Hi friends, it’s Courtney (Melissa’s daughter) here to share my son Forrest’s nursery with you today! Several months ago I shared my design mood board when I was still pregnant, and now baby is here and his room is all finished! I’m so happy with how his room turned out and I’m excited to show you around.
Budget Friendly Nursery
The nursery vision: I envisioned primarily neutral backdrops and key elements…but with plenty of pops of color, pattern, texture, and cozy layers from accessories. I want it to feel calm and restful, but also fun and whimsical. We live in a coastal city in the Pacific Northwest nestled between the forest and sea, so I wanted to incorporate elements that nod to our surroundings like sailboats, botanicals, wood tones, and muted colors.
This wasn’t a room we designed from scratch with a big budget–we got some new pieces but tried to use what we had whenever possible!
I love how the room turned out! It feels like a kids’ room with charming playful elements, while still reflecting the calm and cozy design style I love. It’s such a happy room to be in!
You can watch a short VIDEO of this room below!
Have you heard about the “sad beige babies” trend (an “aesthetic” where kids’ rooms and wardrobes are primarily neutrals)? While I admit I do love a good neutral and prefer more muted colors :), I wanted a balance in here. I started with a neutral backdrop and key pieces, but definitely didn’t ban colorful toys, I displayed lots of colorful books, and incorporated fun pattern and color in accessories and art.
We are renting this townhouse, otherwise I may have even considered painting the walls with a bit of color. But I do like this soft greige color as a nice simple backdrop.
When I look around this room, I see so many reminders of all the love and support we felt as we prepared to welcome our boy to the world. Lots of generous hand me downs from friends, thoughtful gifts from family and friends, and there are even several gifts from internet friends I’ve met through Instagram!
The felt pennant flag with Forrest’s name on it above and the little fabric bunting were sent to me by a sweet online friend (she also knit Forrest the sweetest booties and hat!). The felt dog above was a gift from one of our HomeBody Gathering Place members who lives in Germany. The woodland animal art above the crib was hand painted by another online friend!
We felt incredibly grateful for the way so many people helped prepare us for this new chapter of life, so to tangibly see that around the room makes this space feel extra special to me.
I had considered adding a rug in here over the carpet and may still down the line. I don’t love carpet, but I will say it’s been great to have in here since we sit on the floor so often for play time! 🙂
We hung the curtains with Command hooks on a lightweight curtain rod which has been a great solution for us as renters. This is the same way I hung curtains in our bedroom, I shared how and my tips here!
This adorable quilt was a gift from a family friend–I’m pretty sure she made it! Since we live near the sea and love being around water and boats, all the little coastal touches make me so happy. I know I’ll keep this quilt forever!
Our crib is the Sniglar Crib from Ikea. I liked the simple style of it, it was much more affordable than many cribs, and had great reviews. It’s made out of solid untreated beech wood, and can also transition into a toddler bed. It’s treated us well so far! I used similar light wood tones throughout the room.
We have this 100% breathable mattress, and this crib sheet set which came with one tree pattern, and gray and white stripes.
I had been on the hunt for art or some kind of wall hanging for over the crib, and after sharing about it on my Instagram stories, a very sweet follower offered to paint this woodland art for us as a gift! I love it so much and think it’s the perfect whimsical touch.
The dresser is the Hemnes dresser from Ikea. We were originally going to use it as a changing table with this wipeable pad on top, but we ended up setting up changing stations elsewhere in the house for now so we just use it as storage (we also have this small dresser just outside the room for more storage).
I organize the drawers with these super affordable drawer organizers as well as the Ikea Skubb boxes.
I swapped out the original knobs for these simple wood ones on Amazon (they were a great deal for a large set!).
This pretty botanical print used to be in my mom’s house–I had always admired it! It’s printed on the prettiest textured handmade paper. I found this affordable frame on Amazon that it fit into perfectly. The art isn’t sold anymore, but here is a similar set.
The elephant basket was a local antique store find! I have seen similar ones like this on Etsy.
The wood bird lamp was a gift from the same sweet online friend who painted the art over the crib! It’s a touch lamp, dimmable with warmer or cooler light options. So handy for soft lighting in the middle of the night, and just adorable to have on display! This is another touch lamp we use often, too.
The built-in window bench was love at first sight when we first toured this house. The colorful bunting garland across the windows just makes me happy!
This Ikea Ektorp chair is a hand-me-down from my mom. I originally was going to use this white slipcover we have on it (as seen in my mood board) but when I brought it into the room with the gray slipcover on it, I decided I liked that contrast instead.
Rather than buying a traditional glider/rocker, we decided to just start by using what we had, then assess what we needed once baby arrived. It turns out I have been perfectly fine with this chair! It’s quite cozy. In all my baby prep research, the consensus seemed like a fancy glider or at least a rocker might be an absolute necessity (which are often so spendy!), but for us personally it turned out to be something we’re glad we waited and saved money on!
I did a spur of the moment simple “DIY” with a ribbon hung on these clear hooks and white mini clothespins to display little photos or cards. We capture so many little memories with this instant camera and I love the idea of clipping up different photos often for Forrest to look at!
Command hooks have come in handy all over this room. We hung these two hooks behind the door to display special little clothes. Babies grow out of clothing SO incredibly fast (ahhh, my heart!!!), so it’s nice to have them out on display to enjoy longer. 🙂
This handy little side table can double as storage with a removable top (we’ll probably use it for blankets or maybe for Forrest’s ever growing stuffed animal collection!).
This pretty sailboat art print is of Annapolis, but it reminded me so much of Fairhaven, the neighborhood we lived in when we got married. I’ve been wanting to be more intentional about slowly collecting more meaningful art for our home, and this was a great one to start with! The artist kindly added an original watercolor into my order, too, that I put in that shadowbox frame above.
I’m often asked about this white house shaped shelf. I got it many years ago and it isn’t sold anymore sadly, but I sometimes see similar ones like this on Etsy!
We’ll have to move this shelf out of the room eventually when Forrest is crawling around…but we’ve got some time. 🙂 For now, I love filling it with books and cute toys that double as decor!
Some of these books are ones my parents saved from my childhood! It’s so nostalgic to see some of my old favorites on these shelves and read them to my son! You can find a round up of some of our favorite children’s books here.
A little basket by the chair holds a little rotating selection of books we’re currently reading. We got the basket at a local shop but here is a similar one.
Thank you for coming along for our little nursery tour!
I’ll be back on the blog soon to share a big round up of baby registry recommendations, specifically what we’ve personally really loved and used over the last five months. I hope it will be helpful for any new moms or anyone looking for what to buy a new mom! Subscribe to our free newsletter here if you want to make sure you don’t miss that!
You can follow along with me here on Instagram for more of my home and life!
Not seeing what you’re looking for? You’ll see more sources linked throughout the post, and more in this folder of our Amazon shop.
More Posts by Courtney:
5 Clever Ways to Make a Small Space Cozy and Inviting (Courtney’s Apartment)
Courtney’s Apartment Tour (500 Square Feet!)
Courtney’s Small Apartment Bedroom
Courtney’s Seattle Studio Apartment Tour
How to Hang Curtains with Command Hooks (Renter Friendly Hack!)
See ALL posts from Courtney here.