Name: Norah
Age: 4 months
Location: Utah
Norah's mom Caroline says she smiles every time she walks by this room and we can certainly see why. The aquas, yellows, reds, oranges and pinks manage to be both vivid and soothing at the same time to create a feeling of warmth and calm.
Caroline's DIY moxie, even eight months pregnant, is evident as she not only found pieces to fit her color scheme but used pieces she liked and transformed them with paint including Norah's enviable yellow crib (a true labor of love - read more about it below). Norah's nursery was inspired by one Caroline saw here on Ohdeedoh and we're willing to bet the room she created for her daughter will inspire one of you!
Inspiration: I was very inspired when I came across Little P's nursery on Ohdeedoh last spring. I immediately fell in love with all of the bright, cheery colors and knew that I wanted to do a similar color palette. I found some really cute pillows from Pier 1 that had a lot of colors I wanted to incorporate in the nursery, and it all just went from there. I was also very inspired by the cute embroidery hoop fabric swatches originally done by The Purl Bee, and I knew I wanted them in the nursery as well.
Favorite Element: I just love the bright and cheery colors of the room! Each time I walk by it puts a smile on my face! My favorite element has to be the yellow crib! It really brings something unique and is the main centerpiece of the nursery.
Biggest Challenge: The biggest challenge I faced during the making of the nursery was trying to do all of it myself. My problem is that every time I would see something that would go great in the room I'd get it and think, "Oh, I'll just paint that and it will be perfect." Well, the idea sounded lovely, but doing it all at 8 months pregnant isn't the most enjoyable thing and I would wonder why in the world I was doing it.
Another challenge I faced was trying to re-use our white glider that had blue cushions on it from our son's nursery. I was able to find some great cushions from Pier 1 that matched my pillows and I put one on the seat pad then flipped the other one over to cover the back of the seat and put a pillow in front, and viola, i had a new /old glider!
Proudest DIY: My proudest DIY would have to be the yellow Jenny Lind style crib! My friend picked it up for me for $5 at a yard sale and it was in really, really bad shape as far as paint. (It appeared to at one time be white and red) I had a pretty little white crib from my son, but I wasn't ready to give up his nap time, so I really wanted another crib. Since I got the crib for so cheap, I figured I'd just paint it, no problem. Well, after 13 plus cans of yellow spray paint, almost as much primer, a nice safe top coat applied by hand twice, and 13 plus hours of my time, the crib was complete! I hated every minute of doing it, (and almost gave up many times) but I am glad I stuck with it. I'm in love with the end result!
My husband and I also re-painted an old dresser from his childhood white and I spray-painted a cute little chandelier from Ikea pink.
Biggest Indulgence: All in all, I didn't splurge too much on the nursery since I was able to reuse a lot of items by re-painting them, etc. I bought a few prints like the Flock Print by Wayne Pate and the cute vintage alphabet print from Lovely Sweet William.
Best advice: My best advice, and what works for me, is to browse blogs or magazines to find inspiration of colors and set-ups that you like. Then find a color palette you want to use. For me, I was so happy to find pillows that incorporated all of the colors I wanted to use in the room. So, when I went shopping I'd just bring along the pillows like they were my color swatches.
The wall color you chose is lovely - can you tell us the name? Thank you! I love the wall color, too. I am really drawn to blues and grays, so this great blueish green color was perfect and went so well with pinks, yellows, and reds. The wall color is a Benjamin Moore paint called Robin's Nest (Color #618)
Was your process for putting together a little girl's room the same or different than your son's? As far as the colors went, it was much different putting together a girl's room this time around. (I was not quite ready for pink.) But, the process I used to put together their nurseries was very similar. Find a color palette and pieces for the room and work from there.
Your photography is beautiful - can you share one tip for photographing babies or their rooms? Thank you! My photography is still very much a work in progress. Especially for photographing rooms. But, my one best tip for photographing babies or their rooms is to try many different angles. For babies try getting down to their level and shooting every angle possible. Same goes for rooms. Getting really low, or standing on a stool can help you to get a great shot of the room and it helps you to view it in a way you have never seen before.
Thank you, Caroline! You can visit Caroline on her blog or online store (or Etsy shop) where she sells beautiful handcrafted jewelry.
(Photo credits: Caroline Drake)
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I love this nursery. The colors, the prints, the fabrics, everything. Thank you, thank you. If I have another girl, I know my color scheme.
view flickchick's profile
The yellow crib looks BEAUTIFUL.
view crockedteeth's profile
Love the crib, love the colours!
view mschatelaine's profile
I am usually not a fan, but this room has a valance done right. Beautiful colors, fresh and fun.
view slobound's profile
I love that Pier 1 fabric - I have two place mats and a table runner with it. I'm always looking for more! Reversible, too ;o)
Super darling nursery! Love it :o)
view stlellen's profile
This room is sooo adorable. I was also really inspired by Little P's room when I did my nursery http://bit.ly/4yqKf! I became obsessed with that blog...now I'm going to start stalking Norah's mom!
view lency83's profile
I would love to know if the crib was purchased that color or if it was painted? I love it!
view JenRose05's profile
Love the crib bedding. Where did you get it? Lovely room.
view honeybeemac's profile
beautiful
view hundredsofseabirds's profile
Great color palatte! Love the yellow crib... great job!
bundle design co.
www.bundledesignco.blogspot.com
view bundle deisgn's profile
I recognize the crib sheets from Pottery Barn Kids, honeybeemac. . . not sure about the rest of it.
I LOVE this room -- so sweet, cheery and feminine without being frilly at all.
Great solution to the glider cushions! I'm heading out to Pier 1 to check out that fabric soon. . .
view mere1975's profile
This is such a cheerful and beautiful room! I love all of the colors you've chosen. The yellow crib looks really great against the beautiful blue colored walls. And that chandelier really adds a nice touch!
view mae25's profile
This room is gorgeous. I keep looking for the "thumbs up" button so I can vote for it in the Big Color contest... and then I realize it isn't in the contest! Thumbs up anyway.
view DressageRider's profile
That yellow crib is awesome - completely relate to the pain you went through to get it that way but it really is cool. Nice job all over.
view mama2simon's profile
My husband Steve and I are absolutely giddy and squealing right now! You see, we are due with our first baby in March, and we bought a jenny lind crib and changing table for our nursery. We decided to paint it because we didn't care for the colors it came in, and after being very indecisive about which color to paint it, we finally agreed on this exact shade of yellow. We bought a bunch of cans of a non toxic spraypaint at Home Depot just this past weekend, and we plan to paint them both that exact same shade. So imagine my surprise when I saw this tonight! I called out to Steve and he came running, and we can't believe how great it looks in that color! This was like seeing a preview of our nursery, as far as the crib goes! Thanks for the sneak peak! You did a terrific job with all of it. :)
view tikilicious's profile
PS: My husband and I are shocked by how many cans of spray paint you needed! We only bought 6! Why did it take so many? Why was it so hard? What have we gotten ourselves into? ACK! lol Any advice?
view tikilicious's profile
I have spray paint advice from when I painted some chairs. . . invest $3 in one of those spray paint "gun handle" thingies. pic
They'll save your finger joints from having to hold down the nozzle.
Good luck!
view mere1975's profile
LOVE the Pier 1 fabric as well! No wonder you were so insprired - what a beautiful room! Thank you for sharing it.
view danandsassy's profile
Thanks for the advice, Mere! That's a great idea that we had not thought of. Love it. We will do! :)
view tikilicious's profile
BM "Robin's Nest" is such a lovely color. I used a similar BM color called "Bird's Egg" in my foyer and get so many compliments on it!
Love the valance, superb fabric and tidy shape!
view honeyhaze's profile
hi, i'm norah's mom, thanks to all for your nice comments!
here's a few answers to some questions i see:
to :JenRose05- I would love to know if the crib was purchased that color or if it was painted? I love it!
yes, i had a jenny lind style crib that i painted yellow. the paint i used was a krylon spray paint in the color bright idea in gloss. i also used their spray primer before and i used a clear safe top coat applied by hand, twice. it took forever... i'd think twice before doing it again, but of course i love the result!
to honeybeemac: Love the crib bedding. Where did you get it? Lovely room.
i got the bedding at pottery barn kids online. they are a mis matched set. i think the crib sheets are called brooke, and the bumper and skirt are their white ones with pink edges.
to tikilicious:
My husband and I are shocked by how many cans of spray paint you needed! We only bought 6! Why did it take so many? Why was it so hard? What have we gotten ourselves into? ACK! lol Any advice?
yes, it was a major pain to paint the crib. it took at least 13-14 cans of yellow spray paint [and i did primer before that because the crib was painted a few colors before this], then i had to put a clear top coat on, by hand, two coats. i think it took a lot of paint because i had to do a few coats to make sure the white didn't show through, and with these particular spindles it was hard because it looked done, then you would turn it upside down and it didn't coat the other side. good luck!! it turns out great! but, it is A LOT of work. i did it myself, so if you have help, it should be much better!
thanks again! and i hope i answered everyone's questions!
view carolinearmelle's profile
Such a unique color combo! Really sweet.
view Kris0218's profile