Alright, I need your help. Ladies, channel your inner HGTV and let the deco-juices flow. Gents (there are a few, I know), since we're having a baby boy and you were at one time a baby boy, I consider you subject matter experts.Picking out a nursery theme can be overwhelming. Especially when I pass by all the nursery-in-a-kit options at Babies 'R' Us and decide rebelliously to sew it all myself. Instead of playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe and having everything done for me (down to the matching lamp), I've chosen to hypnotize myself with walls of fabric at Joann's and the endless possibilities on the internet.
Why am I doing it this way, you ask? Well, because I'm me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
So this is what I've come up with so far. Click on each image for a better view. Let me know what you think!*
1) The Monkeys Are Bananas
Now I'm not at all into "themes" when it comes to nursery prints, whether it be Noah's Ark, moonbeams, Disney, etc. But when we were registering, Jim kept being drawn by all things monkey. And when I saw these monkey heads at Joann's I wasn't in love, but I thought it doable. And, a bit cute. So I picked out some coordinating fabrics and, frankly, am still a bit taken by the bananas.2) Leaves and Color
When I orginally thought about colors, I imagined greens and blues, and always bright, never pastels. So here we have a navy, lime, orange combo that I threw in with some leaf print. And as I find other prints that compliment, I'll probably add them into the mix, too. It'll be a bit scrappy overall, but that's what I'm into.3) Arcadia
Here we have a different take on the blue/green/orange combo. I found this quilt browsing among the vast number of my go-to inspiration blogs on the handy world wide web. Instantly I was in love and discovered that the entire quilt comes from Moda's Arcadia line of fabric. I would have to take out any pattern with flowers on it (Jim's rule) but looking closely, I don't think that omits too many blocks.So, what am I going to do with all this fabric? Well, the nursery will need a crib bumper, crib skirt, curtain, quilt, pillow for the rocking chair, and who knows what else. It depends on how creative I decide to get with leftover fabric.
So get your voting buttons ready. And all of you blog-stalkers out there, your vote counts, too. On your mark, get set, go!
*Although I am requesting your assistance and opinions, I reserve the right to change my mind last minute, ignore you all together, or pick that Pooh set at Target afterall.
22 comments:
Karen-
I love all your choices, but I, too am drawn to the monkeys. And even if you did want to do a theme, you could add some curious George prints around the room (like rip pages out of old Curious books). I love animal theme rooms (without the Noah's ark theme which everyone does for the unknown gender baby.) If we have a boy and have to switch the room's decorations from Lily's flowers (the kiddos will share a room), I think I will either do something with elephants or maybe moon/stars. All your ideas look great, though, and you no doubt have a great eye for matching fabrics. Have fun with it and if you need to tally votes, count 1 for moneys!
I love them all! I think I like the top two best for a boy. Depends which way you want to go with them - I love the monkeys as a theme and there would be a lot to choose from (I like Julie's idea about vintage Curious George prints). But I also LOVE the colors from the second one - I think if you don't want to be too theme-like that would be the way to go.
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the monkeys & bananas! I think Shane would vote monkeys too :) So that is 2 more for the monkeys!
I'm leaning towards the arcadia pattern because it's crafty and fun. Plus it's more heirloomy. Everyone does monkeys or jungle themes. I choose not to do one theme but painted stripes on Angus's walls and had blues and greens all around. So my vote is go crafty! It will also transition well into toddler/little boy while adding more things that he really likes rather than what you picked out. Just my opinion and like you said you can take it or leave it at your discretion! Good luck and keep us posted on your crafty progress. :) (Jen Beckett signed into frg email...oops!)
I vote for the monkeys. It's just fun. I will send you a Curious George book if you want to do a grouping of the pics. Anything to help Jim out! ;)
Another vote for the monkeys! And for sewing your own nursery decorations. I did it last year, with no real theme and I liked the end result so much better than the prepackaged kits. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I did pick out the lightswitch cover, rug and trashcan from the BBRUs animal alphabet set and added them to accessorize the decor.
quickly- I'll say YUM and I adore MODA fabrics.
love the bananas and i'm, of course, lovin' all the monkey choices.
if you were to skip something in that sewing list, I'd say forget the bumper. with four kids, I've never, ever used one. In fact, I never had a nursery set, now that i think of it!
Love your ideas!
and I'm confused about what we need to vote for... maybe I read too fast... need to get THREE in for naps... now!
I love the monkies! And as mentioned by Julie, you could incorporate Curious George. There are also alot of Jungle bedding options and accessories you could buy too. As a second, I like the leaf one (the 2nd option) because that just screams Karen to me.
I love the monkey stuff something about babies make you want cute and fun. I hope all goes well these last few months and I think a nursery project is just the thing to make the months fly. Get out Pride and Prejudice, I also will recommend Miss Potter if you haven't seen it yet, or Bride Wars for a totally predictable but cute movie and get to work! Enjoy, nothing like projects of your own to make time fly. I think I will finish in the hallway now that I have had it wrecked for over two months now. You are an inspiration by the way. SO cool that you are making your nursery stuff. I need a new quilt for my bed, interested? Just jokin'!
That Moda fabric is just too delicious to resist! I like the monkeys too, but they are super popular right now and a bit over done for my taste. Since I am pregnant I am taking the liberty of counting myself as 2 votes for Arcadia.
I did the whole prepackaged Pottery Barn Kids set for Harry and I am determined to do it all myself this time. I have been staring at fabric choices (online) for weeks and I am totally overwhelmed. This was a great idea... maybe I should put some choices on my blog too. I'd love your opinion!
Oh Stella,
How about I love all three, but I think the monkies are a bit trendy right now which doesn't sound like you. There are at least two jungle themed nursery in a bag get ups at Babies R Us.
I like the blue and green leafy one for a boy. But would you like to be able to use this bedding for a nursery for future children that may end up girls? Just a thought. Your little Grubelet will grow out of his "nursery decor" and likely get something new as he develops his own taste as a little pre-schooler with a toddler bed and then you'll have nursery bedding that could either end up as a lovely memento that gets put in storage or as nursery bedding used again for another baby....
In which case I like the Arcadia. It seems like it would be nice for both a boy and a girl.
And, I too, would omit the crib bumpers and make something else with the fabric that would go towards those. I used them briefly with Noah, but I think the latest studies show that cribs should be bumperless.
BTW...I totally had pastel Noah's Ark bedding when Noah was a baby! Ha! I'm so "original..." And not talented enough to make my own creative bedding set.
So my ultimate vote goes for Arcadia. In the instance that you will be able to keep it for future babies.
But that may not be important to you in which case I say those monkies are darn cute....
Those cute little bananas and monkeys really struck my fancy... but then again I was one of those totally trendy and predictable classic Pooh mom's for the nursery for all three kiddos. I do like Rebecca's thoughts on gender neutrality as I know you are a practical one. I decided to take this poll to the kiddos to see what they thought their little cuz's crib should look like. I asked them each individually so as to not skew the results. (wouldn't gallop be proud?)
*3 yr old daughter liked the monkeys and bananas
*21 mths old daughter liked the middle prints, particularly the blue polka dots which she pointed to several times
*5 year old son voted for spiderman... when I pointed out that wasn't a choice, he said then red and blue, when I pointed out that none had red and blue but blue and orange was in two, he deliberated a long time and said "well then monkeys and bananas"
so those are our thoughts... all are adorable and I know that what ever you decide will look awesome, be sure to post pics!! You know that all of the aunt Karen baby blankets have been treasured lovies here at our house so I am certain little grublet will also love his mommy's labors of love!
I think a submarine theme would be way cool. Not one of your current options, but I'm playing on your comment that you reserve the right to vote for something really totally cool.
This is either a lot of fun (getting to vote) or a lot of pressure. :)
#3 -- This one is nice, but it doesn't say baby to me. It totally says Stella.
#1 -- I like this one, it is adorable and Jim IS the Daddy. I guess his vote should be considered. 8-)
#2 -- I think this is the great natural. You could even add in at least two of the prints from the monkey group, the wavy one and the banana material, if you like. I might suggest stripes and maybe even some squares.
What ever you decide it will be perfect for your son and our Grandson.
Love you (all three) 8-)
What, no gnomes?
I love #3 colors and with the yellow included in the fabrics you could paint that really cute monkey at the top on the wall or on a large canvas. Best of both. DR
You are so creative- you definitely should go with sewing your own set.
You can't go wrong with any of these. Your love will be sewn right in there. All of your ideas are cute.
Wow - lots of comments! Anyway, just had to give my 2 cents about bumpers. We weren't using one with Catherine at first but then two things started happening....one, her pacifier would roll out of her crib, resulting in me or Matt crawling around on our hands in knees in the middle of the night to look for it (reason enough to use one!). Two - her leg would end up sticking out and sometimes getting wedged between the rails. Ikea does have a really basic/cheap plain white one that perhaps you could modify easily so you don't have to spend a ton of time and money on it.
Karen...Everything looks great and I definately admire your ambition in chosing to do it all by yourself. Everything I bought for Caleb's room was premade but none of it came together. I pieced everything together from here and there because I didn't want it to be too themey...you will remember we did airplanes/aviation. I personally love the monkeys and I LOVE Julie's idea about the Curious George books. I also think that the older the copy you could find the better. We have talked about doing old comic book pages if and when we have another boy. I also have an old West Point magazine cover that we still plan to frame and hang in Caleb's room. Can't wait to see what you do...you are soooo creative!
monkeys!
I have to say, too, my vote is on the monkeys.
I wasn't gonna touch this subject (being a guy 'n' all) but since you made special provision:
you were at one time a baby boy, I consider you subject matter experts...then invitation accepted :)
I was glad to see Pops suggest a submarine motif. I was going to say an aircraft carrier theme (e.g lots of battleship grey, fighter jets, runway markings, HUGE white font numbers, stenciled words by closet, diaper Champ or light switch ("Protective eyewear required" or "Check NBC Hazard gear") landing lights....the works) but you guys are Army.
So then I thought "Tanks" (Army green, desert greys/browns, mock tank tracks painted to run across the wall/ceiling, USA insignia, etc). Our Delta Force family hung camouflage netting around their son's room.
It wasn't much but my parents decorated my brother and mine's room with some cool western art and some 15th C nautical stuff--including a lamp with Columbus' Santa Maria. It was the 60's & my dad was a struggling artist.
I still like your Pop's submarine idea.
Just my 2 cents: save the cute stuff for your girls!
Monkeys are sooo cute. They are my vote. But I just went plain with my son. denim bedding instead of a texas cowboy theme.
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