Because the Elephant Needed a Friend

8.04.2015

Hello! Welcome to Baby Bum's nursery! I actually wasn't sure a nursery was going to happen at all because every time I thought about decorating the nursery I had a near meltdown.

TOO STRESSFUL.

Seriously, what do I not find stressful these days?

Let me list them for you:
1.

See how I make jokes?

^^^That white cabinet is from Target. We've had it for years, and I just painted it white. It was black before. We're thinking when she's older we can turn it horizontal and put books and toys inside so she can play!

We never had a theme for the nursery, and I never made a Pinterest inspiration board, and I never thought more than 2.5 seconds about the pattern of a crib sheet. Amen. 

The only thing I did was pick out colors and items I liked, and slowly it came together! Note: the only reason anything is hung or looks good at all is because I had help from my family. Have I mentioned I love those guys?

The first thing I did was paint the walls mint green (mint condition from Sherwin Williams). The color is perfect! I love it. It's gender neutral and also room neutral, for that matter. It doesn't have to be a kid's room later on down the road once she's older (or once we have more kids!). 

After painting the walls, I bought mostly white and gray stuff and added touches of pink here and there. It wasn't intentional, but I just kept registering for white/gray and decided I would just go with it. 

The elephant/giraffe theme was entirely accidental. We just kept getting elephant stuff! Like, people would get her an elephant toy or a stuffed animal or a blanket with elephants on it. We didn't register for elephants, but it just happened that way, and so we were like, "Let's do elephants." We added a giraffe because the elephant needed a friend.
^^^I'm slightly obsessed with the prints from this Etsy shop. They are exactly what I never knew I wanted. I saw them and HAD TO HAVE THEM. You could say it was love at first sight. The frames were purchased using a 40% off coupon from Hob Lob.
^^^ We have so many books! I love it. Baby Bum is going to be a reader just like her mom and dad. At a few of my baby showers, people brought books instead of cards, so I am stocked full. Surprisingly, out of all the books we only had 2 repeats.
The crib and dresser are hand-me-downs from his parents (crib) and my parents (dresser), which is awesome because expensive much? I don't have time for that.
^^^The elephant and giraffe statues are from Hobby Lobby. The mom/baby figure I already had. I ended up going with this maternity picture; thanks for your help with that one! My favorite suggestion was to choose a picture to frame where either neither of us or both of us are looking at the camera. I thought that was smart.


So that's basically it! Considering I had no theme and no "inspiration," I think I did pretty well picking things out. I'm so glad I had help hanging everything and painting and putting the crib together or this might have never gotten done. And just in time too!
shelleystirs said...

I love the softness of her room! It is so pretty and soothing. Nice job!

Anonymous said...

It looks really nice. I love the idea of a gender neutral nursery - even though I'm not certain I could pull that one off. I think it'll be either a full blown pink/sequin fest (poor child) or this gray/white/navy thing if it's a boy. And I'll probably rock an entire pinterest dedicated to it too. haha

It looks beyond cute. The etsy images are absolutely adorable! And I love that you incorporated pieces you were given/already had to make it happen. :) Now we only need a baby to fill the nursery! :)

Breenah A said...

I love it. We couldn't paint Quinn's nursery (apartment) but she had a loose green/brown/pink jungle theme going on. I love doing neutrals with a little pop of color, like you've done with the white/grey/pink. Her room now (still not painted, not our house) has a slight pink/green/blue/princess theme going on because she has OPINIONS now.

Rach said...

It's beautiful! So well put together! I can't believe you didn't have a theme/color scheme in mind going in to all of this. If I did that, it would be a mess. A true mess. Haha! Now the room is ready, baby girl needs to arrive! :)

Robyn B said...

what a cute nursery! those argyle elephant/giraffe statues are TOO CUTE! seriously, i don't have a kid but i just might have to buy them for my room haha :)

Jessica Elyse @ Memoirs of a Mommy said...

CUTE!!!!

Cassie Lee @ Sage the Blog said...

This is so darling!!! I love the little subtle touches of pink!

Katie @ Live Half Full said...

Love it! The elephant and giraffe are my favorite part. So cute! We haven't done anything in our "nursery" besides painting since we may be moving… but now I've convinced my husband to just put it together for staging purposes for if we sell, or if we are still in our condo when the baby arrives. So. Much. Anxiety. for a planner!

Emily said...

It's wonderful! How in the world did you ever manage without Pinterest?! (sarcasm).

10 points for If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. We used to read that book over and over (and over) with my sister.

Sara Oss said...

I thought the post title was a baby book I'd never heard of! BB has a great room to come home to; love that she already has so many books.

Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch said...

I love it, friend! It's super duper cute. AND yes! Decorating is extremely stressful. Can you send your family my way when I get a home? ;)

Kayla MKOY said...

I LOVE those prints. Oh my word, isn't Etsy just the best?! I find things on there every darn day that I never knew I even wanted/needed. Elephants are too cute, great choice with the colors too!!! Sherwin Williams rocks. Caleb and I went in there store a couple months ago and I wanted a tiny tub of all the prettiest colors, for no reason other than how PRETTY they all were!!! :) love this nursery!

Brittany said...

That mint color is perfect! I love it and it looks so good with white and gray. That print of the elephant with the balloon is so cute that I want to buy it for myself. Love that everything accidentally came together so wonderfully. Life has a way of doing that, don't you think?

Rebecca Jo said...

Oh my goodness... precious. All of it.
I so LOVE that elephant print!

Ali said...

Love! Everything came together really nicely. Those prints are too cute!

Have you heard of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library? It's a free book service for ages birth-5. Basically, they get a free book every month for free! I think it's mostly in rural areas, but it's worth checking out. Emily loves getting her book every month, and she has a very full library now!

Ali said...

Apparently I love the word "free".

Jenn @ Optimization Actually said...

Super cute! I think Pinterest is overrated. I've used Pinterest to plan a couple events now and I'm fairly certain that they would have turned exactly the same had I used Google image search for inspiration instead and not carefully pinned all relevant ideas to a board. The elephant print is adorable, but why does he look so sad? I just want to give him a hug.

Amy @ A Desert Girl said...

Looks fantastic! I like that you didn't have a theme and you just let the things you like come together to form the room. I feel like that makes it easier for the room to grow with the baby.

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

I love it! And the measuring stick (is that what it's called??) on the wall is SO adorable.

Amy said...

her nursery is absolutely beautiful! <3 <3
i love the elephant and giraffe pictures!

Michelle said...

So precious. I love and adore that mint green. If I could've painted G's walls, that color was on my list. And the pink goes perfectly with it. It makes me so happy to see someone who didn't turn into a nursery nazi. I bought the cheapest crib sheet I could find off amazon and called it a day. And I love that you gravitated toward gender neutral things, because I did the same.

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

this is like my favourite nursery ever. i really am not a fan of overly cutesy / baby-ish nurseries. i know some people love it, but's not my jam.
I hope someone hands me down a dresser. Sigh. those things are expensive!
They are exactly what I never knew I wanted - exactly how i feel about those prints.

Sarah said...

Love the non intentional scheme going on here...it is perfect! Those prints are oh so adorable as well!

Tara said...

LOVE how it turned out! Those prints are some of the most adorable I've seen. And if you have a boy next, you don't have to repaint your walls :) Can't wait to see pictures of your little munchkin!

Andrea H. said...

Adorable! The prints are so sweet! I love how you incorporated Oklahoma and Illinois into the height ruler (or whatever the technical term!). Everything came together really well!!

Tracy said...

Super cute! Honestly I think people kind of go overboard with nursery themes (when did that become a thing?). This is just perfect without being too *perfect*.

Allie @ Everyday Adventures said...

I LOVE that elephant print! Your nursery is so cute.

The Lady Okie said...

I've been calling it a growth stick :) my friend made it!

Unknown said...

Even when under stress, your jokes will always make me laugh. :)
That elephant pring is the CUTEST and the nursery looks great!
I love children and baby books. I could spend hours browsing the children section in bookshops. If we ever have children, I will probably get crazy book-wise.

Kate said...

LOVE IT!

Also, (obviously) my favorite animal is a giraffe, so like... even if you don't name her Kate (you totally should), it's still like there's a tiny piece of me in there. ;)

Sarah @ Sometimes Photojenik said...

Oh my gosh I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! And the fact that you did it without intentionally setting a theme or spending hours on Pinterest is even more impressive. I love the hanging measuring tape and that little shelf with the picture. So very excited for you guys to meet your precious baby girl!

Kristin said...

I love it! It just goes together so perfectly and comfortably without being styled! Great job!

Courtney said...

I seriously adore that "I love that you're my daughter" sign!!

Anonymous said...

Such a cute room--I love the color of the walls! Is that a red stripe I see on your curtains? If so, can I ask you where you found them? Red in subtle doses is hard to come by. :)

The Lady Okie said...

Sorry to tell you, it's a pink stripe actually. Although red would be fun. I love red :) I got them at Target... maybe you could check and see if they have that curtain with different colors!

Leslie Lukens Martin said...

I love her room...especially how you just pieced it all together. Our little guy's room kind of unintentionally ended up having a giraffe theme too....simply based on gifts we received, and the fact that they matched the colors that we'd chosen. Funny how things work out!

Sar said...

Don't know if I missed this or what--where did you get that adorably simple bookshelf that is just one shelf on the wall? I love it.

・ DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS