Lincoln's Travel Inspired Nursery
There is a very short window of time where it is acceptable to project your personal preferences and style onto your child. How awesome for us that decorating your newborn’s nursery falls into the time frame where it IS appropriate!? Mitchell and I love to travel and go on adventures. I also have had a slight obsession with maps (and everything cartography related) for as long as I can remember. Hence, Lincoln’s ‘Travel Inspired Nursery’ was born!
When planning his nursery, we set these parameters for ourselves:
- That nursery items (primarily furniture) be gender neutral so that they could be utilized with a second child regardless of his or her gender.
- That we set a reasonable budget and stick with it.
- That the theme be a simple one which could grow with him into his ‘big boy’ room IF he so desires.
With those things in mind, we were able to create a space that is warm and inviting, reflects the sense of adventure that our son has clearly already inherited from us, and didn’t break the bank for a single-income family. The nursery is really simple and was pretty easy and cost-effective to pull together. I have seen lots of gorgeous, Pinterest-worthy nurseries. I would be lying if I said I didn't want a nursery like that! But realistically speaking, spending a ton of cash to transform any room in our home (let alone the smallest one) just didn't seem practical, or necessary. Two years of loving Lincoln in this room and I have no regrets about keeping it simple.
I’m glad we chose white for the nursery furniture. I like how clean and bright it looks, and that it would work well for a boy or girl, allowing for versatility should we be blessed with another child. Also, because it’s all white (and not a specific wood stain) I was able to get each piece of furniture from a different place without having to stress about them being mismatched. This allowed us to save money, too, as full sets are often more expensive.
We have a map-inspired color scheme of turquoise, mint, and light blue. These are all calming, peaceful colors, which was something that I wanted to strive for in the nursery. We decided not to fuss over painting the walls, (I originally planned to, and sometimes still wish we had!) but ultimately I think the wall color provides a balance of warmth with the cool color scheme.
We chose to use a dresser as a changing table rather than having both and this is something I strongly encourage others to consider. Not only does it save space, but it just makes sense. The dresser fulfills all the same needs of a changing table, and the top surface of the dresser would likely not be serving a purpose otherwise. Ours is an IKEA Hemnes dresser. It’s a little tall for a traditional changing table, but I actually like that better. It allows me to stand straight up rather than bend over when changing Lincoln, which is much easier on my body. That’s good news, because I get enough of a workout chasing my tiny human around all day long. I’ll share how I keep the dresser drawers organized here, soon!
The artwork above the crib/glider is simply an old folded map that my mother-in-love found at an antique store in her hometown. I flattened out the creases as best as I could and framed it, and I really love the way it worked out.
I made the map banner hanging above the crib from scrapbook paper that I already had, and used the same scrapbook paper to cover these cardboard letters featuring Lincoln’s name on the opposite wall. These were really inexpensive ways for me to add some finishing touches to the space.
This ship is one of my favorite pieces in his room. It’s a wooden ship that my dad received as a gift from his parents, and he gifted it to Lincoln. It has a handwritten message from Lincoln’s great grandparents inside. My heart overflows thinking of how special it is to have this ‘piece’ of them in Lincoln’s room. I can’t wait to tell him stories about how incredible they both were.
These fun hot air balloons were handmade by my sister-in-law and used as decor at one of my baby showers. I really love that they fit so perfectly in his space and that we get to enjoy her creativity every time we walk through the door.
TIP: Use the same/similar theme for a shower as you plan to for your nursery, and you may find that you can reuse many of the decorations and save yourself a few bucks!
The crib and glider chair were incredibly generous gifts from some of our dearest relatives, and the white blanket on the glider was handmade for us by a family friend.
Not only did the generosity of others allow us to complete this space for Lincoln, but it is a constant reminder each time I lay him down to sleep or rock him in our glider that we are blessed beyond measure by the love and support that surrounds us. I love his simple nursery and all the love that it reflects!
