Neutral Nursery Reveal

Welcome to my very favorite room in the house: the nursery. We were fortunate to have Brooke from Paperlily Photography so beautifully capture every detail of the nursery when she came to our home for John Davis’s newborn photo session.

Come on in and take a look at this sweet, sweet nursery for an even sweeter baby boy.

I was determined to create the perfect space for our little guy to come home to after he was born. There were a few things I knew I wanted in a nursery. Neutral, timeless, classic, soft and serene were the words that came to mind. I wanted to incorporate meaningful family heirlooms that have been passed down from generation to generation. And I wanted it to be as “baby” as it could possibly be because we all know that babies don’t keep.

I spent so much time searching Pinterest and design websites for the perfect neutral nursery. I gathered different ideas from here and there and eventually my vision for the nursery began to take shape. In true DIY fashion, almost everything in this room was custom made or painted. Our entire family helped make my vision come to life and our labor of love eventually turned out even more beautiful and special than I could have ever dreamed of.

This room was beyond awful when we bought our first home together as newlyweds. It was a foreclosure fixer upper that needed a whole love of love. Here you can see what the room liked like when we first closed on the home.

Bright purple paint, yellow and purple accent borders, and sponge paint. You can only imagine what the rest of the house looked like when I tell you that this was one of the better rooms in the house. Yikes. But it certainly makes for an amazing transformation! I had forgotten how bad the room looked until I saw the before and after side by side. It also brought back nightmares of all the time we spent painting over some rather questionable choices of paint colors from the previous owners ; )

The first thing we did to the nursery was paint the room in the color Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore. If you’re on the hunt for the perfect warm “greige” paint color then look no further – this is it! Something about the room felt very plain and “builder-grade,” so we decided to add crown moulding to give the room a more custom finished feel. We were able to complete this DIY project for only the cost of materials since I have an extremely handy and talented brother who so graciously cut and installed all of the crown moulding for us.

The crib and the upholstered rocker were two of the only things purchased new for the entire nursery. The crib was purchased during a major sale and was still going to be a splurge compared to my normally frugal (read: cheap) spending habits. But new babies make grandparents do crazy things and one day this gorgeous crib showed up on my doorstep (thanks Mother and Daddy!). I love how you can’t tell if it was made yesterday or 100 years ago and I hope this piece becomes a family heirloom to pass down to many more babies and grandbabies in the future.

The nursery furniture was a DIY Annie Sloan Chalk Paint project and I can’t wait to share a full tutorial + before and after pictures here on the blog soon. Mother and Daddy were getting rid of this outdated bedroom furniture and I so graciously offered to take it off their hands. The final transformation is incredible and it doesn’t even resemble the original furniture. I absolutely love the way it turned out and it’s even more special since it’s from John Davis’s grandparents.

Hanging on the dresser is John Davis’s Feltman Brother’s coming home gown. Is there anything more classic than a baby in Feltman Brothers? It’s tradition for babies in our family to leave the hospital in Feltman Brothers, and Grandmother gifted me with this gorgeous Feltman Brothers gown at my baby shower. Mother still has mine and Brother’s Feltman Brothers coming home outfits and I eventually want to have them all framed and put on display.

The shelves are adorned with decorative odds and ends, mostly vintage heirlooms from various family members, as well as his classic library collection that we have been adding to since we first found out we were expecting.

I wanted some type of open shelving above the dresser, but I couldn’t find anything I loved or that was just the right size. I found inspiration from these Restoration Hardware shelves, but wanted something a little more “straight-lined” for this nursery. I sketched up an idea of what I envisioned and then Hubby and I custom built them, painted them and brought them to life!

This large monogram was an easy and inexpensive DIY project. I used a coupon to buy this canvas from Michaels and painted the entire surface with craft paint. I ordered a 22 inch round unfinished monogram online and once it arrived I gave it a light sanding, painted it in baby blue craft paint and sprayed it with a protective finish. I used craft glue to adhere it onto the canvas, and viola! The whole project took less than an hour to complete.

It’s no secret that I adore Peter Rabbit. It’s just so traditional and classic. I wanted to avoid a “theme” in the nursery but you can see that there are Beatrix Potter touches all throughout. Many of the Beatrix Potter items such as the books and collectable plates were from mine and my brothers nurseries.

This vintage silver frame and brush belonged to Daddy when he was a baby and his initials are even engraved on the brush. His baby picture still sits in the frame and I can’t bring myself to take it out. You may have also noticed the silver baby cup that sits on the open shelving above the dresser. It was Hubby’s and it too is engraved with his initials.

If you know my husband at all you know he is notorious for wearing bowties and this southern girl is certainly not complaining! I adore a man in a bowtie and to me it embodies a lot of what a Southern Gentleman ought to be. A true Southern Gentleman must have impeccable manners and so we picked up this adorable Gentleman Book at Brooks Brothers during a black Friday sale while I was still pregnant. Of course it is adorned with his very own first little bowtie and I can hardly wait until John Davis can wear it for the first time.

Perhaps one of my favorite things in the nursery is the vintage wooden rocking horse. My Granddaddy was a gifted craftsman and could build anything under the sun. He made every grandchild a rocking horse and this was mine and Brother’s from when we were little. We must have worn it out because it is missing the handle and still needs to be replaced.

Above the rocking horse are bookshelves made from inexpensive Ikea spice racks. They got a light sanding and a coat of spray paint and now house a collection of classic and timeless baby books that we hope John Davis will grow to love one day.

To create a focal gallery wall above the crib I used my leftover Annie Sloane chalk paint from the furniture transformation to update cheap Hobby Lobby frames that I bought on sale for $2.99 each. I lightly distressed the frames, added a chunky white mat, and used pictures from the pages of a large Beatrix Potter book I found at the thrift store for a few dollars.

The gallery wall perfectly fills the large space above the crib and makes a big impact on a small budget.

My extremely talented Mother custom-made the crib bedding as well as the curtains. I mean, how lucky am I?! I showed her my crib bedding inspiration and pleated drapery inspiration and she far more than exceeded my expectations with how gorgeous they turned out. The curtains are made of linen and are fully lined with blackout which will hopefully help baby boy nap soundly during the day.

The floor lamp is a lamp we found at the thrift store for less than $10 and spray painted a soft cream color. We covered a lampshade in baby blue quatrefoil fabric and added decorative pompom trim for a playful touch.

The door is adorned with the diaper wreath that was made for us at one of our baby showers. It is so cute that I have no plans to take it off the nursery door anytime soon.

The teddy bear in the rocker is Hubby’s teddy bear that he was quite attached to as a child and it’s obvious that it got a lot of love over the years. Lastly, the chandelier was a pendant lamp from Hobby Lobby that Hubby and Daddy converted into a chandelier.

I adore this room and often times find myself sitting in the rocker holding my precious baby while admiring all the pretty and unique touches that make it so special. It’s hard to believe how far it has come.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed this neutral nursery tour and it is my hope that you can walk away with some DIY, budget-friendly inspiration of your own.