Now that our kitchen renovation is at a screeching halt (we're waiting on countertops to be installed), I have gone into full nesting mode. However, because the future nursery is currently the staging area for all things kitchen related I can't really get started. So instead I'm digitally nesting. My goal for the weekend was to start our baby registry, which is seriously THE most overwhelming task. Especially when this is your first baby, you don't have any nieces or nephews, and only a handful of friends with little ones. I was left to my own devices. I spent the entire weekend researching every diaper, stroller, bathtub, and swaddle blanket. Don't worry. I'm a pro now.
I stumbled on Baby List and decided that a universal registry was the best way to not limit ourselves to certain stores. This way, we can choose items from Target to Amazon to Etsy rather than just living at Babies R Us (not that there is anything wrong with that, but it't not our style). So obviously after choosing all of the workhorse items on our registry it came down to the more aesthetic items (crib sheets, blankets, changing pad covers, etc.) And I was all.. "how am I supposed to pick the crib sheet patterns if I don't even know what the nursery will look like?" So clearly I had to stop everything I was doing and design that space real quick. So normal.
I threw together a mood board of the general style and palette for the room to help me make all of these life altering decisions (cactus sheets or hedgehogs?).
Oh. Did I mention we aren't finding out the sex of the baby? I'll pause while you collect yourself.
That being said, we wanted a room that was gender neutral but not grey. So many times people go straight to yellow, green, or grey when they don't know if it's a boy or a girl. However, we are firm believers in color so we did just the opposite. We wanted this room to fit with the rest of our home which is sort of a mid-century meets West Texas vibe. We also wanted a room that would grow with the baby rather that appear too childlike, or theme-y.
| Sources |
Elephant: DWR, Hang-it-All: DWR, Mobile: vintage (similar), Artwork: Jenny's Print Shop, Spine Bookshelf: West Elm discontinued (similar), Crib: Ikea, Rug: Amazon, Bolivian Blanket: The Tiny Finch (similar), Pouf: Target discontinued (similar), Rocker: All Modern, Pillow: Jonathan Adler discontinued (similar), Side Table: Bungalow5, Lamp: Target (similar), Changing Table: vintage (similar)
We tried to incorporate some pieces that we already had along with some new baby specific pieces, while also adding in some personal touches. As designers we bonded over our love of Charles and Ray Eames on our first date. We even had Eames Elephant cake toppers at our wedding, so obviously we knew one day we would have a real Eames Plywood Elephant for the baby's room.
We wanted to keep everything light and bright since our floors are ebony and our doors are black, and that room in particular has 2 barn doors, 2 swinging closet doors, and 1 sliding closet door that are all black. I know. it's a lot of doors. We added in pops of color that aren't stereo typical for girls or boys such as coral, teal, orange, green, yellow, etc. All of which were pulled from this pillow that we uses to hold our rings in our wedding.
I just love having such sentimental pieces in the nursery that we can one day tell our baby about. Now I'm so ready to get started on his or her room, but there is still a lot of work to do to the kitchen and a lot of pots and pans to unpack first. In the meantime, I'll keep trucking away at this registry.
If you want to see what else we registered for go here. Feel free to let us know your thoughts on certain items we should/shouldn't get and what worked for you. When I said I'm a pro. It's really just wishful thinking.