For so long in my life I dreamed of having a family. Once I met my amazing husband, Ryan, I knew my dreams would finally come true. When we found out that we were having a baby girl, we were SO overjoyed! Once we announced our exciting news to our friends and family, I could not wait to start designing her nursery.

The first thing I knew I wanted to have as a feature design element in the space was A beautiful, floral wallpaper. I started the design process by creating a mockup of a few concepts that included some wallpaper designs that caught my eye. Once I finally made a selection on the wallpaper, I knew it would look great to break up the large pattern with a shaker style wainscoting throughout the room. We also had a beautiful off-white crib in the family, so I started designing the room around these elements. Finally, I really wanted to have a bold, rich, non-traditional nursery color in the mix as well, so I decided to incorporate emerald green into the design with the glider chair and dresser. Once I fell in love with the design concept, it was time to get started.

Once the room was cleared out, we started with the wainscoting detail and skimming the walls in preparation for the wallpaper. Ryan and his father installed the wainscoting throughout the room and also replaced the window and door trim as well as the baseboards to give the room more architectural detail.

Dad, Grandpa and Peyton working on the Wainscoting

Next, we needed to install a light fixture. My father was able to run some wire and mount the beautiful beaded chandelier for us. We were so thrilled to have both of her Grandpas help out!

After the chandelier was hung, Ryan painted the wainscoting and I painted the doors so everything had a fresh and bright new coat of paint. I also decided to do something fun with her closet and gave it a pop of pink on the walls and used the wallpaper to cover the shelves.

Everything was going smooth until it came time to install the peel-and-stick wallpaper. I was very careful to follow every detail of the manufacturer’s directions for installation, but the walls were very dry after the primer coat and there was no way to get the wallpaper smooth and even with the panel next to it. I was devastated because I had planned the entire room around this feature, and I had already ruined several panels with my failed install attempts. I had the ‘genius’ idea that I was going to use the remaining panels as a stencil and try to hand paint the mural myself. I was able to get some of the larger flowers painted on nicely but when it came to the smaller details, it was apparent my skills as an artist were lacking. While it was looking pretty good, it was taking FOREVER and Mama was running out of time.

After some additional research I decided to give the remaining peel-and-stick wallpaper another try with some good old-fashioned Windex as a way to keep the wallpaper wet enough to adjust and line it up. Low and behold, it went RIGHT up using this method! Since I had already ruined some of the panels with my previous install, I only had enough left to put the mural on two walls so I opted to display the wallpaper on the crib wall and the leaning ladder wall since they were opposite of each other in the room. This ended up working out really well because it broke up the large scale of the pattern and allowed me to display some artwork on the remaining walls.

Once we finally had the wallpaper up and the other two walls painted a soft off-white color, it was FINALLY time to decorate! I used the wallpaper sample to find every element in her room and carried it with me everywhere while I was shopping. The most important element to select next was the fabric for the glider chair which was a special gift from Ryan’s parents. Once I found an emerald green velvet fabric that I loved, I used that color to select a paint for the dresser. I also selected the blackout shade fabric and ottoman using the wallpaper sample.

Next, I needed to find a sturdy, solid dresser to paint my emerald green color to match the chair. I found a beautiful piece from Goodwill for only $15! It was extremely heavy and large and wouldn’t fit in my car with the trunk closed, but there was nothing stopping me from bringing this beauty home! After some serious teamwork, we were finally able to get the dresser home for me to refinish. I hand-painted the dresser, used the remaining wallpaper to line the drawers, and selected some gorgeous new matte gold hardware as the finishing touch.

With only a few days to spare, I was able to finally pull the room together and finish the final details of this sweet nursery. I think one of the most important things about design is to go with the flow of the room and not be afraid to make design changes as needed. I could not be happier with the end result of the room for my baby girl and I know she will enjoy this space for years to come.

Every detail of this room is very special. I was able to include elements from my childhood room in her space like the carousel horse snow globe and teddy bear on her leaning ladder. I also incorporated some special pieces that have a story like the hand-painted Colorado landscape artwork created by a local artist. She also has a special art piece from her Aunt that has her name surrounded by animals native to Colorado. One of my favorite elements is the JuJu feather hat that came all the way from Cameroon, Africa. I am also very fond of the blanket embroidered with her name on it from my mother.

leaning ladder details like the Colorado Artwork & Snow Globe

I was so grateful to finally be DONE so I could enjoy the last few days before my baby girl arrived. I loved being able to capture a few moments in her room for her to look back on and it was so amazing to enjoy all of the hard work that went into creating this special room for our special girl.

Ayla Jade Parr arrived into the world on May 12th at 6:19pm with a whole lot of hair and spunk! She weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and measured 19.5” long. We are so in love with everything about her and are soaking in every moment we can with our precious girl. I wanted to take the time to document all of the hard work and dedication that went into creating this space for our baby girl so she can look back at this one day and see how much love went into preparing for her big arrival. We have already spent so many special moments in this space with Ayla and we look forward to many more.

Ayla Jade- we love you so much!