Happy New Year 2017!

I don't know how time flies by so quickly sometimes.  How is it 2017 already?!?  Where did 2016 go?  How is it that Christmas is already here and gone?!?

And how is my baby 3 months already?!?

Little Harrison was born on September 23, 2016.



That's right, it has already been 3 months since I had this boy.  Life with a new baby has been amazing, crazy, tiring, challenging, everything I expected and more!  As you may have noticed, I have been very quiet around here, but I wanted to take some time out to really cherish every minute with him, because newborns grow way too fast!  I didn't want to miss a single thing.  It has been really nice to take a little step back from work, become re-inspired, and refresh the soul! 

Unfortunately, though, this 3 month "break" of baby snuggles all day in our jammies has ended.  January is "back to work" month and I am very excited for new clients, new projects, new opportunities for Jessica Stout Design, and looking forward to all that 2017 has to offer.  Stay tuned to see what Jessica Stout Design will be up to this year and what we are working on already this year.

Nursery Lighting

The nursery design for our little guy is quickly coming together.  There has been a lot of progress in the last month and it is so close to being complete before he arrives in September.  Notice any KEY design features missing in this picture though?

L I G H T I N G!!!!  

If you know anything about me or my design style, or have been following my blog, you know that lighting is a HUGE part of my designs.  So, I can't believe I have left the ceiling light for the last major design decision for the nursery.  

Our home was recently built a few months ago, and I purposely had them wire it for a ceiling light but not install one knowing I would be changing it out soon after we moved in.  Every time I walk into this room of our house, I flip the light switch on without even thinking and forget there is no light in the room!  Every time!!  So, needless to say, we need a light in here, quick! Here are my options I have put together. 

1  //  2  //  3  //  4  //  5  //  6  //  7

Things to think about when purchasing a ceiling light.  1.  Number of lights.  Some of these have multiple light bulbs in them, up to 8 and others only have a single light bulb, so there is going to be a huge difference in the amount of lighting they will produce.  I am definitely going to have a side table lamp in here as well, so a single light bulb would work just fine in the small space.  2.  Size.  The ceiling height of our second floor bedrooms are only 8' tall, so I can't install a light too large (unless we want to be hitting our heads on it)!  For a room this size, you wouldn't want anything taller (longer) than 12" hanging down from the ceiling.  3.  Design and Aesthetics.  This is a no brainer.  Look for a light that looks pretty in the room.  I always like to search out interesting lights that makes a statement versus something boring and basic that no one will even notice.  It doesn't mean it has to be more expensive, it may just take a little more searching.  4.  Price.  My goal for this light was to find something inexpensive while still aesthetically pleasing.   All of these lights are under $200 and some even under $100.  5.  Where to purchase.  I generally always buy my lighting online because there are SO many options to choose from.  Some of my favorite sources online for lighting are Wayfair and Shades of Light.  You won't believe which one of these is from Target!

I still haven't purchased a ceiling light or made a decision on which one I want, but I will need to soon as my due date is approaching.

In a nursery, I always think you should have multiple sources of light.  You should have an overhead light for your main lighting and accent lighting for ambient lighting - night time feedings and changings.  Ambient lighting can consist of just a table lamp next to the rocker.  Or even 2 additional light sources such as a table lamp on a side table and on the changing table, depending on what you will have room for.  I have decided to just have a table lamp on the side table next to the rocker, but of course, I needed options.  This time I went straight to Target and was able to find more than enough options for a lamp.

1  //  2  //  3  //  4  //  5  //  6

This was an easy choice for me.  I kind of had a clear winner as soon as I saw it in person.  I know I seem like a crazy person for purchasing this many lamps at one time, but I HAD to see them in person, in the room, to really make sure I was making the right decision.  Rememeber, lighting is important to me.  I ordered all of these online at Target.  Shipping was free and I knew I could return them to the store when I made my decision of which to keep.  Target makes it very easy to purchase multiple things for options and then return what you don't want.  

I loved #6 but it was a little too tall and big, and was the most expensive.  #3 was almost too "kiddish" with the silver stars on it for what else was happening in the room.  Initially, I always thought I would go with #4 but the base of it took up almost the entire table top.  :(  It's important to leave plenty of space for baby bottles, phone, books, etc.  #5 was much shorter and smaller in person than I thought.  #2 was just a really cool lamp in general.  I thought the concrete, geometric base looked so much like a moon's surface, but in the end, just wasn't right in the space.  

I decided to go with the Olsen Collection Two Headed Task Lamp by Threshold from Target for many reasons.  The base of the lamp was small, so it didn't take up a lot of space on the side table.  I LOVED the colors -- black to coordinate with the black wall on the other side of the room, and just enough of a touch of brass for a little added accent.  And having two lights with their own individual switch was a huge bonus!  That was really what sold me.  I can see this really coming in handy if I only want a little bit of light at night, or need more at times.  

Have you ever seen these light bulbs?!? 

 I came across the Sleepy Baby Nursery Light on Pinterest and was very intrigued.  At $30 a pop for ONE light bulb I might buy just one for the table lamp and see if it works.  Supposedly, if you turn this light on during the night for a feeding or diaper change or whatever, the baby's eyes won't register it and the baby still sees darkness, so they aren't woken.  It seems like a good thing but maybe they won't eat if they aren't awake!  I am still doing my research on this one before I spend the same amount on a single light bulb as I did on this lamp!  Let me know if you have used this light bulb in your baby's room!

7 more weeks to go!!!  

To the Moon and Back: Nursery Design Board

It's a race to the finish line now that we have decided to decorate our baby boy's nursery with moons and stars.  I may not get every last detail finished and hung on the wall before he arrives, but he will at least have a painted room and a crib to sleep in (or not to sleep in).  I started with this design board below, but as I started buying these items, I've been finding some items unavailable or changing my mind on some things.

Original Design Board for Baby Marhoefer

Original Inspiration Nursery

Now that I have started buying items for the nursery, the design board has changed a bit.  It still looks very similar and has the same style and feel, but the actual items I purchased are not these exact items pictured in the Origianl Design Board.  

New Design Board

Overall, the colors for the room are pretty simple and neutral -- white, black, gray, some brassy gold accents, and a lighter amber wood color and texture.  I wanted to keep the colors simple and masculine.  This space has room to grow in the future as well.  With everything so neutral now, I am hoping these are items we can keep and use for years to come!

Nursery Furniture and Decor Necessities:

ROCKER:  I would highly suggest splurging on this furniture item the most out of everything you buy for a nursery because you are going to use it every single day.  And hopefully can keep it for baby #2.  I decided to get an upholstered Rocker/Recliner from Buy Buy Baby for extra coziness and comfort for 3:00am snuggles.

CHANGING TABLE:  If you have the space in your baby's nursery, opt for a dresser instead of a changing table.  It can grow with your child throughout the years and add a lot of extra storage.  It is generally the perfect height and size for a changing pad as well. 

CRIB:  I was blown away by the fact that cribs can range in price from as low as $80 from IKEA to $2000 and beyond for designer specialty cribs.  Even the ones at Buy Buy Baby seemed over priced at $600 to $1000.  Me, out of all people was very concerned at the design and "look" of the crib but new I could find something much less expensive and more practical for our budget.  Shop around the internet.  I found a brand called Babyletto cribs that I loved but were very expensive.  I found a cheaper brand that was just as nice and also made by the same Babyletto people sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, so I scored a designer "looking" crib for less than $200.

LIGHTING:  Multiple light sources are ideal for day and night and middle of the night feedings.  I am still deciding on the exact light fixtures, but I will be doing a ceiling light for the main light source and a table lamp for extra night time lighting that will be softer, accent lighting. 

STORAGE:  LOTS of storage!  In the closet, we added some extra hanging storage and a 6 cube bin for miscellaneous items.  I love having some fabric bins hanging around the room for toys, books, or to use as a hamper.  IKEA floating shelves are some of the most practical storage solutions I have seen for children's books.  I love that they display them like art.

One of the biggest changes between the two design boards is the removal of the bookcases.  As much as I loved these open etagere style bookcases, the room just started to feel very cramped with too many pieces of large furniture.  It can always be a furniture piece that we add later down the road if we want.  I found the perfect dresser to use as the changing table!  It was perfect, to die for!  Only problem is, it was over $1000 from West Elm!!!!  So I had to fall in love with something else.  Luckily, I found an almost identical match from Wayfair.com.

This vintage inspired constellation art from Urban Outfitters was the first thing I bought for baby's room.  I was hoping it would be the perfect focal art behind the crib.  But once it arrived, it was much smaller than I thought.  (Should have double checked those dimensions a little closer!)  So, I decided to hang that on another wall and ordered this gorgeous "moon phases" artwork for behind the crib from Joss & Main.  

I'm hoping all of the fabrics in the room will come together nicely once I get the fitted crib sheets and changing pad cover as a starting point.  These will be store bought from Land of Nod, while I am still debating some custom options for things like a crib skirt and boppy cover.  I haven't settled on any of the fabrics quite yet, though.

That's how I have been pulling this nursery together -- one decor/furniture piece at a time.  I am starting to feel a little under the gun to get it completed with only 9 more weeks to go.  But honestly, a baby doesn't need anything of this in the first few weeks of life, so I think we will be okay! :) 

To the Moon and Back

Have I mentioned we chose which theme we want to go with for our baby boy's nursery?!?

My husband and I actually agreed on a theme for the baby's nursery!  I really don't know how I would have decided if we both would have chosen a different theme.  Let's face it, I do this for a living, so I am taking over the design of this room with very little help or input from him.  This is my domain!  But he still wants to be very involved and is very interested in what I am putting in this room, so I wanted to be sure I asked his opinion on this.  And after all, he is a guy.  I wanted the input of a male figure to make sure this room is really masculine and cool for our little guy.  I really wanted him to like the room as much as me or the baby.

I kind of already had my mind made up between the WOODLAND BEAR theme and the MOON & STARS theme.  So, I was almost very nervous to ask his opinion, afraid he wouldn't choose want I wanted! :)  Isn't that how us women always are about everything anyways when we ask our husbands' opinions?!?  So we both loved and decided on..........

TO THE MOON AND BACK

moons & stars nursery theme

I am SO excited to finally have a clear vision of what we both want in the nursery design and can finally start buying items and putting this room together!  Other than the moon and stars theme in the nursery, I really want his nursery to have a cool, masculine look with mid-century furniture and a whimsical bohemian feel.  This nusery below is one I found online while looking for inspiration and everything about it just exudes the feeling I am after for this nursery! 

While they chose to do a dark NAVY accent wall, I opted for a black accent wall, I LOVED everything about this space and really hope for a similar look in my baby's nursery.  Take away the crib and you would never even know this was a nursery.  That is how I love to design kid's spaces.  Some people may think it is too grown up or not fun enough, but I think the playroom is where you can get really fun and crazy with color.  (I haven't even thought about that room yet -- it is kind of still full of decor overflow!  I am just thrilled our new home has a designated playroom.)

You can find more on Levi's nursery featured above HERE and HERE.  

I'm trying not to buy too many items for Baby M until after my baby shower.  But I just couldn't resist with this adorableness!  Moccasins are a must have and a baby can never have too many moccs or too many hats in this case!  He is already gathering a collectin of adorable hats which will be great for fall and winter, but this black & white cross hat was too cute to pass up.  A pacifier clip is a must have as well, so I bought this handmade clip in black & white made of leather.

Sources:  moccasins  //  hat  //  pacifier clip
(all of these products were made by local Indy artists)

11 more weeks to go!  This photo was from our 4 year anniversary dinner on June 23rd.  I also had just passed my glucose test, so there was a little celebrating with lots of carbs and dessert!! :) 

Baby Boy Nursery Design Options

Now that we have announced and everyone knows that we are having a baby BOY, I have been frantically designing a boy nursery.  Before we found out the gender, I put together baby boy and baby girl nursery design boards just to get the creative juices flowing.  I say frantically because deciding how to design this space and what theme I wanted to go with has been SO HARD for me!!  I am so indecisive when it comes to designing my own home.  Initially I was all over the place just because I liked so many different ideas!  You can see from my Pinterest board of nursery designs for boys.  

After hours and hours on Pinterest and every kids rooms inspiration website I knew of, I finally narrowed it down to 2 themes.  There were a lot of reoccuring design features that I was liking no matter what the theme was.  I just couldn't get my mind off of having a black accent wall in the nursery and having a neutral black, white, and gray color palette with wood tones.  So that really helped me narrow down the theme and design direction I wanted to go in.

As soon as I saw this wildlife wallpaper from Chasing Papers, I knew a rustic wildlife theme would be a top contender!  Googly eyes for days!  I loved it!

@mothermeg instagram

How adorably amazing is this wallpaper?!?!?  It also comes in a 'Wild Things' print with safari animals.  I have also seen this print as a fabric. 

I also found these items during my search for nursery theme ideas and fell in love with a moon and constellation theme.  I think this is a very different look for a baby boy.  I have said it time and time again, that I am not a fan of "babyish" nursery decor.  I knew I could make this theme really fun and adventurous for a little boy and a space that he could grow into and hopefully a space that sparks his imaginination. 

from Target's Pillowfort Collection

Celestial Map from Urban Outfitters

These two themes, Wild and Free and To the Moon and Back as I like to call them, really sparked my interest the most.  I felt like they could be similar in many ways, with similar furniture just different accessories.  I decided I couldn't really decide until I saw both visually through design boards.  

The 'Wild and Free' nursery theme is much more rustic with a woodland animals theme, focusing on bears.  There are so many fun things you can do with this theme -- wood tones, warm color palette, arrows, animals, fur throws.  It has a lot of flexibility and doesn't have to be overly 'themey.'

The 'To the Moon and Back' theme would be all about astronomy with a focus on moon and stars.  This theme also has a lot of flexibilty in the decor and I would play up more of the textures and patterns in this space.  Keeping the color palette very basic, but mixing lots of patterns with wood tones thrown in for softness and masculinity.  

Both nursery ideas would have a black accent wall.  I love the boldness of this.  Both would have a modern white crib with a two-toned wood feature.  I love the dapper gentlemens look mid-century modern furniture lends to a nursery.  So a mid-century dresser as the changing table is a must.  I have been obsessed with using a dresser like this for a boy's nursery for a while now, so it was a must.  

I love so many elements of both of the nursery designs.  This is going to be a really hard decision.  Here are some real-lfe nurseries and design boards I found online to visually get a better idea of what I wanted for the space.  (Can you tell I have been overthinking this for way too long now?!?)

Lay Baby Lay nephew's nursery

black & white nursery from Little Gatherer

Lay Baby Lay Woodland Wonder

Kaiven's Space Nursery

Lay Baby Lay Rocket Baby

After much deliberation and my husband and I actually choosing the same theme, I have finally landed on a decision and a firm design plan for the nursery.  But you will have to wait until the next post to find out what it will be..........

Until then, here is a sneak peek of the black accent wall my mom and I painted (yes I used no VOC paint so I could help).  I am loving it!  I was SO afraid it would be too dark and make the room feel smaller but it definitely didn't.  It is just the look I was after.  We have no lighting in the room yet and minimal natural light, so this isn't a great picture.  

Paint:  Accent Wall - Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black 6258

Main Walls - Sherwin Williams Passive 7064

If you are looking for nursery design inspiration, these are my favorite websites, along with Pinterest of course!

Tiny Me Blog

Lay Baby Lay 

(she has the BEST nursery design boards)

Project Nursery

Little Peanut Magazine

(this is where my niece's nursery I designed was featured)

Boy or Girl Nursery Designs

Way before we found out what we were having, I started to think about designing a nursery for our first little peanut.  I was so excited to be pregnant and to be finally designing my very own nursery.  Since we didn't know if it was going to be a girl or a boy, I had to put some ideas together for both genders.  As a designer and a first time mommy, I wanted to put a lot of thought into this nursery and make it extra special.  I have designed a lot of baby girl nurseries but never a baby boy nursery.  So naturally, I started designing a baby girl nursery first because I had SO many ideas for a little girl.  A baby boy nursery was going to be much more of a challenge for me!  If you saw this post, you know that we found out we are having a BOY!

Initially, I really thought the baby was a girl.  I had every momma instinct that it was a girl.  The old wives tales of the string test, the chinese calendar, all pointed to a girl!  So, to find out I would be designing that boy nursery after all was a huge shock to me.  But now that I have some great ideas that I am really excited about for a baby boy nursery, I feel a little more at ease with it, besides the fact, that I know nothing about being a boy momma!  (I am so used to being around little girls and princesses and baby dolls!)  Now that it has sunk in a little though, I couldn't be more excited to have a boy.  We are over the moon excited to meet our little guy!

As I said before, the baby girl nursery design came very easy and naturally for me.  I have always loved a soft color palette with whites, creams, and soft pinks for a little girl.  I have been obsessed with this rug from Lulu & Georgia forever now, so I basically built the room around the color palette of the rug.  Flamingos are a huge trend right now, and their beautiful pink colors lend nicely to a little girls nursery.  And every little girl needs some gold accents and sparkle in her room.  

Side Table  //  Flamingo Watercolor  //  Chandelier  //  Pillow  //  

Fluffy Pillow  //  Pouf  //  Rocker  //  Rug  //

Crib  //  Dresser/Changing Table

Here are a few examples of baby girl nurseries I found on Pinterest that I loved.  You can see more Girl Nursery inspiration on my Pinterest board NURSERY - GIRL.  

from lulu & georgia

from Country Living Magazine

from Studio McGee

from HGTV's Fixer Upper

from Style Me Pretty

For the baby boy nursery, I still like the idea of keeping the color palette fairly neutral.  I have always liked a monochromatic nursery color palette for boys with woods tones, gray, black and white.  After all, a newborn can only see in black and white and shades of gray at first anyways.

One thing I knew I wanted for a boy nursery was a bold accent wall, whether it be wallpaper, a stencil, or even painting one wall black for a dramatic contrast to the room.  I love little boy rooms that have a very masculine bohemian feel to them with leather accents, wood tones, and dark colors, yet babyish with soft, furry rugs, and bright whites.

Side Table  //  Wall Pennants  //  Ceiling Light  //  Bear Art  //  

Leather Pouf  //  Rocker  //  Rug  //

Crib  //  Dresser/Changing Table 

Inspiration for boy nursery.

from Project Nursery

from Lonny Magazine

from Tiny Me

from Project Nursery Designs Trends 2016

from Tiny Me

Now that we know we are having a baby boy, I have come up with two very detailed designs that I am debating between.  Both very similar, but with 2 very different themes.  So, you will have to wait to see those.  Sometimes I am afraid to even ask my husband's opinion when it comes to the nursery because I usually already have my mind made up before I ask.  (Typical woman, right?)  But surprisingly, he actually cares a lot about how the nursery looks and has a lot of opinions about it.  Luckily, we are on the same page when it comes to designing Baby M's nursery.

If you are looking for more nursery inspiration, you have to read all about Project Nursery's design trends for 2016 here.  And you can see more baby boy nursery inspiration on my Pinterest board NURSERY - BOY or on the board NURSERY - GENDER NEUTRAL.

I have 4 months (hopefully) to put this nursery together, and I will probably need every minute of that time.  It is a lot of pressure to decorate your own nursery as an interior designer.  There are a lot of high hopes from people for this project as I design a lot of nurseries for clients.  I just want it to be the best for our little guy!