Before I became pregnant, I had a “For the Future Babies” board on Pinterest that was FILLED with nursery themes and decorating ideas.  So I thought I would have no problem finalizing my plans for my first child’s room….I’d just go peruse my plethora of pins (like that alliteration?) and then the room would design itself and I’d sit back and revel in its beauty along with my originality and natural interior decorating skills [/sarcasm].  Ha!  Yeah, well, that

didn’t happen…..ahhh, if only our Pinterest boards could be real!  Now that The Cub was on his way with a semi-official move-in date, I couldn’t just sit around and pin all day.  No, no.  This was real life which required real decisions and real action….but, I’m not good with real decisions (The Hubs frequently attests to this).  Just what was I going to do my baby boy’s nursery??

There were too many options!  I was at first all gung-ho about elephants, then I switched to monsters, then Super Mario Bros., then on to motorcycles….my indecisiveness was getting out of control, and I just needed to make a decision and stick with it….the months were ticking by after all.   Finally, since I couldn’t decide, I decided to not decide.  Yep, no theme here.  Instead of settling on a theme that I only liked somewhat, I decided to go themeless with a style of decor that I LOVE: neutrals with pops of bright color!

 

The Cub’s Baby Boy Nursery

So, in The Cub’s room, we have a base of neutral gray walls with accents of turquoise, lime green, and orange (and some white in there too) along with dark furniture.  The wall color we chose ended up being a little lighter than I would have liked, but The Hubs was afraid that if we went darker it would look like a cave or crypt (not what we were going for), so we erred on the side of caution.  And it turned out pretty well.

 

Wreath:

You know I love me some wreaths, so of course my child is going to have one on his door!  I (like usual) struggled with what I was going create….I didn’t want the generic baby-blue-new-bundle-of-joy-with-pacifiers-and-booties-and-safety-pins thing.  No, I wanted something cool and hip and fun….and also something that would have longevity and be able to hang on his door for quite a few years.  So, I ended up going with a yarn wreath that highlighted the color scheme of his room….and what little boy anything would be complete without a bow tie?  You can check out a tutorial for how I made this wreath here.

 

 

Sonogram Photos:

Being pregnant was the only time that I not only enjoyed but actually looked forward to going to the doctor’s, especially when I would have an ultrasound done because that meant…..more pictures of my little man!  Even though he looked like a blob or an alien that you kinda had to squint and turn your head sideways to see, I loved each and every black and white rectangle.  Couldn’t get enough of him.  So of course I was going to display some of those sonogram pics in his room.

I found some frames that were the perfect size one day while strolling through Target….it was almost serendipitous how I stumbled upon them.  I think they were $3.99 for a 3-pack, so I snatched up two of them.  These only came in pink and purple, so since I already had planned on painting the other frames for his room, I let my spray paint turn them into coordinating frames.  This section of his room makes me extra happy.

 

Maternity Silhouette:

This piece of artwork is also a favorite of mine.  I wanted to commemorate my pregnancy, and I had maternity photos taken, but I also wanted something a little more classic (but I was NOT about to have a mold taken of my big belly….I have nothing against belly casts, but what do you do with them afterwards??).

One morning while The Hubs was at work, I set up our camera on its tripod, turned on the timer, and snapped some profile pics of myself.  Next I opened up Photoshop Elements and converted it to a silhouette.

I found this lovely oval frame at a local store here called Dirt Cheap that sells stuff for, well, dirt cheap.  They sell salvaged items, and a good chunk of their inventory is from Target….so it’s like a 75%+ Off Target store!  Yay!  Almost all the frames in The Cub’s room along with the floating selves came from Dirt Cheap.  You have to dig around and be on the hunt, but sometimes you strike gold!

Anyway….. The frame was black when I bought it, so I just spray painted it blue since my silhouette was going to be black.  I then bought some silver glitter card stock from Michaels and cut out a mat, printed out my silhouette, and voila!  Instant cuteness.

 

This silhouette is hanging above The Cub’s dresser, which houses a cool little orange lamp that we bought from Ikea.  It gives a really neat warm orange glow when turned on at night.  There’s also a couple 4×6 frames on either side of the silhouette that I planned on putting photos of The Cub in after he was born….but they’re still hanging there with nothing but glittery silver center.  Oops….maybe I’ll get around to it before he moves out for college.

 

Autographed Onesie:

This was a Pinterest-inspired project.  I bought a pack of white Gerber onesies from Target and some iron-on black letters from Michaels for The Cub’s name.  Then we put out some Sharpies at my baby shower that were in the same color scheme of the nursery and had most of our guests leave their John Hancocks.  I scored an 11×14 Target frame at Dirt Cheap (I just love that place) and then hung this piece of personalized decor in the corner above the glider.

On the other wall above the glider, we hung up a couple of our favorite maternity photos.

 

Art Prints:

On the wall to the left of the crib, we hung up a few art prints that I made in Photoshop Elements with the font called Scribble Box..  This was another Pinterest-inspired project.  I just loved these little sayings….they made me chuckle.

 

Bedding:

After searching for hours and hours and not being able to find a bedding set that I loved, I decided to just have a set custom made, even though it would cost a little more.  All I wanted was a crib skirt and teething guard rails (I didn’t want a big poofy bumper set for safety reasons, and I had already found some sheets from Target that matched pretty well).

I found an Etsy seller that had cute fabric choices and great style, so gave her free reign to create something fabulous….I just told her the colors I wanted and I that I liked chevrons, stripes, polka dots, and modern patterns.  She had complete artistic freedom to combine the fabrics and ribbons….and I LOVE what she came up with!  Plus, she is honestly one of the nicest sellers I’ve ever dealt with on Etsy…..she even surprised me by sending the orange and white polka dot sheet for FREE since there was a long wait time for my order to be complete.  How sweet is that??

You can check her out at Butterbeans Boutique….I definitely recommend her!

 

Name Blocks:

Like most mommas, I knew I wanted to have my son’s name hung in some fashion in his room, but I didn’t want the generic wooden letters on the wall.  I found this seller on Etsy who creates custom soft baby name blocks, and once again, I gave control to her to combine the fabrics and colors into a masterpiece.  And I love them!  They’re a great addition to the room, plus he’ll be able to play with them….maybe, if I ever allow it when he’s past the “let’s put everything we get our hands on it our mouth” stage.

 

Tissue Poms:

I thought about making these myself, but I was getting a little OCD (and overwhelmed) by the decorating of The Cub’s room, and ain’t nobody got time for that!  So, I bought the colored tissue poms as a set here, and the white paper lanterns were part of a Martha Stewart set (of six I think?) from Michaels that I grabbed when they were on sale.

I love how these turned out, but shewww, were they a pain to install!  Not really for me since I was “supervising” The Hubs (I was seven months pregnant when Operation Nursery was underway, so there was no climbing of ladders for me…but let’s be honest, it’s not like I would have been the one doing the installation anyway even if I wasn’t pregnant…that’s what husbands are for!).

I was responsible for the fluffing of the poms, and The Hubs was assigned the task of hanging them (we used the super tiny clear Command hooks and some jewelry wire).  The Hubs got real tired of my “No, a little to the right.  No, the RIGHT!  Not that far!  Now back just a little….that wasn’t a little!”  This project tested our marriage, so I do believe this may be our last couples’ tissue pom undertaking…..at least until we have another baby to decorate for.

 

Gallery Wall:

I decided to do a mini gallery wall above The Cub’s changing table….nothing too fancy though.  I bought a bunch of “R” letters from Michaels and spray painted them along with some frames and a couple mini mirrors.  The artwork I created in Photoshop Elements: one says “When I grow up I’m going to have a beard like Daddy”;  another reads “All this AWESOME in such a LITTLE BOY.”  The other two are of mine and The Hubs’ home states (Kentucky and Maine), each with a little heart over our hometowns.  That’s a part of us, so it’s a part of The Cub too.  I made a similar cute vinyl decal of my beloved Bluegrass state that you can read about here.

The silver robot bank I picked up on sale at Target, and the Precious Moments figurine was a gift from my grandmother.  Then of course we have to represent Big Blue Nation with a University of Kentucky stuffed bear. This was my first attempt at a gallery wall, and like I mentioned, I wasn’t going for anything fancy (plus I didn’t want to spend a bunch of time or money stressing about it….I had bigger fish to fry…or I guess buns to bake), so this isn’t so bad.

 

I know his room isn’t anything spectacular, but growing up I never had a “put together” room with matching decor or anything, so this is a good start for my little man.  I want his room to be bright and happy and fun….and place to learn and laugh….and I think we’ve accomplished that here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!