Our daughter's nursery is filled with special touches. Once the ideas started flowing, they never stopped! Most of these projects are super simple and easy for anyone to add to their own made with love nursery.
1. Hidden Animals
I was going for a storybook woodland feel and nothing makes that come to life more than hidden little creatures. There's a total of 10 different little animal friends, hanging out in the nursery...
a bear on a swing
ms. hedgehog in front of her tiny door
butterflies on the ceiling light
a bird & ladybugs on the mirror
animal cabinet pulls & towel hooks
mr. rabbit reading in the flower box
bumble bees on the DIY mobile
2. A Baseboard Mouse Door
Home to little ms. hedgehog, this tiny detail adds big charm. Here's how to re-create this project...
cut the door out of 1/4" plywood, or use cardboard & scissors!
paint, or stain the door and don't forget to add a window and door knob!
trace the door on the baseboard, and paint it black to look like a shadow
use hot glue to attach a hinge to the door and to your baseboard (I used a real hinge, but folded cardboard would also work!)
finally, add a cute little creature to go with your nursery theme, or leave it empty and let your child's imagination decide who lives through the tiny door...
3. DIY Side Table
Continuity is something I like to create in every space. In the nursery it is a scalloped patten that you see repeated through the next 3 DIY projects- the side table, the crib skit and the window box.
For each project, I traced a Sour Cream container to get a consistent scalloped shape, and cut it out with my jig saw.
For the side table, I traced and cut the table top out of 1" hobby board. I used a "candle holder" as the base and attached the 2 pieces with adhesive and one screw.
Once it was stained and in place, I used an L clip to secure the table to wall for safety. Finally, some craft rope and scrap wood created the cutest little swing.
4. Customizing the Crib
Adding a custom crib skirting made this very standard crib feel like it was made specially for baby girl's nursery! I used 1/4" plywood, cut the same "sour cream container scallop" pattern and attached it to the base of the crib with No More Nails adhesive.
I also swapped the factory legs for wood feet that were sturdy enough to accommodate a caster style wheel. Being able to roll the crib to another room has been super practical as baby girl learns to sleep in her crib.
These simple customizations made a very standard crib feel uniquely perfect for the space.
5. The Window Box
My favourite project in the room.
Using 1" hobby board style material, I built a very simple box (no miters here, although that would elevate it!). The front piece showcases the same sour cream scallop pattern. I constructed the box with wood glue, brad nails and then Kreg pocket screws.
Once it was screwed into the wall, I rounded the edges with 220 grit sand paper and painted it to match the rest of the space.
As a finishing touch I hot glued an assortment of dried flowers to the inside of the box. Although the idea is that as she grows, our girl could be use her window box to store books, stuffed animals, or whatever!
6. Dyed Curtains
I found these Pottery Barn curtains on Facebook Marketplace for $150 (they retail for over $500). They are top quality linen and totally blackout, the only problem was, they were pink... so I decided to take a stab at dyeing them with Rit dye, and I'm so glad that I did!
They are now a rich taupe-brown colour, which works perfectly with the woodland theme, and still the same top quality Pottery Barn curtains that I fell in love with (at a fraction of the cost!). Check out the before and after below..
7. The Closet
I elevated this very tiny closet with 2 projects...
First, I changed the standard bi-fold door to be 2 mini double doors. This is something I think everyone with a tiny closet should do. It makes the closet much easier to access and it allows you to add behind the door storage (I used this one from amazon, and simply cut it in half). I'll explain this project in a separate post, but trust and believe, it's easy!
Next, custom storage. Moving the clothes rod down allowed me to add an extra storage shelf. This has been amazing because apparently even the tiniest humans still need a lot of stuff! Added bonus, as she gets older the lower rod will mean she's able to reach her clothes.
8. The Mobile
Although simple, this one took a lot of time. I love that I made it specially for my girl, while I waited for her to enter the world! But also, creating it from scratch meant I could pick colours and elements that perfectly compliment the space.
To briefly explain the process, I cut each shape out of felt, stuffed them with cotton balls and sewed them together by. No sewing machine required, although I'm sure it would help...
9. Wall Art by Mom
I am no pro, and I'm sure I could print something more professional from Etsy, but I hope my daughter will like the fact that the silly little animal paintings were done by mom, with love!
10. Handprint Stamp
As soon as she arrived, she had to add her stamp of approval, a very tiny, perfect little handprint.
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