Before/After: Jungle Nursery/Guest Room

gender neutral nursery

So excited to share with you one of my fave interior projects yet! I had the honor of designing a nursery for a wonderful client of mine, and I’m so happy with how it turned out. Nurseries have got to be one of the greatest rooms to decorate. Not only do you get to be playful and fun with your design choices, but there’s the knowledge that a little baby will be experiencing life and growing in the room you’re creating for them. Such a wonderful feeling! So when my client Nicole Silveira reached out to me with her ideas and hopes for the room, I obvi jumped at the opportunity. Even more exciting to me was the fact that this room wouldn’t be just a nursery, but a guest room as well. I’m very familiar with making rooms work double duty when you live in a small space - just take a look at my own guest bedroom/home office and you’ll see what I mean! So I immediately got to work on creating the most functional, darling joint nursery/guest room I could.

before

before

AFTER

AFTER

When Nicole sent me inspo photos of nurseries she loved, it was clear to me her design sense was very similar to mine. A love of bright whites and neutrals, with a few fun pops of color in the decor and of course, plants! She wanted the room to feel gender neutral, which I love. She’s having a little girl and we steered clear of the obvious pink, instead opting for shades of green and orange (my fave combo!) as our color pops. My goal was to brighten up the room as much as possible, and to make use of the small space the best we could. Nicole’s floors are very dark, pretty much black - they look amazing, but paired with the dark grey curtains that were originally in this room, and the big bulky black bed frame, the overall vibe was a bit dark and dreary. This woven rug does a lot to brighten and cheer up the floors! As did swapping out the curtains for a white linen set with blackout lining for when the baby is sleeping.

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before

nursery after

after

The first item I started searching for was the crib. I knew it was the most important piece, and would dictate the rest of the furniture choices in the room. When I found this crib, I instantly knew it was the one. Gorge natural wood paired with white poles, I love how unique and different it looks from other cribs with the taller back and shorter front. So pleasing to the eye! It’s a 4-in-1 convertible crib and can turn into a toddler bed eventually - amaze!

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Before

Before

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I set out to create a jungle vibe for the room, and I definitely wanted to incorporate a cute baby animal print into the space. I loved the idea of pairing two prints together above the crib, and when I found this lil bb lion watercolor I knew it was a must-have. Took me a while to find the perf print to pair with it, but this watercolor palm frond was a match made in heaven. Looks like they were made to go together, doesn’t it?

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Obvi the tassel pillow and monkey won’t stay in the crib once baby arrives, but don’t they look so cute styled with the elephant bedding and monstera mobile? Gah it’s just all so darling!

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Nicole wanted a stool for the room and I was so excited when I found this soft fuzzy gem. It feels like heaven!

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When decorating a small space, it’s best to work vertical when possible. Since I knew we wouldn’t have much floor space to place plants, we hung them from the ceiling and curtain rods instead. To create even more of a jungle vibe, we hung this green leafy faux garland along the curtain rod. The big, dark, bulky bed frame + headboard got swapped out for a much smaller natural wood frame that instantly made the room feel larger. Even though the mattress is still the same queen size, the frame really made a big difference in terms of space. The bed was also moved under the window instead of against the opposite wall, which opened the room up more and made for better feng shui. Since Nicole and her husband are planning on having the baby sleep in a bassinet in their bedroom for the first 6 months before transitioning to the crib, we wanted this room to still be functional and lovely for any guests who might come to stay. The nursery will of course still be used a ton before the baby sleeps here full time, as this is where all her clothes, books, toys, and changing table live.

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How darling is this giant giraffe! I knew I wanted to take advantage of the wall to display books so as not to take up precious floor space, and these simple white wood shelves did the job. When Nicole and I were in the room together styling the space, we made sure to measure and have them hung jusssst right so that the giraffe doesn’t cover them up.

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I swapped out the colorful quilt and sheets on the bed for a white set to help brighten up the room. The decorative pillows I chose kept with our jungle theme, and added some fun color and texture. Love these leafy green pillows, and isn’t that tassel tiger the coolest? I incorporated as many Jungalow pieces as I could - I just love Justina Blakeney’s designs!

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Nicole already owned this elephant lamp and it fit in perfectly with our theme, so we kept it in here and just swapped out the bedside table - a simple and sweet round table in natural wood.

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I’ve been drooling over this Justina Blakeney chandelier since she first released it, but unfortunately the ceilings in my own house are too low to be able to make it work. That’s the beauty of being a designer though! You get to live vicariously through your clients hehe. Was so happy to hear Nicole loved the light as much as I did, and was totally down for swapping out her previous ceiling light for this one.

BEFORE

BEFORE

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I wanted a corner where Nicole could sit and feed the baby or read her books, but being so low on space in the room I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make a chair fit. I lucked out with this darling little chair which was surprisingly hard to find?! Most small, comfy, chic, natural wood legged chairs I saw were for some reason either insanely expensive or very cheap looking. This one however, is perfect. A soft sheepskin rug for her feet, a tassel basket to hold blankets, and the sweetest handmade elephant head hanging on the wall completed the corner.

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Another Jungalow pillow and a cozy throw. So sweet!

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A small dresser/changing table combo in white with natural wood knobs, and a beautiful eucalyptus wall hanging were the final touches. And this woven elephant hamper! Can’t handle the cuteness!

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I had so much fun with this design, and am so happy Nicole is happy. Can’t wait to see pics of her sweet lil baby enjoying the room in the future :)

xo, sara


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