Vintage Shabby Chic Twin Nursery
I want to share with you the journey of designing our twins' nursery....a room we are very proud of! This small room had little character, a large window on one wall and a closet on another leaving two walls to work with. Living in a small house, this room was our guest bedroom...but now we have to transform this room from a "not so cute" guestroom into a twin nursery "out of a this world"!!
~The Nursery Design~
Our twin nursery is not your ordinary nursery with a teddy bear, sports, or jungle theme it is something very different than that! Soon after becoming pregnant I looked at many nursery designs in magazines, and online and realized that I wanted something that was classy, and followed the deco of the rest of our house. I didn't want you to walk into the room and it scream nursery! {Now please know that I have seen alot of themed nurseries and they look amazing but it is just not for us!} Knowing we were having a boy and a girl I envisioned something neutral not pink and blue even though my mother just thought for sure we would have a "baby" themed nursery with pink and blue...it was not happening in our house! Alot of time was spent looking online and trying to decide what we were wanting to accomplish with the overall "look" of the nursery! I have such a love for vintage items and the shabby chic look, I wanted to incorporate that into the twins' nursery. We did alot to this bedroom before we could actually start calling it a nursery....we removed the popcorn off the ceilings and removed the closet doors and clothes bar from the closet. We also had new carpet installed through out the house. After purchasing fabric we picked out the paint color for the walls and ceiling. We also decided to put a finishing touch to this room with crown molding on the ceiling. With newly painted walls, fresh new carpet and beautiful crown molding this room was starting to look like a nursery!
~The Nursery Furniture~
Black furniture was my dream and that was soon crushed when we found an outstanding buy on a hutch at a scratch and dent baby store sale. The hutch was espresso not dark enough to go with black furniture so it was then when we decided espresso it was!! We had a hutch, ok so what is next, something to put this beautiful hutch on to use as our changing table. Like everything we do we spend alot of time researching to figure out what we really want before we purchase it! After looking at many options we purchased a dining room buffet (we took one of the doors off the hutch for color match) at one of our local furniture stores. It fit perfectly together and was tall enough for both of us not to break our back bending over to change the twins. Since this room was small we wanted to use every bit of the space that we could, so we placed the hutch changing table in the closet. We built three shelves in one corner and placed three clothes bars in the other corner to accommodate for storage. We also added strip lighting in the closet for additional light. It worked out perfectly, one of my favorites in this room!
Cribs...this was very important to me, so we did our normal look around before we bought and found cribs that we loved for a great price! We ordered our cribs from Walmart online...the style is Baby Mod Cadence 4-in-1 Convertible Crib, Espresso. We placed the cribs along one wall side by side giving the room some floor space. I also wanted a big rocking chair and ottoman such as the ones you see at Pottery Barn but our nursery budget would not allow us to purchase it from there so I was on a mission to find the same "look" just less expensive. And I did, and I love it!!! We also ordered the chair and ottoman from Walmart online...the style is Dorel Rocking Chair and Ottoman. The butter cream colored slipcovers coordinates well with the other fabric for the bedding and window treatments. We purchased a small three drawer night stand to place next to the chair for extra storage...and to sit those late night bottles on!!
~The Nursery Bedding and Window Treatments~
We wanted something different, something no one else had so buying from a store or catalog was not our style. My dear friend Betsey {I worked with her at my last job}, she is an amazing seamstress and she offered to make the twins' bedding and window treatments. Matt and I had already been to a fabric store and picked the fabric out but we needed her opinion and measurements. One Saturday Betsey met Matt and I in a town a few hours away at the fabric store to purchase the fabric for the nursery. It was a hoot and a half, we spent several hours there planning it all on paper, measuring fabric and making a plan of attack! We set up one of the cribs at her house so she could use it to measure and make the bedding custom to fit instead of using a pattern. Once she started making everything we actually changed a few things that we first had on paper from the day at the fabric store...it just didn't come together as we had visioned. She has amazing attention to detail and every little thing must be perfect...
The bedding design was the same for each baby, but to make it alittle different Harrison has cording around his bumper pad and Huntleigh has a ruffle around her bumper pad. We used the striped fabric for a straight boxed dust ruffle, and a green and brown paisley design for the bumper pads. The quilt was made out of chocolate brown milky fabric on one side and butter corduroy squares and green and brown paisley print squares used on the bumpers. She also made alittle pillow and embroidered the twins' names on the pillow...for an extra touch of color to the chair. Betsey's husband Wayne made the cornice boards and covered them in a coordinating fabric for the window and above the closet, and we added chocolate brown panel curtains. The cornice boards and chocolate brown curtains give the room a complete put together look. We will forever be grateful to our dear friends Betsey and Wayne for all their love and assistance in making our twins nursery such a dream come true!
~The Vintage Shabby Chic Decorations~
To complete the twins' nursery I wanted to add my love for vintage and shabby chic decor. I went to my favorite local antique shop to see what they might have to go in the nursery. I saw several things that I fell in love with...one being a three tier wire rack that could hold toys, books, and blankets. I was in love with this rack, but didn't have that much left over in my budget to spend on such an item. I was beside myself, wondering how could I get this rack...could I sell something, could I borrow the money...oh my I "HAD" to have it!!! Several weeks went by and I went back to the antique shop to get a few other items I had saw to complete the nursery and while I was there I went down the aisle to make sure the three tired wire rack was still there...it was but had no price tag on it, it had been SOLD!!! I just cried standing in the shop, telling the clerk..."no one would love it as much as I did"! A few weeks later Matt and I were at church and a friend of ours told Matt she had a gift for us...when I went in the hallway there sat the three tired wire rack that I wanted so much...I couldn't believe my eyes!!
I wanted the twins' names above their beds along with a cute phrase I came up with on the other wall, so I contacted a representative from Uppercase Living. She came to our home and measured the space and gave me a few color options for the lettering. It turned out just as I had planned...I love the vinyl lettering from Uppercase Living!!
On the wall with the cute phrase, "these little blessings hold the keys to our hearts" I made a hanging picture frame out of a curtain rod, ribbon and vintage estate sale frames {that I painted Heirloom White and used brown craft paint to give it an antique look}...adding two cream colored wire keys I found at the antique store. On the small wall above the rocking chair I hung a large ornate frame {that I painted Heirloom White and used brown craft paint to give it an antique look} with two smaller frames inside with pictures of my ultrasound. I also purchased a metal "Jesus Loves Me" sign that sits on the night stand next to the chair. And lastly above the twins' crib along with their names I hung a metal scroll in the center to give more definition to that wall {I know you are saying...your crazy for hanging that above their beds, believe me I know...!!!!}
With all the twins' clothes washed, ironed and hung in the closet, folded in the drawers, and diapers and wipes stocked neatly on the shelves our nursery is ready for the arrival of our twins!!
Our dream nursery is complete, and it is perfect down to every little detail! We wouldn't change a thing, we love the way it all came together one piece at a time!
Disclaimer {All of the comments regarding all products purchased for our nursery are our own, and we are not being compensated.}
You might find it helpful to view these products by clinking on the links below...
~Cribs~
~Rocking Chair and Ottoman~
~Vinyl Lettering by Uppercase Living~
Vintage Momma
I am linking our twin nursery post to these link parties...
