I am so excited to share Gwen’s Nursery design with you! Charles gave me full creative control of Gwen’s Nursery. No need to run anything by him. Anything I wanted. I loved working on this project and watching it come to life.
Before we get to the post, I wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Andrea at Chicago Andrea Creative who took the family photos throughout the post. She specializes in family photos and does an amazing job. Most importantly, Gwen cooperates with her!
When it comes to the design of our home, I always say that I don’t want it to be too girly. I know that Charles wants our home to feel like it’s his home too. That means mixing his love of modern styles with my more traditional aesthetic. It also means holding back on more feminine design elements. I don’t mind. I always say that I want a home that looks like a man and a woman live there. But, I will say that this made me excited to make Gwen’s room into a girly oasis.
If you are new here, we moved into a townhome in February and at that point, baby Gwen got her own room. Before that, she had a mini nursery set up in our primary bedroom. This means that I had already purchased all of her furniture prior to our move. I chose the Ava Regency set from Pottery Barn Kids. I love that the crib converts to a toddler bed and eventually a double-sized bed. Gwen can use this furniture throughout her childhood!
The blush pink velvet rocking chair is also from Pottery Barn. It’s so cozy and Gwen and I have spent many hours snuggling and rocking in this chair. The chair has the option to swap out the rockers for regular chair legs, which we have waiting for when Gwen gets older. I wanted to buy high-quality, long-lasting furniture, that we can continue to use as Gwen grows.
Once we made the move, I used the furniture to fill the space, and then I added finishing touches like curtains and wallpaper. After lots of consideration, I chose wallpaper from Anewall. The Blu Bell Mural is stunning – not easy to install, but stunning.
It’s a mural, which means that each piece is pre-cut and already lined up. Make sure you measure your space first and that you order the correct size. We had to reorder the wallpaper when we realized that our bedrooms have 10-foot ceilings… not the 9-foot ceilings listed in the plans. Oops!
The mural brings so much life to the space and it ties the room together. I chose pink velvet curtains in a darker pink shade that match the colors in the mural while contrasting enough with the rocking chair. It’s a lot of pink, but it doesn’t feel like too much pink.
The blue and white rug was a rug that I purchased in Morocco and I love that something from my travels has found its way into Gwen’s room.
My parents bought Gwen a plush rocking bunny and our friend Bob gave Gwen a big plush giraffe that stands guard by the door. Her room is small, but she also has a play nook downstairs where we keep her tent and lots of toys.
My friend Emma Grady created a painting titled Garden Party inspired by Gwen’s room and it hangs beside the giraffe.
Emma’s paintings are bold and colorful and you can learn more about them here!
Gwen’s changing table/dresser is also from the Pottery Barn Kid’s Ava Regency line. When we had the mini nursery at our last home we kept this in the bathroom, but now we have space for it in Gwen’s room. The mirror above the dresser is an old mirror that I got for my New York City studio apartment that I repainted gold.
We second-guessed buying a nightstand. The main reason that I bought it was to complete Gwen’s bedroom set with the hope that it will be used throughout her childhood. But, it turns out that the nightstand is a must-have. It gives us a place to set down a bottle and a book at bedtime. It’s been so convenient. Plus, the drawers provide storage for crib sheets and swaddles.
We worked with Inspired Closets Chicago to finish Gwen’s closet (full disclosure: we received a discount). They came up with a beautiful and functional design for the closet and the company was so easy to work with. They also designed and installed our kitchen pantry.
Years ago, I had seen Blake’s wallpapered closet and with that as my inspiration, Charles and I decided to wallpaper the back wall of Gwen’s closet.
We chose an affordable and easy-to-install peel and stick wallpaper with gold hearts. I LOVE how it turned out. It gives the space more personality.
The closet itself is perfect. It maximizes the space and I love having shelves where we can store toys and books.
When it came to picking lighting, I wanted something girly and elegant. I picked the Ruby Chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids.
The final finishing touches in the room are a pair of shelves that we hung high above the crib. That part of the wall felt empty and these shelves fill the wall space while providing additional toy and book storage. I love the gold accent on these shelves – it ties in well with the other furniture in the room.
The shelves are where we keep some sentimental items like a watercolor painting of my wedding bouquet. Please note that everything on these shelves is secured to the wall and that the shelves themselves are far too high for Gwen to reach (I can barely reach them) and they are screwed into the studs.
Ted, my bear from my childhood is on the top shelf. I’ve had him since I was born.
The little lion on the far right was given to Gwen by a family friend. It was her toy when she was a child and now the lion watches over Gwen.
We chose a Nanit monitor as Gwen’s baby monitor and that is mounted on the wall above the crib. It comes with breathing wear that tracks her breathing while she sleeps. I think the video quality is great – I probably spend too much time watching her sleep. We joke that the Nanit is my favorite tv show.
This is the only room in the house that is completely finished. It’s also my favorite room. I hope the rest of the house comes together as well as this project did.
Lastly, I owe my amazing friend Jenn of Style Charade a shout-out. She let me bounce ideas off her and helped me make key selections like the wallpaper. Thank you, friend!
This post isn’t sponsored. I just have a thing for Pottery Barn Kids. There are affiliate links throughout this post.