Jungle Nursery

Some more ideas for Alysun’s nursery:

Use a two tone wall color very subtle- I suggest Sherwin Williams Blond 6128 and Sherwin Williams restrained Gold 6129. Around the entire room Paint silhouettes of individual animals and have above them- G is for- then a silhouette of a giraffe. E is for with a silhouette of an elephant- etc. This gives it a nursery feel- a jungle influence- in a subtle sophisticated way.

Keep your furniture to a minimum. A 10 x 10 room is not large. A crib, a changing table, and one other piece- I am suggesting this bean bag from Z Gallery. Clothes and toys can fit in the closet. Too much furniture and your atmosphere is shot.

Do you have a small wall in the room? Perhaps at the entry? Consider a wall of photos- check out these zebra frames from Z Gallery.

Do you have another small wall? Check out this mask- I thought it was cool- from Anything Animals- a good source for fabric

I went simple on the rug- a faux sheepskin in a light color from homedecorator.com.

I love the rope and monkey action in Marika’s nursery- as well as her bedding. Try copying that look. Keep your other fabrics light and soft- Use a lot of cream. A little animal print goes a long way.

Select stuffed animals that are not too juvenile and pastel looking. I remember when Marika was doing her room, she was very careful to find more realistic looking animals and stayed clear of the cartoon feeling ones.

Don’t over do it. With your window treatments as described in yesterday’s post, walls as described in today’s, with some accessories from Z Gallery, and Anything Animals- your room will look great- and transfer easily into a toddler's room. Consider where you will put the twin bed prior to painting your walls.

Want it to look even nicer? Add crown moulding and trim out your windows if they are not already trimmed.

The Good the Bad and the Totally Ugly

Christine,

I'm having a baby boy in a couple of months and want to get his roomdecorated. I have an idea of where I want to go with it, but don't want itto look "themed," just pulled together. You are great at that.I like the jungle look. My husband and I have been to Africa several timesand our pictures and souvenirs from there are very special to us. I have both wooden and ivory elephant statues. A friend sent me a custom mobile from Kenya that will be perfect. I also have a light green chair (I recovered it especially for the room) and I found a brown receiving blanket that I love with elephants on it. Here are my questions:Should I buy anything else theme-ish (Target has a lot of stuff)? I have ones heet, but can take it back if you gasp in horror.What should I do for window treatments?I can sew a crib skirt and other bedding, but what print/pattern/stripe?The room is a blank canvas, currently yellow, but I will be painting it. Iwas thinking off white/beige with the focal wall with the crib being dark brown on the bottom and the same off white/beige on top with a higher than normal chair rail. Other info you might need: The room is small (10x10),moldings are white, oak wood floors, oak crib, and changing table (with bamboo baskets for drawers, Pottery Barn style).Thanks for any input you can give me. And you can be honest -- I love your style.--

Alysun

Dear Alysun,

Congratulations!!!!

I thought I would break my response into two sections- what I hate - and what I like. I know that hate is a strong word- and then all of my friends that read my blog and have things like this will think I hate their kids rooms- but no- honestly- I don't care about their kids' rooms.

I hate it when people go a little overboard creative in their window treatments- like the grass skirt below. If you like it- whatever- I personally don't. (although there are exceptions to everything- I once saw a surfboard used as a valance and I thought it was awesome) For your window treatments, I would use a dark brown woven wood roller shade with a cream colored flat fold Roman Shade over it, and add cheetah or zebra print material to the edges, like a fabric tape. If I could find a picture, I'd post one- but when I just think it up- finding a picture is a little hard. oh yes- and I also hate wallpaper boarders and cheesy wallpaper.

I hate it when walls are decorated with a bunch of little things- like the mural below. It's a big wall- decorate it with something big. If you're painting a mural- simplify it and make it larger. All of these little things drive me crazy. And tell me- why are the monkey and the giraffe the same size???

This third picture incorporates a few of the things I hate- it has a cheesy wallpaper boarder- and total scale problem. If they would have hung the letters closer to the crib, so they would have a relationship with the crib- that could work. But still- you have large walls and small pictures. And what's up with combining Tinker Bell with Jungle stuff? Two themes???

Now let's attack these two paint colors- the one above and the one below. Children need to sleep in their bedrooms. Why do some people paint them such obnoxious colors? That is just a bad idea on every level. However- that little boy is totally cute in the picture below huh? The wall should be light gray though...

I like the mural below because it is- a good scale, and simple, and soft colors. A baby could still sleep in this room. (from Murals for Kids)

If murals are simple and wall colors overall are soft- a giraffe like the one below is also cute.

I like the changing pad at the top of the post- I found it on Amazon. It brings in your safari feel without going all cheesy. The bedding below is from Pottery Barn kids- again, I like the simplicity of it. I can tell you that I have always had bedding made when I have decorated nurseries- for myself or others- I prefer solid colors over strong pattern that dictate too much in the room.

So-

1. Keep your scale in line with every wall of your room.
2. Don't go purchasing every jungle item you find.
3. Get a plan and carry it out.

I did a baseball room once where I had painted the words to take me out to the ball game on the wall- you could do a similar thing with The Lion Sleeps Tonight. My friend Marika recently did a fabulous jungle themed nursery- I asked her to send in pictures and I will post them when she does. Post Script- she just e-mailed them so they are added to the top of the post. :)

For more ideas check out this post on Malia's Jungle nursery. Also- read this post- where I went into detail about Feng Shui for the nursery.

So, tell me, what do you hate? What do you like? Do you have any ideas for Alysun?

Malia's Jungle Nursury

Hi Christine,

First of all, I loved the nursery you did and want to thank you for the inspiration to finally DO something with our soon-to-be nursery.

Here is the picture of the tree your mom did for us today. The blue tape is where I want to put some wall shelves. The second shelf is just as long as the others, but isn't shown as such because of the paint.
We are going to be putting a rocking chair of some sort to the left (which we will probably need your help with as well!) and the toy chest will remain there.
I also attached a picture of our crib set. We have the hamper, diaper holder, and bedding. We also have the mobile and valance, but I don't know if I want to use them. What do you think?

My questions:
1. What do you think of the spacing and placement of the shelves? It currently is one foot apart with the shelves being 3 inches, leaving only nine inches of space to put things.
2. What should I put on the shelves?
3. I'm leary of introducing too many more colors because the dresser (bottom left) and crib is honey, while the toy chest and shelves are darker brown. What color frames should I look for?

Thank you so much for helping us!
I can't wait to hear your suggestions.

Malia

Dear Malia,

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to respond to your question. I wanted to go over to a friend's house and take a picture of her wall shelves, but it is just taking me too long, and you are going to have your baby!! So- I will just tell you what I wanted to show you. First of all- your tree is awesome! I love how understated it is! Very cool!

1. Your shelves look great. If you haven't already hung them, you might consider putting them a little further from each other, but if they are already up- don't worry about it, it will look great. With that spacing, it is perfect for 4 x 6 and 3 x 5 photos.

2. What should you put on the shelves? This is what I wanted to show you. My friend Shelby did such a fabulous job on her wall shelves in her living room. She has TONS of pictures. All black and white if I remember correctly. So many pictures that you have to move them around to see them all. It is a great look. This is one idea. Another idea? Combine picture frames with stuffed animals, and books with book-ends. You can also find "jungle" type children's books, and set them on easels. Cute wooden toys with a jungle theme would also be nice. Keep it simple, consider adding a spotlight above the shelves/tree mural with a dimmer on it. That would make a nice night light.

3. For your frames- pull out your paints. Wouldn't this look cute- paint them the prints of the letters at the top of this post. (I found the letters on poshtots.com). Or - better yet- get your mother-in-law to paint them! You could intersperse these decorative frames with some painted a solid green, gray and yellow, (using the other colors in your bedding).

I would skip the valance- a little too cutesy in my opinion. The mobile? -- either way. My friend Marika just did a fabulous jungle room for her baby Isaac. Marika- will you send pictures please?

Congratulations on your baby coming! Send us a picture of the final look!

- Christine