Name: “The Peach" (18 months)
Location: Alameda, CA
Room Size: 10' x 10'

Leslie has loved vintage goods all her life and is an inveterate thrifter. So it only makes sense that her daughter's bedroom would be the beneficiary of these years of collecting and honing her vintage style. "The Peach's" room is like stepping back in time and also honors older family members by including items that belonged to them as well as things from Leslie's own childhood. Leslie tells us more about the details and touches in her daughter's bedroom and passes on some tips for bringing a little bit of the past to your present home.

How would you describe the look and feel of this room: Vintage cozy

Does the rest of your home have a vintage vibe: Oh yes—a mix of vintage and modern. Kinda a hodge-podge of eras. What can I say, I was raised on tag sales.

What is your favorite piece or element in the room? I love the cuckoo clock. Most cuckoo clocks are rather dark and this light one is sweet. Also my father collects antique clocks, so it is a nice nod to a family tradition.

What was the biggest challenge decorating this room? I think the biggest challenge of the room was that there isn’t a closet and almost all of the walls have either a door (or two) or a window, so there wasn’t as much usable space or storage in what some may consider a big room. I’m all about re-purposing, so I turned my old “office in a box” I bought more than 10 years ago from Hold Everything into a kid-size closet. I found some great vintage luggage that I popped on top of the homemade wardrobe to hold the clothes that don’t fit the Peach yet. And I slipped my Great Aunt Lil’s wooden trunk behind a door for added storage and slap-dashed a little cushion on top turning it into some additional seating.

What do your friends say about the room? They say it is very cheery and kid friendly, which I like because vintage shouldn’t be something that is put up high on a shelf and not touched —it should be lived with and loved just like it originally was.

Tell us about some of the diy projects here: Oh, I kinda went craft crazy during my pregnancy. I think my favorite part of the room is the quilt and matching crib skirt that I made from a vintage tablecloth. So many vintage tablecloths are too sweet to spend the majority of their lives in drawers and I was looking for a way to incorporate them into the nursery. I used a different vintage table cloth to make the curtains. But I also love the banner, which a very dear friend made for me for as part of my baby shower décor.

What are your favorite places to find vintage children’s items? I find the best stuff at small little tag sales, proper estate sales and eBay. The Irmi lamp I got off of eBay for a song and the little school desk I picked up off the street. And I collected fun vintage children’s items throughout my life because of their unique design or color. I had the vintage records for ages and I bought the red elephant book bag from a flea market in London in the nineties. Both items just made sense and fit into the Peach’s room—like they were always meant to be there.

Do you have any advice for parents looking to include some vintage/retro objects in a nursery? Think about the vintage or retro item from a child’s perspective. Adult cool sometimes doesn’t translate into kid/toddler cool. I had a friend who collected vintage clown figurines which she then incorporated into her little girl’s nursery only to have her little girl complain about nightmares involving clowns a month later.

If money were no object, what’s your dream source: An estate sale from a large family that never moved or tossed old clothing, old furniture, old anything away.

Resources:
Crib: Babies-R-Us
Wall Flowers: Urban Outfitters (I spraypainted a couple red)
Hooks: Anthropologie
Poster: L’Affiche Moderne
Flooring: FLOR (Poodle)
Everything else was re-purposed, hand-made or bought off of eBay or Craigslist

Thanks Leslie! Leslie is also known as "Dottie" on Modern Kiddo where she blogs with her vintage-loving partner in crime "Alix" about life with their children, vintage and vintage-inspired goods, decor and parties.