“You have the most popular nursery that no one has seen.” – Jackie
If you’ve read this blog before, you already know a couple of things:
1. Jackie, my dear co-blogger, has written about her beautiful nursery decorating. Check it out right… HERE.
2. If Jackie and I were decorating politicians, our platforms would be anti-store-bought themed nursery sets. Our nightmares have us fleeing from things that are too matchy-matchy. I specifically spelled this out after carefully defending a motif in my home, which you can see……. HERE.
With this second point in mind, my husband and I had long ago decided that should we have a baby boy, we would decorate his nursery based on one of our favorite movies, Fantastic Mr. Fox. In case you have missed this Wes Anderson gem, here are the reasons we find it inspiring, especially for our decorating purposes (movie photos courtesy imdb.com/20th Century Fox) :
1. The story itself is about family: a dad, mom, and young son. This could easily be us!
(Seth relaxing while I paint and listen to my records)
“Ash”- a cutie like baby
2. The colors: All of the colors are bold and saturated. We were really struck with the golden jacket of Mr. Fox, red of Farmer Bean’s apples, and the yellow of Mrs. Fox’s dress. Hints of blue make great pops of an accent color, too.
3. The textures: the movie is stop-motion animated, making everything realistically tactile. For example, Mr. Fox himself has so many textures- the corduroy jacket, his soft fur, and the glassiness of his eyes. Textures through the use of different elements and prints (checkered, polka-dot) create visual interest and are perfect for a developing baby.
4. The great outdoors setting: the “nature” of the movie allows for bringing the outside in. This topic is even addressed in the plot, as the characters deal with the destruction of their natural habitat. (They fight back with flaming pine cones.)
5. The maturity: the humor of the movie makes it not just for children. It has a classic quality and nostalgic feel. Anytime I can add vintage qualities to a room to give it a more comfortable aesthetic I do. And besides, is a nursery only for a baby? I wanted this room to be an extension of who we are, just as baby is a part of our family.
For these reasons and more, Fantastic Mr. Fox was our inspiration. Taking these concepts, I present Judah’s nursery!
The nursery is a small room, but that can be the perfect setting for a bold, saturated color.
This changing table was the first “official” purchase. I fell for the color when I saw it on craigslist and the price of $30 sealed the deal. The alphabet wall hanging I purchased two summers ago at the local, famed Normal Park neighborhood sale. It is handmade and frightfully old. The creatures have quirky colors and many have red eyes, including the Rat- which is a character in the movie who also has red eyes. It hangs from a stick.
The cover here is brown with brown stars- like Ash’s official bandit mask. Here my bandit reorganizes his diapers.
The toy fox has jumped into a large basket box that serves as a toy box. I got it for a steal with plans of embellishing it, but we’ll see if that happens! All the textures make for a fun place to play.
There’s a photo shoot going on?
Baby needs a place for his sweater and cap.
I love this little vignette. The handmade sweater was a gift from dear co-blogger, Jackie. His cap is from another close friend.
The iron cast hanger was a garage sale pick up.
Every nursery needs a comfy spot to sit. After searching high and low for the perfect chair/rocker/glider I found the perfect blend of function and aesthetic in our living room: our midnight blue poang from IKEA. With a couple of gorgeous handmade throws as gifts, it is the best place for a story.
Of course, perhaps the best accessory is a fun pillow. I saw many cute “fox” pillows on etsy, but sometimes the thrills don’t make it in the budget. Instead, I came across this red, metallic (hard to see the shiny here) iron-on decal at JoAnn’s. Another clearance pillow and I had a sweet and easy DIY.
Speaking of DIY and IKEA- the graphic tree curtain is another IKEA pick-up. And speaking of a literal pick-up, it also hangs from a mighty stick on curtain tie-backs.
I love the black-and-white graphics on the curtain. I think every room in a house should have a black-and-white element. It seems to add a sophistication and yet stays playful.
It is important to my husband and I that we support real artists and fill our home with their artworks. So it was wonderful when were given one as shower gift! We have “Hellephant” here now to be apart of our story time. This was given to me by my cousin, Jewel Renee, who is a very talented artist. She knew I especially liked this adventure of “Hellephant” (there are many!). The colors fit perfect in our scheme.
“Hellephant” isn’t alone. On the other wall he is joined by none other than a “Mr. Fox” and “Mr. Badger.” This artwork is the most direct reference to our inspired nursery. I found them on Etsy, from an artist named Michael Jonathan Smith in the L.A. area. Also on display is a prized giant pine cone I got from a local treasure store. Here is a close-up of Mr. Fox (minus the clear “repin” and “like” buttons on the top left):
Isn’t he dapper? I love the vintage colors and “stained” print. It looks as if it was torn from an original copy of the book.
And what a better place to store a book than here! This bookcase comes straight from my childhood room and my mother’s before me! My grandfather made this back in the 1960s.
As we round the room we encounter my artistic addition to the room: birch trees!
In a post to follow, I’ll show the easy steps I took in completing this project. As a new and somewhat paranoid new parent, I did not want to hang anything above the crib. These tree silhouettes add great balance to the room as they pull the eye up and continue what the graphic curtains started.
There is still some room on the wall to the left of the trees for showcasing more artwork and some shelving… to be continued!
To my surprise- though surprises are almost daily for this new parent– it turns out that baby’s room cannot escape the trendy need to have his name displayed. However, I adore this exception to my rule, as it is the banner from his baptism and a beautiful reminder of that special day.
And another thrift store find: metallic owls. Whoooo doesn’t like that?
Finally, the most comfortable spot must be the crib.
Baby has many friends to keep him comfy, not to mention a beautiful quilt handmade by a friend. The colors and patterns are everything foxy for our little fox.
Little Fox
So if you are looking for a unique inspiration for a nursery, or any room for that matter, I suggest finding the book, movie, object, quote, or artwork that inspires you. Let it allow you to reinterpret it into a whole new experience. You will love the process and with cobbled finds and handmade touches, it will truly be original in every way.
It’s really quite amazing and even overwhelming to stop and think about color.
I know undoubtedly my dear co-blogger would agree that even picking a color for a wall can be an arduous task (though completely exciting at the same time). When I, Rachel, was picking a color for my __________(pick a room) I came home with about 9,489 swatches… all of the same color and with such fun names (who gets this job and where do I apply?!). For example, for my “green” dining room we had hues like:
- “Field Grass” (I get it, the creator is referencing the green of a field)
- “Summer Watermelon” (clearly the creator is hungry)
- “Restful” (okay, obviously after naming 9,488 swatches of green the creator is very tired and seeking sanctuary in a color)
We went with “Restful” and are quite content.
But all of the colors!! It can be mesmerizing to stand in the paint aisle at Home Depot/Lowe’s/(pick a room), soaking in the infinite arrays of color. And then to coordinate/design/cobble with existing colors… such agonizing bliss!
I almost had this feeling the other night while helping my husband with what is his major work project: building & designing a website. He was at the point of choosing the color palette. After finding an image that inspired us (and would be included in the background), we set about selecting colors that would complement this image and introduce some needed warmth.
It was at this point that he introduced me to a “color aisle” of the computer world: colourlovers.com
Here it is! A place where you can experiment with different colors and not only create colors and palettes- but name them! Other reasons to like this site:
- You can adjust the amount of a color to reflect its usage within the palette (think “accent” color)
- You can browse through the palettes of other creators & connect with people who love color as much as you do
I’m still exploring the different features of this site, but I encourage any “colour lover” who could use a colorful distraction to try his/her digital hand at creating the palette of a current “(pick your room)” or the next one!
And here is a sneak peek at our website color palette that we call:
In Inspiring Spaces, we your Cobblers will post pictures of spaces and places we find compelling and energizing, spaces that we feel have something particularly wonderful to teach us about decorating and design. For our first inspiring space, we invite you to the living room of Liz, a marketing communications consultant who lives in Minneapolis, Minn.
Liz has translated her love of bright colors into a mis-matchy fabulous room that makes primary colors cool for Us Big Kids.
“I tend to be drawn to bright colors (hence the bold red and blues),” says Liz. “If there is option other than black, I tend to take it.”
How does Liz decide what stuff to invite into her world?
“I have never cared too much about being matchy-matchy–I think eclectic/hodge-podge=homey, hence the different color pillows and blankets, posters, lamps, etc. from different points in my life.”
Liz, we applaud your color wonderful living room that commemorates all of your past experiences while still being visually dynamic. Thanks for inspiring us.