Modern Safari Nursery Reveal

August 1, 2012 /

It’s been 3 1/2 months since our little guy was born, and today is the day that I can finally reveal to you the nursery!  Some of this space has evolved over time as I’ve finished putting together the last projects.  You may remember my nursery inspiration and then my mood board that I shared with you.  Then, I shared some fabric choices.  We weren’t sure the gender of the baby, so I went with a color scheme that I believe is gender neutral, and had decided that once the baby was born I would make it more gender appropriate with accessories, etc.  Well, we had a boy, {you can read his birth story here}, so I was able to make the nursery into what I would like to call ‘Modern Safari’.

Come on in and have a peek!

This is what you see when you open the door.  I painted a little  30 cent plaque from Marshall’s with chalkboard paint and wrote Mason’s initials in orange chalk.

 The dresser was painted in ASCP Pure White, and you can read about that project, my first ASCP experience, here.  The pictures above the dresser are some that my husband had previous to our marriage–‘The Big 5’, a lion, elephant, cheetah, wildebeest, and rhinoceros.

My mother-in-law recovered this glider.  It was previously a blue denim, but there was enough fabric leftover from the crib bedding to piece together this beauty.  I. love. it.  I’ve never had a glider before, so it’s been nice to rock Mason every now and then.

As I was working on hanging up pictures in here one day, I happened to look in the garage and saw this canvas resting in a pile of cobwebs.  Before we had children, my husband stated that he would one day like a Tintin themed nursery.  Tintin is a character from a Belgian comic series that Bradley read growing up.  You may be familiar with the movie that came out last December, based upon this series.  I couldn’t believe how perfectly this canvas fit in with the colors and theme of our nursery.  Up on the wall it went!  The shelf {from Target} holds books, puzzles and toys.  You can read about my fabric covered boxes here.

The shelf below contains little toy animals from Tanzania, where my sister and brother-in-law recently went on a mission trip.  They had no idea I was decorating Mason’s nursery this way, but they are a perfect addition!  The ‘M’ hanging on the wall was used as decor at a baby shower hosted by my friends, and the shelf was made by my brother.  I contemplated painting the shelf white, but decided it would be more significant to leave it as he had designed and created.  I love that Mason has a little piece of my brother in his room.

A stack of Tintin books rests on top of the toy shelf, tying in the picture with the rest of the room.

The bedding turned out exactly how I had envisioned!  The fabric is a Premier Print collection, and I added some white fabric I already had to make the bedskirt and drapery panels.  I used a Butterick pattern for the bumpers and crib skirt and they were super easy to do!  I saved a ton of money by making my own bedding, and I was able to have just what I wanted.

The one project left to finish is a wall hanging above the crib.  Bradley made this for me out of pieces of wood, just put together and painted.  Eventually, it will have ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’, from Psalm 139:14 on it.  And, yes, that is a rocking hippo in the corner.

Taking a picture of a window treatment is terribly difficult, but you can see a glimpse of it in this photo.  I just added some of the zebra print fabric to plain white fabric and had some custom-made panels.  Orange ribbon is used as a tie.  I love the simplicity and classic look.

Putting this nursery together was so much fun!  And, if we have any more children, I’m definitely just going to reuse everything.

I don’t have a specific breakdown of the cost, but this is pretty close.

Fabric and Bumper Pads for Bedding:  $60
Lamp: $15 from Target
ASCP and wax for Dresser:  $65  {I covered another dresser as well, and have lots of wax leftover}
Orange Ribbon for Window: $2
Paint: $55

Total:  $197.

Not bad for an entire nursery makeover!

Linking to:

Not JUST a Housewife

Home Stories A2Z

Beneath My Heart Best DIY Projects of August 

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