She Sows Seeds

simple country living

Baby Nursery Inspiration

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So now the cat’s out of the bag about our little lad or lady…let the nursery planning begin! Something has to get you through that first trimester of exhaustion and nausea and secrecy, planning a sweet little space for our baby has been my therapy!

We have three bedrooms here at the farmhouse, all exactly the same size. We’ve decided the room which is currently our spare bedroom (and storage room full of stuff!) will become the baby’s room. We will still need it to accommodate a spare bed for visitors (and the baby can come sleep in our room, or our guests can sleep in our room) but luckily the room is quite big. It is the darkest room in the house, receiving the least natural light, so I’d like to use lots of white to brighten things up a bit (but still be practical…) We aren’t finding out the gender of our baby so a neutral base is what I’m working towards…

Neutral Baby Nursery | She Sows SeedsI didn’t want a particular ‘theme’ – no Winnie the Pooh or Disney Princesses or parading safari animals or butterflies everywhere thank-you very much. But…Β a subtle hint of cohesion throughout the space I’m okay with. So after tossing up ideas of woodland creatures, ships and sailboats, Alice in Wonderland, Beatrix Potter, hot air balloons and clouds…we’ve settled on something which is quite appropriate for a baby of ours…

…a vintage farm theme. Altogether now, awwwwww.

With lots of soft white, some fluffy sheep, 1940’s farm illustrations, a friendly mother goose and horsey touches. Anyone who knows us will know how perfectly this fits – we have a deep love for agriculture and life on the land, we would like to pass these ideals on to our children, as they were passed on to us from our farming families.

Tissue pom-poms, honeycombs and paper lanterns above the cot is a look I love, I’m going to try and perfect my pom-pom making skills! Lovely Amy has secured us a beautiful vintage cot, although it’s quite a dark wood so I’d like to use lots of crisp white cot bedding (mums tell me I’m not delusional using white?!) We are very lucky to have the use of the family heirloom bassinet, which was originally bought by Matt’s grandparents for his mum and has had every baby in the family since the 1940’s sleep in it. It’s white wicker with a canopy, so gorgeous. The baby will be sleeping in our bedroom in the bassinet to begin with. The famous Jenny Lind change table would be perfect, as it’s a classic shape with spindle details (if we didn’t have the cot from Amy I would love the matching Jenny Lind cot).

I have my eye on (and may have already purchased…) several farm animal artworks on Etsy. Sharon Montrose is the obvious choice, and I love her work, but for something quite large like I wanted it’s hideously expensive – and we’re going for budget beauty! I purchased three Sharon Montrose goose photos six years ago with the idea that they would one day adorn our baby’s nursery (one can never plan ahead too much!) But they live in the bathroom at the moment and I quite like them there, so instead I found another gorgeous goose from an Australian watercolour artist. For those that don’t know, I have a thing for geese! Pages from vintage children’s books on farming are another artwork I’d like to frame for the nursery, I loved this one of loading hay, it reminds me of a photo I have of my Grandpa working his Clydesdale’s in the 1940’s.

Along with touches of white to brighten the space, I’d like to use linen and taupe with splashes of pastel mint to still keep things gender neutral. Linen cushions with farm animal silhouettes and linen curtains (that we already have, handy!) which I’m thinking of trimming with white pom-poms or a mint fabric hem. Matt’s grandfather’s rocking chair is currently in our lounge room, but I snaffled it a few years ago from Matt’s parents with the intention that it would one day live in our baby’s nursery. Luckily it is a neutral tan colour in a soft velour fabric, a white leather Moroccan ottoman next to it to rest my feet or use as a little side table would work well.

Of course my crochet skills are going to be put to good use – I’m planning several (yes I said several) blankets for this baby, because one’s hardly enough! But top of my list is a fine lacy vintage style blanket, it will push my crochet skills as I’ve never done much intricate lacework before. At the other end of the spectrum I’d like to crochet a large doily rug using t-shirt yarn or cotton rope and a chunky crochet hook.

And last but not least…of course some farmyard animals to be our baby’s first friends. A plush lamb, or a little Clydesdale – which I have a crafty idea for, stay tuned – and a sweet bunny nightlight. (Matt is not convinced about the inclusion of feral animals!)

So – that’s what I have planned for the baby’s nursery! Lots of white, linen, touches of mint, a few farmyard friends and handmade details. I’d better get cracking…!

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Comments

  2. Hi Emma
    I have also been admiring the Jenny Lind change table – where were you hoping to purchase it from? I haven’t found somewhere in Australia that sells it but can pay $145 to have it shipped from the US. Would prefer to get it from Oz though!
    Thanks

    • I found a few secondhand on ebay in Australia, mostly the dark wood which I was going to paint. But now I have my sister’s white change table from her babies, but the Jenny Lind is gorgeous, love it. Good luck!

  3. oooh, the nursery colour scheme sounds perfect!! We also didn’t find out our babies gender, and I made the room Avocado green & white. Happy planning!

  4. Beautiful ideas! I’m also not a fan of all the popular culture stuff like Disney princesses andWinnie the pooh (although I am a fan of the original illustrations by E. H. Shepherd I think? Just beautiful)! I went with a woodland creatures theme in the end and absolutely love it! It’s so much fun having a nursery to decorate isn’t it? Ilove idea of the farming prints and also the crochet blanket! It sounds divine! Can’t wait to see more!

    • Yes I really love the original vintage pooh too, so cute. I also thought of a woodland creatures theme, I love that!

  5. White linen just fine with a baby. You will need three sets if sheets at least. And waterproof mattress protector!
    I’ll be honest, change tables annoy me. They are made totally the wrong way, you want the baby to be at right angles when changing nappies and everything close at hand. I used a lively old pine kitchen table (painted legs white and top stained). Added padded change mat and baskets for nappies and lotions and had heaps of room, and perfect height. Under I had a laundry basket for clean cloth nappies, and a wire drawer for other stuff. I never added a skirt under the table however could gave been done. Just something for you to consider. My table has gone onto my new niece Violet to enjoy πŸ™‚

    • Excellent! Keep tips and advice coming! I have a chest of drawers I was planning on putting change mat on top of if I didn’t get change table, but have got my sister’s one now. Also got a lot of her cot bedding but have to go through and do a stocktake. Thanks!

      • two waterproofs are great for accidents, and then you can put a normal mattress protector on top of that to get away from the plastic sweaty feel. I also had a perky baby so used to put a clean cloth nappy under her to lessen to need to change the sheets all of the time (just put a fresh nappy down). Am hearing good things about the modern cloth nappies. Although for a winter baby brr I would tend to go disposable as cloth is cold and damp! Doesn’t matter so much in summer!

        • Yes we are planning on going cloth, but need to some research, lots of my friends use them, and Matt’s sister. Thank you!

  7. Beautiful! Makes me want another baby! Emma, there’s a lovely store on Etsy called Printmakers that sell vintage prints, I got some for my little boy’s room, don’t know if they have any farm themed ones at the moment but I bought Little Boy Blue and Twinkle Star pages from an old vintage Nursery Rhyme Book and their prices are ridiculously reasonable.

    • Just had a look, and I have some of their prints already in my favourites! Love their Peter Rabbit ones.

      • I love the Peter Rabbit ones too! I got some gorgeous Botannical prints for our bedroom too, now I just have to spend a fortune at the framers! Have fun nesting, it’s the best!

  9. Hi Emma and warmest congratulations! I have been reading your blog(s) on and off for a while but haven’t commented before. Your nursery ideas look lovely but most of all I wanted to tell you how very exciting it is to find out your baby’s gender when s/he is born. We welcomed our first baby in August and after being convinced (for no particular reason) from the earliest days of the pregnancy that we were having a boy…we were SO completely surprised to meet our precious baby GIRL. The anticipation and then the moment you find out in the midst of all the birth chaos…best feeling ever! All the best, I’ll look forward to following your story. S

    • Thank you for the comment! Yes I totally agree, I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to find out the gender. I have a strong boy inkling though, so that’s so interesting about your baby! I would love that surprise to be totally thinking it’s boy or girl and getting the opposite!

  10. Gorgeous Emma, so organised. I had my bubs yesterday and his big sister is still in his room while hers is being built. It’s almost done, but definitely not organised. Jo xx

  11. Wow Emma! It sounds absolutely amazing! I sent you a Facebook message a few weeks back… I’m hoping you received it πŸ™‚