Nautical Nursery

The Joy of Designing for my Little Sailor 

This is my baby's nursery. I envisioned it, I designed it and together with the help of my husband, it became a beautiful space for baby. Most things were customized and handcrafted by us. I posted this room on Project Nursery and as of december 7 / 2010 it has been rated 4.5 stars. It was also featured on the February 2011 issue of Cosmopolitan Pregnancy.

The whole idea of having a nautical themed room was born from our love for boats, the ocean and all things nautical. We think that having our baby grow in a room surrounded by the things we like and enjoy will make him like them and enjoy them as well in the near future. We can't wait till baby is old enough to go the beach and enjoy boat rides with us!

Here's a little breakdown of the project.

THE WALLS: the starting point for the room was installing wainscoting to achieve that cozy and beachy feel.There's something about a clean white beadboard that makes you feel relaxed and this is what you want a nursery to be: a relaxing room.

A plain wall gets a beach cottage feel with the installation of white wainscoting and trim. It is not only beautiful but very easy to maintain!

THE SHELF: We went over the crown molding idea quite a few times and finally made our decision. We installed it on the wall opposite to the crib. It is a wonderful place to display baby's mementos and toys, decorative and is out of baby's reach.

The debated crown molding shelf found its place on the wall opposite to the crib.
It is perfect for holding toys, frames and mementos.

THE PAINT: for the remaining part of the wall, we chose Clear Blue Sky by Valspar. I was sold by the name not by the color chip itself. Sometimes when you look too long for similar color chips, all the samples end up looking alike. To me they all looked like "baby blue". So, always read the name on the back of the chip and if that inspires you, then it's right.

We chose Clear Blue Sky by Valspar for the walls.
The name says it all!

THE WINDOW: at first I was going to go with classical curtain rod, valance and sheers but we saw the plantation shutters at the hardware store and thought it would complement the bead board and the "beach house" look. It looks gorgeous.

Plantation shutters add that cozy beachy feel to the room!

THE TOY BOX: Is it a window seat or something more? It's a toy box! In fact, they are two toy-boxes bolted in together to make one big place to store all those stuffed animals and Tonka trucks. My favorite part is the beach landscape I hand painted for my little one. Each beach chair has our names written on them. I also love the custom soft cushion very easy to lift.

The toy box serves two purposes.
A beautiful window seat and lots of storage!

THE BOOKCASE: the room would not be complete without a boat in it so daddy handcrafted this beautiful piece out of oak, hand painted it and customized it with rope, clits and stripes! The toddler size is perfect for the baby to reach for toys and books.

My husband handcrafted this beautiful boat bookcase

Stripes detail

THE CHANGING TABLE: this is one of my favorite pieces. It is perfect this is a regular dresser that we customized into a changing table-dresser combo. We added the little rails that keep the changing pad in place. We painted it in the same blue we used on the bookcase.

Changing tables are a must in a nursery.

THE CRIB: I chose a classic white crib from Graco. This particular one caught my attention because of the headboard design that matches the bead board, I bought it at Target. The bedding and mobile are from Babies R Us from the Bubbles collection.

The design of the crib matches the wainscoting.

THE GLIDER: To be honest, I wasn't too fond of this glider. I wanted something bulky and more traditional looking, I wanted an upholstered chair but there was not enough room for one. I was set on lime green and this one fit the decor just perfect. When the room was finished, I fell in love with the chair and so did my baby!

This Carter's glider turned out to be one of my
favorite pieces in the room.

THE WALL DECOR: Sometimes things come to you when you're not looking for them. That's how it happened with these beautiful shelf and peg rack. I stumbled upon them at a Home Goods store. I did not have a plan yet with them but I had to have them and they turned out to be the Pièce de Résistance over that side of the room. Aren't they beautiful? The beach prints are from a 2009 calendar from Flavia, I cut them to size and framed them. The frames I bought at Michaels and I painted them to give them the aged look.

I Love how this Guardian Angel looks over
Logan's { name } and crib.

This peg rack is perfect to display all those
Little Sailor outfits.

I saved these prints from a 2009 Calendar.

THE CHANDELIER: I could not have completed this project without the chandelier. It just makes the room. Unfortunately I can't take credit for it, I bought it here. I am crafty and you'll see some of my work but there was no way I could reproduce this beauty. Now that Logan is older, he seems to like it a lot. Way to go my baby, because WE LOVE BOATS!

The finish on this chandelier is immaculate.

THE CUSTOM SIGNS: besides sketching and painting the beach scene on the toybox, I painted these two signs.

I painted this sign at 5 months pregnant.

I had a little help from a sign I saw online. I just could
not resist to copy the concept for Logan's room.

And this is it for Logan's Nursery. Everyday I add something new. A picture frame, a stuffed animal, a book, a ball, it's never ending.

I have enjoyed so much doing this project that it has become a side job. If you like what you've seen, drop me a comment and make sure to come back to my blog, I am constantly uploading new signs and crafts for nurseries on my Etsy shop.

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Have a great day!!