The crib was a hand me down from big sister Ava and can turn into both a toddler bed and double bed.  (This bed is here to stay till Claire moves out of the house!)

We chose to go with the IKEA Hemnes 3-drawer chest in white.  It serves as a change table and dresser.  We also added some simple black hooks next to the dresser to hang anything from a beautiful dress to her PJ’s before bed or her bath towel to dry after bath time.

A cozy chair/glider is a must.  Once again we were able to re-use the chair that we had in Ava’s nursery and had gotten on sale years before at a local store called “West Coast Kids.”  The matching foot stool is a must as I spent many hours here nursing Claire and we cuddle together and read stories here every day.  The paper lanterns above the chair add some whimsey to the space.

We love Claire’s funky IKEA VETTRE nightstand.  The pop of turquoise ties in nicely with the colours in the room, it’s easy to keep clean and has ample storage inside.

We created a cozy reading nook using the IKEA EXPEDIT shelving unit (this is no longer available, but is similar to the KALLAX shelving unit), 2 RIBBA picture ledges and 2 rattan BRANAS baskets.  I intend to make a long cushion for the top of the shelving unit and make it into a bench for Claire to sit on when she gets older.  The books in the shelf and on the bottom picture ledge are easy for Claire to grab and read. The top picture ledge works great for putting some keepsake items. We added the baskets for toy storage and to hold extra blankets.  We already had the lamp and the wood base ties in nicely with the baskets and the ceiling light fixture.

4) Accessorize! 

A cute rug, pillows and curtains are a great way to add pops of colour and pattern to a space.  Bedding or a special quilt add interest.  Hang a mirror to add light and create the illusion of space in a small room.  Create a mobile using paper lanterns or tissue paper flowers to tie in the feature colours in your space.  One of my personal favourites: add baskets and bins to hold toys, shoes, or change table items that you need to be able to grab and store quickly.

5) Personalize 

Add canvases from a special photo shoot, framed pictures or put a photo book in a safe place on display to really make the space your own.

We received 2 very special birth announcements at Claire’s baby shower.  My mom has a tradition of sewing a birth announcement each time a grandchild is born.  Claire’s announcement is hanging over the hooks near her change table.  It makes me happy every time I see it.

My super crafty friend not only made Claire a blanket but also created and framed this adorable birth announcement. We have it sitting on the top picture ledge above Claire’s reading nook.  She used the colours of the nursery in the font.  This frame also inspired the dark greige accent colour in the wooden alphabet.

6) Organize! 

Closet organizers and handy IKEA SKUBB organizers in your child’s dresser help keep everything in place.  I’m planning to do a whole separate post on dresser and closet organization!

Adorable bins are a great way to store toys, books, shoes or items at your change station.

My rule of thumb is to keep stuff to a minimum in Claire’s nursery.  I want her bedroom to be peaceful, calm and inviting.  We have one bin of small toys that are cleaned up in less then a minute when its time for sleep. I find the less distractions, the more sleep my kids get!

If you are still reading along, I applaud you!

I hope there are some simple ideas in this post that will give you the courage and inspiration to create that next functional, inviting and beautiful space in your home.