apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Maybe something dramatic would help balance the yellow of the walls?

Some ideas:

-Use a bold color (maybe repeat the black from the quote) in everything you put on the walls and throughout the room
-Paint a mural or large stripes in a more neutral color like white
-Hang a large mirror and large canvases (maybe some you make yourself)

Also, you could put some sort of frame (maybe wall sticker or painted wood) around the quote, and group the shelves together. Try finding toys in one or two colors for the shelves. Lots of garage sales this time of year, so you can probably find stuff cheaply.

Good luck!

Perhaps you could put a large "frame" around the quote to make it more of a focal point. This could be created by just painting a shape on the wall or by using an actual large empty frame that is hung. You could then paint boxes on the opposite wall that match in color and mount your shelves within them. THe two walls would be unified and have more of a polished look.

You could get some of the PB kids Dr Seuss pillow cases and stretch them on frames and put those up. Lightweight, colourful and in rectangular and square shapes.
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/srch/index.cfm?words=dr suess&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=search

The shelf wall looks like a perfect wall to add a flowing mural around the shelves or maybe other intermittent pictures. Maybe some of these from Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22623562

First of all, I love the quote and the bright colors! You could always stretch some fabric over homemade wooden frames to match the colors in the room. Here's a tutorial: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-make-fabric-panel-wall-art.html
It's hard to tell all the colors in the nursery, but you could always darken the wood on the shelves to a color similar to the letters in the quote (seems brown to me).
Anything you could add to the shelves to take up more vertical space might fill the wall as well. Maybe some children's books or art, family photos, etc. (given the shelves are not above the crib, which it doesn't look like from the photo).
You'll want some space to put baby photos, so maybe purchase and designate a space for frames now?
Good luck!

LAB, those are fantastic ideas!

I would say stick to the Dr seuss theme and the black colour and paint characters from the seuss book series

Or if you would like to break out of the theme but stick with the colour... you could even paint just regular everyday things from the baby's room.. e.g. draw a big bunny in black next to the shelf that has the stuffed toys on it..

Happy painting

p.s. That is indeed a beautiful quote, especially so for a nursery!

I think if you could get a hold of some older copies of Dr. Seuss books and frame them to match the shelves that would look nice. Or perhaps a quilt above the crib with Seussian characters or more quotes. I love the colors and the ideas you incorporated.

I would bolt a kid-friendly mirror to the wall, low enough to the floor so Edison can see himself, kids love that. You could make a chunky frame around the mirror and paint it a great colour, or stain it dark. Then maybe add a row of hooks next to it to hold hats or towels or things for dress-up.
You can also hang up a colourful quilt or world map, anything large in scale. Have fun!

I think a quilt hanging on the wall is always lovely in a nursery. If you don't have one, Etsy usually has great, affordable quilts and quilt tops. Here's one: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22793099&ref=sr_gallery_12&&ga_search_query=baby quilt&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

What about putting 3 cube shelves under the quote (Target has them), and then fill them with either smaller versions of the Dr. Suess books, or stuffed animals to match the colours you used.

Can I ask where Kate got the vinyl decal made? I'd like to get one made with white initials for our nursery above the crib (we can't paint). Thanks!

Thank you all for your great ideas! I'm excited to get something done with this project, as Edison is already five months old and I've been contemplating a change since he was born.

I love the idea of painting a frame of some sort around the quote. The bedding in his crib is a set I saw posted here in a nursery tour ("Baby M's Modern Nursery on a Budget"), so maybe I could incorporate a tree or branches of some sort around the quote...I'd have to think it through, but a wonderful idea nonetheless. And I am so pleased that I saved the scraps from the quilt I made becasue they'll work perfectly for Maevers's suggestion!

age, the decal was ordered from http://www.scribbleitonline.com/ There's also a shop by the same name at Etsy. The decal was very reasonably priced and completely custom--they were the ones who suggested the Seuss font to match up with the Seuss quote. I did the decal because I didn't have the patience to paint while pregnant and because, like you, I wanted it over the crib.

Thanks again, everyone!

I recently did up my kids book corner and asked at the local bookstore if they had any promotional book covers and posters and o my goodness I got a whole lot of goodies that they just didn't have space for... Lots of classic kids book covers - poster size and other goodies! Try it you might even get lucky and get some Dr. Seuss freebies!

I would recommend relocating the three small shelves and doing something big and bold on that wall. Something with storage options, though, because soon you are going to have toys coming out of your ears. :) Take a look at the decoration and storage in this room: http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/flickr-finds/flickr-finds-mamachilangas-shared-bedroom-029809