Inspiration Board for Baby Boy's Nursery

It took awhile to come up with ideas for our baby boy’s nursery. One day I spotted a small sailboat in the basement that was a cast-off when HGTV renovated our sunroom and a bell went off in my head. We love the ocean, we found out I was pregnant the week we got back from the beach, and overall those colors are in the “blue” family. Ding, ding, ding! Nautical Nursery has a nice ring to it…

I didn’t want to go “overboard” on a theme (woah, a pun– so sorry). No anchors or pirates swinging from the ceiling. I dubbed the theme as “Light Nautical”. An airy, breezy, seaside retreat that would calm everyone when they walked in (myself included– I’m a little terrified about how to handle “two under two”).

I wasn’t sure whether to paint the walls blue or green. Then I stumbled upon this blanket (with bedding set) on clearance at Babies R Us:

Well hello, perfect blue! I do realize that elephants are not nautical but like I said I’m not tied to the theme so a few elephants in the ocean won’t hurt anyone. It’s the fabric I really liked; a soft blue for a baby boy but not too “precious”. After analyzing paint chips at different times of the day, I settled on Sherwin Williams “Balmy” in their Harmony low-VOC paint. I did think about using green but in the end the blue paint chips won out.

(these look pretty different on my computer screen than in the room)

And a little surprise for one of the walls, I’m attempting stripes with Sherwin Williams “Snowdrop”:

Here it is on the walls. It’s crazy how it changes at different times of day and in different light:

Shopping trips to Home Depot and Walmart yielded rope, twine, and other trimmings.

Visits to the thrift shop unearthed these treasures…

This is the BEFORE. The AFTER is almost done!

This is the BEFORE. The AFTER will be revealed soon… it’s finished and ready to go!

Of all the things posted in my last Thrifty Retail Therapy post, this one was the most popular. At $4, it was a steal!

Ahhhh…. and my trip to the fabric outlet on the way home from Hershey was spectacular. I think I walked on air for the hour I was there. I came home with this nautical fabric to make pillows for the glider:

The furniture is ordered.

I have an area rug ready to go.

I snagged a tall bookcase on sale at Target for under $100.

My husband replaced the broken closet organizer with a new, simple one.

I’ve been keeping my eyes open for other accessories at my favorite haunts: thrift shops, consignment sales, and our house and accumulated quite a stash.

Still on the to-do list:

Wall decor (I need to know his name first)
Finish a few other projects I’ve dreamed up
Window Treatments
Paint the trim… and those stripes!

There you have it– the deets about my plans for the nursery. I’ll keep you updated as we go. Do you have any inspirational home photos to share? Does your nursery have a theme? Am I crazy to think the baby even cares about what’s on his walls? I love seeing everyone’s personality come out through their home decor, so please share links of favorite rooms if you have them!