Lions, Tigers, & Bears, Oh My! {Axton's Nursery Design}

One of my closest friends asked me to design the nursery for her baby boy.  We have been friends since we were kids and now she is having baby #2!  I was so honored to be asked.  I love doing projects for friends because they trust that I will make the room beautiful and they won't have to worry about anything.  It all started with a jungle animal theme for this little guy!  His momma already had some great hand-me-downs to get me started with the animal theme and the navy and green color palette was born from there.  Babies are expensive!  So we were on a very tight budget for this project.  Which just meant being a little more creative.  Most of the artwork I made myself on Power Point.  Yes, Power Point!  I'm old school and haven't invested in those fancy designer softwares, yet.  One of my favorite parts of the room is the little reading area.  Where the books are low enough for him to reach in a couple of years.  

Even though babies need a lot of stuff, which I never understood because they are so little, yet still need so many things, it didn't really take a lot to make this room warm and inviting for when this little guy decided to arrive.  It was just the basics here.  (a rocker was moved in from big sis's room shortly after this)  The curtains are from Target.  Actually, the same curtains are in my master bedroom, but in navy here.

A close up view of more hand made artwork for over the crib.

When my friends built their home last year, we decided to paint the entire second floor this great neutral color from Sherwin Williams called Whole Wheat.  This was the guest room at the time, so it was fine.  When we changed it to a nursery, they didn't want to make a lot of changes since it was freshly painted, so in came the stripes.  The creamy stripe color, also by Sherwin Williams in Antique White, went right over the darker color to add the horizontal stripe effect. 

Welcome home baby Axton!

My biggest tip or rule of thumb for a nursery: design a room that will grow with the child. Everything in this room is appropriate for a toddler and ages on up from the wall colors to the furniture.  Kids grow up so fast!  You don't want to be completely changing everything in the room every 3 years.  Just small things that are easy to change like accessories or artwork here and there.  So keep the larger pieces adult-like!