Joe’s Room: A Neutral (but Boyish) Nursery
A Quick Note
If you had asked me how many children I pictured myself having five years ago, I would’ve told you, “We probably won’t have children.”
It wasn’t that we didn’t want to become parents; rather, we had been trying for years without success. After speaking with some fertility specialists, then saving up for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), here we are about to have our second sweet little baby! It’s unbelievable to think God created people with enough intelligence to figure out how to help loving couples raise children of their own. And now, we have not one, but TWO nurseries!
I value the fact that my husband and I have put so much of our love and energy into these two rooms over this past year. I can honestly say I am filled with happiness upon entering each of these sweet nursery spaces. These rooms each have their own personality, and while there are some definite moments in each one that demonstrate one room being more boyish and one being more girlish, they are pretty gender-neutral at the core. Join me as I walk you through each space!
Let’s Start with the Flooring
LL Flooring Park Avenue Chevron Laminate with AquaSeal Locking Installation
We chose a water-resistant laminate flooring product called Park Avenue Chevron from LL Flooring, and we couldn’t be happier with this decision! First, the price was too good to pass up, especially given the quality of this product and the durability it has shown. We bought ours on sale for $1.79 per square foot (regularly $1.99)—too good, right?!
We love that the wood tones mimic those found in real oak flooring products, and since the hallway outside of these two nursery spaces (we used this flooring in both) has an oak hardwood floor, the transition was super easy. The tones carry well from the wide-plank oak floors in the hallway to the chevron patterned laminate floors in these nursery spaces.
Peek into both nurseries: Joe’s room is on the right and Everleigh’s room is on the left!
As far as installation goes, it doesn’t get much easier than this! The chevron pattern is already printed on each laminate plank, and the planks don’t require any nails or glue to install; I’m talking floating, locking installation, and the seams are so tight once locked that nothing gets through them (24 hour AquaSeal, people)!
In case you’re new to this, “floating” floor installation simply means that the planks attach and lock to one another without there being a need to glue or nail them to the base surface underneath. Some sort of underlayment is always recommended over the subfloor, and a moisture barrier is required for installations directly over concrete. We also have peace of mind in knowing that these floors come with a limited lifetime warranty, although they’ve proven to be incredibly durable thus far… Joe is not “gentle” by any means when it comes to how he plays with his cars, tools, and creative utensils, and these floors have yet to show a scratch or dent. Okay, so these floors are beautiful, well-priced, and durable.
Joe and I actually had the opportunity to speak to this product in a fun video produced by LL Flooring! Our little guy is going to Hollywood!! (Jk)
Wall and Trim Paint Colors
The original homeowners had painted the entire interior a very blah, neutral beige. It was a safe color to help sell the home, but from an interior decorator’s perspective, all I could see were the yellow undertones in this particular beige. It looked crummy to me. After putting some new paint samples up on the wall—something I always, always recommend doing, as natural light affects your paint colors SO much from space to space—I landed on “Incredible White” from Sherwin Williams for Joe’s walls. What I love about this color is that it’s slightly off-white, with equal parts gray and beige. It feels warm without feeling yellowy, and it has totally brightened the room. I’d say this color lives its best life when applied next to a brighter white. I had already painted the baseboards in Benjamin Moore’s “Chantilly Lace,” which is an ultra-bright, warm white that maintains a sort of softness that gives it such great versatility, especially when applied to trim, moulding, doors, and baseboards.
Crib Paint Color:
Joe’s crib was a baby shower gift from my parents, and while the wood tone worked really well in our first house (where the nursery had south-facing windows and loads of bright, direct sunlight), it wasn’t quite hitting the same way in this house (Joe’s room now has a north-facing window, so it doesn’t get much—if any, save a few golden hours in the summertime—direct sunlight). I decided to lightly sand the crib down and paint it so that the deeper, richer wood tones in the decor and the flooring would stand out better without having to compete with this brighter tone. I actually saved money by just using one of the samples I didn’t pick for the walls! That color is “Anew Gray” by Sherwin Williams, and what I love about it is that it’s still a warm gray, but a touch darker than the Incredible White walls, and there’s the slightest hint of olive green in the undertones. This helped it complement the antique dresser and the Charleston Frames from Hobby Lobby, as olive and chestnut are opposite each other on a color wheel.
Furniture and Decor
Crib
As I mentioned, Joe’s crib was a baby shower gift from my parents, but being the frugal DIYer I am, I couldn’t ask—nor could I allow—my parents to spend an arm and a leg on expensive nursery furniture. Especially because I know myself, and I do have a tendency of changing things up every so often. I would never be able to live with myself had I painted a $1,000+ crib and it didn’t turn out to be absolutely perfect, you know? On the bright side, if you’re on a budget but don’t enjoy DIYs, this crib is very well priced and comes in a whole assortment of colors! It’s the Dream On Me Synergy 5-in-1 Convertible Crib (ours was the natural finish).
Rocking Chair:
Continuing on with other gifts, my mother-in-law wanted me to have a nice, comfy rocking chair with good head and neck support for those long nights spent feeding and rocking baby to sleep. She knows my style pretty well by now, so she ordered this Marlena mid-century modern rocking chair by Baxton Studio. Ours is the light gray and beige option, and we’ve spent countless hours in it with Joe! He’s two now, but when he wakes up overnight from a nightmare and wants a little TLC to help him realize everything is going to be okay, we often will fall asleep in this chair as we rock him to sleep.
Dresser:
Sorry, friends, but I found this beautiful antique dresser on Craigslist for $80 when I was pregnant with Joe; therefore, I don’t have any links to share. Where I hope I can bring value here is in the following tip: In order to get rid of the mothball smell, I painted the insides of the drawers with a semigloss white paint, left them in the garage to air-out for about a week, and then once I brought them inside, I filled them with those little scent packs you can usually find in the check-out aisles of your local HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, or Marshalls.
Area Rug:
I have to say, this is one of my all-time favorite area rugs. It’s the Theia rug in Taupe/Gold by Loloi, and it’s sold by Scout and Nimble, on Amazon, at Rugs Direct, at Rug and Weave, and a few other retailers. We originally had this rug in our master bedroom, but as soon as I painted the walls in Joe’s room Incredible Gray, I knew this rug needed to move to this space. I love the gray, white, navy, and mustard-yellow tones in it, and I feel that it’s a mature, neutral rug that will grow nicely with Joe.
Buffalo Ottoman:
Simply put, I saw this online and needed to put it on our baby shower registry. Being a midwesterner living in Colorado, I thought it would be fun to give Joe’s nursery a western/high-desert/Rocky Mountain vibe, but I didn’t want it to be over-the-top and in-your-face. This little buffalo ottoman makes Joe laugh every day, and it provides a little bit (I’m saying a tinyyy bit) of storage—perfect for little toy cars and random socks if you ask Joe!
Faux Olive Tree:
This is the most realistic, most beautiful faux olive tree I’ve sourced yet! It’s the Faux Potted Olive Tree in XL from Pottery Barn, and the 86″ height is perfect for the eight-foot ceiling in this room. Of all of the decor pieces we’ve placed in this room, I’d have to say this olive tree and the buffalo ottoman above get THE most attention from people who have seen this space on my Instagram account.
Throw Pillows:
While unfortunately the “Love You to the Moon and Back” baby blue pillow has been discontinued (I found it back in 2018 at H&M Home), Joe’s 20″ x 20″ leather pillow cover was handmade by my friend Michele, and it can be purchased from her Etsy shop: MainThread Textiles. I adore Michele as a person, and the quality of each and every pillow she has made for our home has been nothing short of perfection. She sources high-quality textiles, so you’re getting your money’s worth, and the patterns are always being updated, so check back often!
Curtains:
We used to have these deep green blackout curtains in Joe’s room, which I loved in our first home(!!), but they never were quite right once we moved to this house. For starters, I ordered the shorter option by mistake, but we were so desperate to get blackout curtains up for Joe that we didn’t take the time to process an exchange. Once I painted the walls a lighter, less yellow tone, I pictured how much bigger and brighter this space would feel with a light gray curtain, and one that actually went floor-to-ceiling. A late-night Google Shop search led me to these Aruba Linen Blackout Curtain Panels in gray from Target. They aren’t 100% blackout, but they do dramatically darken the room, even on a sunny day. Side note: This is the only room in which we EVER shut the curtains. I’ve always said your blinds/shades should do the sun-blocking work, while your curtains should truly serve as a pretty decor piece that’s there to frame your windows and make them appear taller and wider.
Wall Art:
One of the prints I ordered on Etsy is sadly no longer available (the shop closed for some reason), but the baby deer print was a digital download from Lila & Lola on Etsy, and she has an adorable assortment of other baby animals and cute prints. Tip: When you purchase digital downloads on Etsy, the seller will usually send you a photo ratios guide. Use this when placing your print order (I prefer to do “poster” prints at Walgreens since I can usually pick them up sooner) so that you don’t have to cut off part of the image when it comes time to frame. As for frames, there are many great resources! If you’d rather have them print and frame the digital downloads for you, you should certainly check out Art to Frames, Framebridge, and Simply Framed. For ours, I chose to buy the Charleston frames in 16″ x 20″ from Hobby Lobby (I’d link them but I think they can only be purchased in-store).
Owl Lamp:
Isn’t this such a sweet little lamp for a nursery? I can’t get enough of it. This is the Night Owl 19″ High White Ceramic Accent Table Lamp, from LampsPlus. We like to tell Joe the owl protects him
Mobile Over Crib:
This was gifted to us from a fellow creator and artist whom I met on Instagram: Jessica Salazar, owner of Vida + Luz. It couldn’t be more perfect for this space. It definitely brings in the high-desert vibes I wanted to touch on in here (without being over-the-top, remember?). Jessica was truly so generous to have gifted Joe this beautiful mobile!! I seriously love everything she creates (which is much more than baby mobiles!), so go check out her site: Vida + Luz.
Knit Dolls:
When we first shared the news that our first IVF attempt was a success, Cuddle + Kind reached out to me and offered to send us a couple of adorable dolls for Joe’s nursery. Joe’s dolls are Elliott the Fawn (Regular), Noah the Dog (little), and Oliver the Bear (little). I had already had one of the larger dolls on my baby shower registry because I absolutely love what this company stands for! For each doll sold, they donate 10 meals to children in need all around the world! Read more about how they do this and what inspired them here.
Fin
So that’s everything… I think! If I missed anything that you’d like more information about, or if you just feel like popping in to leave a comment, I love reading your questions and feedback! Thanks for taking the time!