Name: Polly
Age: 16 months
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Hot on the heels of our Small Kids, Big Color contest comes Polly's room, which beautifully illustrates how a white backdrop serves as a perfect foil for lively color. Polly's mom, Katie, found her inspiration in a set of Ida Pearle alphabet cards, using them as a palette for repainting all the hand-me-down furniture in the room. The result is fresh and bright, yet still wonderfully restful.
No surprise: Polly's mom, Katie, is a design pro. Her latest project, Art Wall Online, is a carefully curated virtual display space that exhibits the artwork of independent artists. Katie has applied these same admirable curatorial skills in Polly's room. Colors and textures are layered in a comfortable way that is homey without being cluttered. We asked Katie about her favorite elements, toughest DIYs, and more...
Inspiration: My inspiration came from the Ida Pearle Alpha cards. They forced me to create a room without a real color palette. Any color works in this room.
Favorite Element: Denyse Schmidt quilt
Biggest Challenge: Painting everything. The walls were chartreuse when we moved in, and they're wood. Tough. The ceiling. We painted all the furniture in the room: the changing table, dresser and crib.
What Friends Say: It's a happy space.
Proudest DIY: The linen roman shades. They were... hard.
Biggest Indulgence: The custom glider. I really wanted a chair that was super comfortable. I felt like I could splurge on it since all of the other furniture in the room was free.
Best Advice: Create a happy space.
Dream Source: Etsy
Resources: Crib, dresser, changing table, side-table were all hand-me-downs. The dresser was actually mine from when I was a little girl. The mobile and butterflies are from Etsy. The glider was custom made at The Comfort Shoppe (Madison, WI). Quilt and pillows are by Denyse Schmidt. The alphabet cards are by Ida Pearle.
Thanks for the tour, Katie and Polly!
Images: Katie Stephenson, with additional photography by Stephanie Natale
Interested in sharing your child's room with Ohdeedoh? Contact the editors through our Nursery & Kids Room Submission Form. In addition to working with some readers to feature full tours, we will also share the best as "My Room" posts on Ohdeedoh — short, quick tours of great rooms.
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It's lovely and so cheerful!
view mere1975's profile
I love it.
view DressageRider's profile
What a wonderful mix of colors! If the walls weren't white they would be overwhelming, but as it is, they're perfect. And I love those butterflies, and the quilts are lovely.
view Pencils's profile
beautiful! i love the walls. it makes the room feel like it's on a boat.
view doubledutch's profile
Just beautiful! Way to represent Madison. =) I love seeing nurseries, especially girls' nurseries, that aren't overwhelmingly girly. This is lovely.
view lakegeneva3's profile
This is very soothing and happy. I love it!
view FaithMc's profile
The quilt and pillow are gorgeous and artful -- such a nice departure from so many pre-fab crib sets. Also a space that will be easy to update to a more "grown up" look as your daughter gets older, without too many changes.
view rachiebob80's profile
warm and cozy! love it.
view jackied302's profile
Oh, my goodness, this is just fabulous! Oh, the colors are glorious, the feel of the whole room is perfect! Yay Katie! Lucky Polly!
view CandiedFabrics's profile
I love this room! It looks like such a happy place to be. Everything looks so beautiful and original and welcoming. The butterflies are a lovely detail, too.
view mae25's profile
ooh it's LOVELY! thanks for this.
where is the red teddy bear from?
view SeaGreen's profile
I love it all! Where did you get the bear?
view ellesbelles's profile
I've seen a similar or identical bear for sale at Old Navy. The one I saw was hot pink -- adorable and affordable!
view TammyE's profile
that bear has some attitude :)
view crookedteeth's profile
is there any way to find out where the bear came from?
view ellesbelles's profile
I trawled Etsy and Google and couldn't find it! If anyone finds out where the bear is from , please post! :)
view Pooh's profile
Hi Everyone. Thanks for your lovely comments. The "bear" is actually a "kitty cat" who came from Anthropologie. It's my daughter's favorite "baby," and yes, it does have attitude :)
view katieonashstreet's profile
Thanks TammyE! Still looking for the red one though..
view Pooh's profile
Oh, and it's bright hot pink, not red. Bad photo-processing skills here, sorry.
view katieonashstreet's profile
Love the roman shades (and the whole room)...where did that orange linen come from?
view sarah*d's profile
Thanks!
view Pooh's profile
The peachy-pink linen came from a local fabric shop in Madison that specialized in custom window treatments: Creative Expressions.
view katieonashstreet's profile
It's not a bear, it's a hot pink corduroy cat from Jellycat. I'm a big fan of Jellycat. He's called the Cordy Roy cat and you can get him at many places.
http://jellycat.com/usa/products/jellycat/cordyroys/
view Pencils's profile
ooh happiness! thanks Katie, thanks Pencils! :)
I love this one- http://www.justjellycat.co.uk/Browse-by-Animal/Bears/Cordy-Roy-Bear/p-7-101-4002/
view Pooh's profile
I absolutely love what you've done with this space! Would you mind sharing the paint color you used on the yellow dresser?
view hapapeach's profile
Wondering where the mirror came from? It's totally awesome!
view discokiki's profile
Paint color coming up, I just need to retrieve it from my storage space, stay tuned. The mirror is from "A New Leaf" in Old Town Chicago where Lincoln meets Wells. Love that little florist/shop/event space.
view katieonashstreet's profile
Hi again! Paint is "Chameleon"--Ben Moore "Aura" collection. It's actually not yellow but more of a chartreuse.
view katieonashstreet's profile
Thanks so much for posting the paint color!
view hapapeach's profile
The butterfly that landed on the mirror is a sweet touch. The dresser and mirror photo is my favorite. The eggs in the basket - I will remember that for my little girl.
view Lilli2009's profile
Sorry, the paint color was a color match--I did use Aura paint but the paint color is actually from C2 paints, and it is called Chameleon.
view katieonashstreet's profile