Big Girl Nursery Update
We finished Lillian’s big girl nursery, and we absolutely love how it turned out. It is sweet, yet simple. It is girly, yet sophisticated. And it blends perfectly well with the rest of our home. We only did a few simple updates including installing box trim detailing, wallpapering one featured wall, and paint, and it has completely transformed this prior guest bedroom into the sweetest big girl nursery.
A little backstory:
We moved from our 1860 farmhouse when Lillian was 4 months old, leaving her sweet nursery behind. We did not plan to find out her gender until birth, so we planned and created a beautiful gender neural nursery for that old farmhouse. We poured so much time and love into uncovering some of the original stone in that little room, and it added so much natural and original character to the space. Read more details of her original gender neutral nursery here.
Our fixer upper that we bought was stuck in the 70’s, so it was a lot of work simply to remove the popcorn ceiling, smooth the textured walls, paint, and install the new floors. Once we finished this, we were pretty burnt out, so we called it a day with simply moving in Lillian’s furniture. It looked very similar to her hillside nursery, but without the beautiful character of an old farmhouse.
Soon after her first birthday, to our surprise, we found out we were pregnant! I started to think through options in our smaller home, and we ultimately decided that the best decision for our family in our day to day was to move Lillian into what was our guest bedroom. This was honestly a very hard decision to make because we would most ideally have a space for friends/family who are visiting, but we needed that space to use for our growing family.
Our home was originally a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home when we moved in, but we converted one of the bedrooms into a playroom opened up to our main living space right when we moved in. We could have closed off that room again in order to still have a guest bedroom, but we chose to prioritize what was most beneficial for our family in our everyday.
Reminder: it is OK if you decide to do what is best for your family in your everyday, and not worry about possible (occasional) inconveniences
Big Girl Nursery
Paint
I was a bit more indecisive then I usually am in the design planning of the big girl nursery. I envisioned a sweet pink nursery, but did not want it too pink. I also struggled with the visual flow from the rest of our home since we have contrast trim. Lily and I trekked to Sherwin Williams, and I picked out all of the light pink swatches to consider, and narrowed it down to three favorite choices. After getting samples of the three paint choices, it was a unanimous decision: Breathless by Sherwin Williams (cute video here). Artistic Taupe is a very pretty tan forward blush and Insightful Rose is a bit of a darker rose color; breathless was the perfect lighter pink dusty blush that I was looking for, and it goes beautifully with the wallpaper we chose.
Wallpaper
I absolutely fell in love with a few wallpaper options from Sandberg Wallpaper, but after receiving the samples in the mail it was an easy decision. The Maskrosen wallpaper in the pink colorway was the perfect choice for a sweet nursery; sweet and dainty flowers for our bloom loving girl.
We have used Sandberg wallpaper many times in the past, and we love the quality and detailing of their papers.
Top Left: Emil, sandstone | Top Right: Emil, blush | Bottom: Maskrosen, pink
Box Trim
In general, I have a rather simple style, but I like spaces to have a little bit of dimension and depth still. I envisioned a low profile box trim to the painted walls to achieve this design style. After calculating out some pricing, trim can get expensive with a project like this. I was a bit nervous that the smallest (more affordable) trim option would be too small, but it ended up being perfect; the right amount of dimension without being over bearing. Thankfully this trim option was only $0.63/foot vs many other trim options that are $2+/foot. Read more about box trim installation recommendations here.
Details
We surprisingly did not purchase anything new for this big girl nursery refresh aside from a facebook marketplace find antique mirror that reminded me of the one my mom had when I was growing up. We had the antique glass cabinet in our guest room before, and despite brian’s hesitency with using in her room, I think it is working perfectly. One of my most asked questions about her room is her rug, and my sweet friend from Kristyn from Violet Vintage Rugs sourced this absolutely perfect vintage rug for us. A quality vintage rug can single handedly transform a space, and this rug has done just that. And the sweet little wood chair was left at our hillside farmhouse, and Lily absolute loves to sit in it and read books. I love the few antique touches in the space to bring it together.
I absolutely love this scallop flush mount light, it adds the perfect texture to the space with the rattan detailing. The scallop detailing I used throughout the room with these scallop edge curtains as well. We ordered another roman blackout shade for her room, we have ordered this shade in the past and absolutely love the quality and fair pricing. Roman shade order details: inside mount, color: bonaire flaxen, cordless, headrail standard, blackout attached liner: white, no edge binding. We questioned adding any window treatments to the beautiful arched window in this room, but I was hesitant to cover it up. Thankfully Lillian has done great sleeping for naps and at night without any shade coverings.
A frequently asked question is where I get our gold switch plates. I have to say, I absolutely fell in love with the original unlacquered brass switch plates at hillside, and I searched high and dry to find them to purchase. Unlacquered brass patina’s with touch in the best way, and adds the most beautiful character to a space instead of the traditional plate covers. Linked here.
A closet moment | we had some leftover wallpaper from the roll we purchased, and I convinced B that we needed to continue the wallpaper into part of her walk in closet. We actually decided to put a changing table dresser inside of her closet instead of having in her room since her closet space allowed for it. I found this pottery barn kids dresser/changing table on facebook marketplace for a steal: I always recommend trying to buy items like this second hand when possible! After putting up the wallpaper and moving in the dresser I decided to add some cute little stylings including her antique bow mirror and BAM, a closet moment. I get the most questions about this beautiful antique mirror, but it was the best Facebook Marketplace find that I had to drive rather far for (but worth it!). Her little “bloom” art print is from Brittany Smith Studio; she is one of my favorite artists. And her bunny lamp is one of my absolute favorite DIY’s; all details outlined on how to do it yourself here. I got her a soft little fur rug from HomeGoods, and she has named it her “night night” rug since it is so cozy and comfortable. This closet has become her favorite little spot, and I think it has become my favorite part of this big girl nursery update too.
We are absolutely smitten with how this sweet nursery turned out,
&our pink and bloom loving girl loves it too.
I hope you can find some inspiration from the simple details, and do not forget to always shop your home first to see how you can incorporate pieces that you already have first before buying more, you’d be surprised how a space can come together with repurposed items in your home/storage.
xo, Kelly
Shop her nursery details here:
