Designing a nursery these days could be compared to wedding planning or what to wear to your matric dance.. Needless to say, the pressure is on to impress and to create a space that mirrors Pinterest. My heart, however, for our nursery was two fold. On the one hand, I wanted to prioritise DIY and in-turn keep this project as inexpensive as possible. On the other hand, one of my greatest prayers for our daughter is that she would be at peace, with who she is, with her God and that she would offer this gift to the world too. Hence, came my desire to create a space to breathe, a space where ‘peace’ was tangible.

So YES, I absolutely played on Pinterest but ultimately I wanted to design my own space, something that was uniquely ours – not matchy-matchy or themed. I wanted soft colours, white furniture and a place that breathed peace.

I started by painting our beige walls a light grey and the skirting boards white. I then sourced an old compactum found online which I spent a couple of days painting white and fixing up. I also (along with my mum’s help) sewed two little mint-polka-dot covers for the baskets at the bottom of the compactum – one for laundry and one for nappies.

My first real purchase for the room was our delightful teepee, which I bought from Totem Teepee in Durban. I then bought a few pieces of pastel-coloured material and cut them into strips to create a pom-pom type appeal at the top of the teepee. PS: Don’t you love our ellie who watches over this space for us 🙂

I didn’t want to rush into getting a cot and knew exactly what I wanted. I contacted a few second-hand shops with my wish list and was thrilled when a white sleigh cot became available at Baby Best. It was a real steal and brought such a beautiful comfort to this already growing space.

My mother-in-law and I then spent some time in December sewing a cot bumper in crisp white to finish off our cot, and she also made a gorgeous quilt for the inside and a coral blanket which I have hung over the side of the cot.

I fortunately have a white lounge suite in my home office, and thus moved one of the single chairs to our bub’s room as my feeding chair. A friend breastfed her baby on it while visiting one day though and mentioned that it may be a bit low for feeding. So out came my thinking cap & just yesterday I stuffed the inner of a continental pillow underneath the cushion & wala – I now have a gorgeous ‘high’ comfy feeding chair ready for many hours spent with our bub.

 

Other nursery additions:

Shelf: I bought a bare wooden shelf from a friend who sells nursery furniture & then painted it white

Coat Hangers: Made by my father-in-law

White rug: Bought from Rugs Original (the texture is just gorgeous)

Feeding cushion: Got a grey and white polka-dot cover made for a friend’s old feeding cushion

Pictures: Bought prints on ETSY (online). Painted & revamped some old frames & then got the prints done to fit the frames

 

I am absolutely thrilled with this soft, safe space to bring our baby home to {hopefully within a week or so}!!

Would love to hear your thoughts on our little smartie’s space.

x C