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Now that I’m in my third trimester, one of the questions I’m getting asked the most by family and friends is, what’s the nursery theme? I tend to stumble my way through an answer because I assume they’re looking for a response like “jungle safari” or “woodland forest,” when the truth is, I don’t have one. What I do have is a design goal, and that’s to make our little one’s room as cozy and functional as possible.
The first thing I did when I started dreaming up the nursery was to create a rough layout of the room using Floorplanner.com’s free tool. It quickly showed me that I wouldn’t be able to fit much else in the 10’x10’ space other than a crib, a dresser-slash-changing table, and a sleeper chair with a few nooks and crannies left over for a diaper pail, toy basket, and hamper. I needed some more help envisioning how it would come together, so I combed through the Internet and started saving small, stylish nurseries left and right for inspiration.
The Rustic, Minimalist Nursery
Glider or no glider? For weeks I debated if we needed this nursery “staple,” and it was spaces like this that made me feel better about not making room for a bulky rocker. While color consultant Harriet Slaughter’s baby’s room is a lot teenier than our space, it’s a reminder to prioritize a spot for sleeping and changing. And if I had the courage to paint the walls in our rental, I’d absolutely try this same swatch (Little Greene Paint Company’s Celestial Blue).
The Whimsical, Narrow Nursery
Design content creator Yasamin Feehily-Ghazizadeh’s nursery showed me that I can scoot furniture a lot closer together than I think without the room feeling cramped. While the custom mural by Ladybug Garden sets a magical backdrop, even with white walls, the touch of rattan (the floor lamp is Ferm Living) and gingham (the chair fabric is from Beata Heuman) lend a level of whimsy that’s fitting for a kids’ space.
The Vintage Nursery
“Americana Craftsman” was one term I kept leaning on to describe the vision I had for our nursery, but it wasn’t until I saw this Claire Brody Designs project that I could really pinpoint what I meant. For starters, there’s the nontraditional red and blue palette—two hues that feel fun but are also gender-neutral. Then, there were all of the old details: a framed quilt from an antique mall, vintage plaid drapes from eBay, and the same Amazon crib she’s used for all her kids—this time spray-painted powder blue.
The Pattern-Forward Nursery
I went down an Etsy rabbit hole looking for chic crib skirts after seeing the patterned bedding in designer Hannah Armstrong’s South Carolina nursery. One perk? You can hide shallow baskets with extra sheets underneath the mattress. Other ideas I pulled for my own space: using a graphic rug to make a statement in a room with neutral walls and hanging something sculptural (like a mobile or a lantern) in the corner to draw the eye around the room.
The Delightful-Yet-Timeless Nursery
You don’t need a ton of accessories in a nursery, as I realized while analyzing this Lonika Chande-designed space—you just need the right ones. A shag rug, handwoven baskets, and embroidered pillows all serve as sweet touches that are truly timeless (I hate the idea of having to swap things out five years from now). I also loved that the London-based designer mounted sturdy wall hooks in her kid’s space rather than itsy-bitsy shelves that are purely for display.
The Shopping List
Our crib might look familiar because it’s the same $200 Jenny Lind one that ended up in Brody’s nursery. I loved its simplicity and, as I learned from the designer, its paint-ability. The graphic rug from IKEA’s newest Stockholm drop was a no-brainer for introducing some pattern to the room. Then, I focused on making the space a smidge more sophisticated with hints of brown and biscotti using my favorite bouclé curtains from H&M Home and a soon-to-arrive twin sleeper chair from Interior Define. To take care of all our storage, interior designer and Le Maé owner Lindye Galloway generously gifted her Venice dresser, which is big enough to hold all our little one’s stuff.
