Guest Post: Nursery Tour
Today my friend Natasha is sharing some photos of the minimalistic nursery where she will very soon (like any day now) be welcoming her little boy. Natasha and her husband Alex recently moved back to Portland from San Francisco where they now live in the middle of the Pearl District.
As I prepare for the unknown world of mommyhood, one of the few items during this process that has felt within my control is the preparation of the nursery. Not to say that it is an easy feat by any means, but at least you can’t really mess it up.
Like many before me, I went straight to Pinterest to find any and everything that would make for the sweetest sanctuary for my little bundle of joy. Flash forward seven months and over a thousand mostly neglected Pins, I’ve created what I feel is a cozy mix of woodland meets minimalist.
Not really knowing where to start, I found that a lot of the fun during this process actually came from repurposing meaningful items that were already existing within our home and mixing that with a few special new items that were just for the baby. Here are a few examples…
Before my husband and I found out we were pregnant we were shopping around one weekend and came across the extremely oversized Joëlle Jolivet books and thought they were nothing short of amazing. Not only are they graphically impressive, but they would be such a fantastic way to teach a little one about the details of the world. Now that we have an excuse for these gems, we have a few displayed around the nursery and have already dove into the pages on several occasions discovering new items each time almost like Where’s Waldo.
During a recent trip to Santa Fe to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday, we set out to find something special that we could take home to the nursery. We found some really great little trinket items, but they all paled in comparison to a sheepskin baby rug we came across and couldn’t leave without. The beautiful little rug is not only a fond reminder of a wonderful family adventure, but also the softest thing you have ever laid your hands on, and the bar is set pretty high when it comes to baby items.
Lastly, I’ll share one of the more thoughtful gifts that I’ve received while pregnant. As a fairly private person, I had gone back and forth as to whether or not I wanted to announce I was pregnant on social media until I started to tell a few close friends and family members and felt the outpouring of love and support. Once I determined I wanted to share the exciting news, then came the shockingly difficult part of choosing how. In the end I chose a very common quote (that happens to be from The Incredibles which I’ve never seen) that spoke to how we truly felt as expecting parents after recently moving back to Portland, struggling to get in the groove of things. At the baby shower, my very crafty sister-in-law gifted me a sign for the baby’s nursery with the exact quote in the colors of his room and I melted. Looking back, it makes me so happy to have shared the news with everyone and to see where we are now only three weeks from meeting our handsome little guy.
All in all, I’ve reorganized the room what feels like a million times, bought far too many Jellycats and struggled to hold the woodland animal theme together. I know that what will matter most once he’s here is whether or not the room is functional and a far, far second will be whether or not every item is in place and color coordinated. My hope is that during my many hours nursing in the glider, I look around the room and find the same happiness in the repurposed vases from our wedding, the 1950’s framed children’s books and grossly overpriced Pottery Barn Kids bookends that I feel now as I’m awaiting him. I’ll always remember this experience as fun and it’s made me so happy to create an oasis for the little person I’m bringing into this world.
Love this Natasha. And there is no such thing as too many Jellycats!!! Looking forward to meeting the little guy when he gets here and seeing some photos of him in his little nursery!
xo Ly