When our clients first reach out to us to help plan and decorate their nursery, we are absolutely thrilled. It’s always a joy and a dream project to celebrate and welcome a new baby!

Although they know the baby will be a boy, they plan to stay in their current home for a while, so they want the overall nursery design to work for either a boy or a girl. And they love color—how amazing is that? It’s exciting to have clients who want to have this much fun with a space.

Before: The Starting Point

Their current room is pretty large and has a south-facing window that provides great natural light. They recently redid the floors and painted the walls, so they don’t want to change either of those. They already have some pieces, including a guest bed, crib, dresser, and chair that they want to reuse. This space will not only serve as the nursery but also as a guest room.

Planning and Inspiration

Their inspiration photos are so fun and playful, with bright colors, light woods, and key functional elements highlighted. When we meet with them, we go through each example they share and discuss what they love or don’t love about each one. This helps us get the right direction for the next steps.

PINTEREST BOARD FOR MORE INSPO

From these photos, we create different themes to present to them and get their feedback. Each theme leans on fun colors with different motifs layered in. We go through a round of feedback to land on the final direction.

We keep the major furniture pieces in a light wood tone, which matches the crib they already have. We include colorful accent pieces like wall shelves and a bookcase. This fun rug has so many beautiful colors, including the gray of the chair they already own and the green bedding they want to keep. It shows that you don’t need to buy all new items; you can find things that tie what you already have together.

Furniture and Layout

They already have great pieces to work with, so we incorporate their existing items and add new elements to bring them all together. Their existing items include a rocking chair, full bed, short bookshelf, crib, dresser, and side table. They need storage components for the closet, curtains, an area rug, artwork recommendations, and shelving.

Functionality is paramount when planning a room that combines a nursery and a guest room. Designer furniture is great, but if the space isn’t functional, what’s the point? When combining these two purposes, it’s important to ensure each function can operate independently while complementing each other.

The priority is definitely the nursery. Some requests include a dedicated changing area and keeping the crib away from the door to reduce noise for the baby. The guest area needs to be comfortable yet unobtrusive. We make sure the full bed does not encroach on the baby’s space and can be seamlessly integrated without causing disruptions. All of this and more is taken into consideration when planning the layout.

The Hand-Off

When our project wraps up, we provide our clients with layout visuals, elevations of each wall, links to all the new products we select, and inspiration as they choose and source artwork. The final deliverables do vary, but we aim to provide all the info you need to implement the design, if you want to take that on yourself.