This beautiful room appeals to an adult sensibility, but is a calm, welcoming spot for a baby. Kati shares: The room is tiny and we just wanted a serene space full of special things. We painted the room a dove grey (grey is my favorite color and one of my favorite words) with white trim and we used Muller's older sister's crib and dresser (from Walmart three years ago) with a simple cream colored organic fitted sheet instead of a fancy bedding set.
The bird mobile is from Anthropologie. The photo above his crib is one of my own (it's of his dad and sister holding sea shells). The print above his dresser was drawn by his great-grandfather decades ago. The poms might be overplayed, but he loved them so much from his big sister's birthday party that I had to put them in his room. He's got an antique hutch that was mine as a child full of board books with a Pottery Barn Kids bird light on top, along with a ceramic hand and foot print and his first pair of Minnetonkas. He's got a vintage wooden skateboard with roller derby wheels along with beachy coral, a special rattle, and a special horseshoe on the window sills. Other throws and pillows were from West Elm. The rocker was from Kmart.
Thanks Kati! Readers, you can probably guess that Kati is a photographer by profession - if you're in the Portland area, check out her site of beautiful family and child photography.
(Images: k dimoff photography)






Ercol Bar Stool
Very lovely. I really love the gray walls--so soothing.
love it. great choice of items to create a calm space.
Wow! I would never have thought of this scheme for a baby's room but it does work. Now if it is also located in the Travel & Helpful People gua it really makes sense and will activate this area of the home, too!
This is gorgeous! I wish we could see more of it. Are there photos of the rest of the room posted anywhere?
Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful. Love the wall color, and the chair...I have to find it! Did you buy it recently?
What a beautiful room-- so simple and truly calming. I'm definitely taking some ideas from this one!
lovely. can you please let us know what exact paint color that is? i'm expecting in july and this is almost exactly what we had envisioned for a gender-neutral and more mature aesthetic. well done.
I love the grey walls, but the color grey is totally overplayed in this room. This is the most depressing child's room I have ever seen. Seems likes snapshots from "Annie" (at least her dress had color). Where is the energy and life of a child? Maybe a matchbox car will add color and some joy- ya think?
I too would love to know the brand/name of the wall color. It's beautiful. love the little guy's name too.
thanks, everyone! the paint is miller paint's acro-pure paint in "rand moon". and muller (pronounced like "mulled it over") was my tiny german grandmother's maiden name.
the rocker is three years old, i don't think kmart has them anymore but that's ok because it slips on the carpet anyway. if i did it again, i'd get a glider that looked similar!
and nubianisme, i'll take that as a compliment. i totally don't subscribe to the theory that a joyful space *must* be colorful. i myself often find joy in what other people might consider non-colors (and other beautiful colors as well). and i think a joyful room is made of history and hand-made things like the blanket my dad wove on his loom while i was pregnant that is draped over the back of the rocker. going to babies r us and buying a matchbox car in a bright color wouldn't necessarily do it for me :)
i think this room is lovely. and i must agree with you about the fact that 'color' does not equal joyful. i think the most important space for a baby (or anyone actually) is to be in a place that is warm, cozy, serene and soothing. sometimes color does that, other times color is so overdone it makes one's eyes cross. similarly, more neutral colors like gray, ivory or taupe can accomplish this end...and you have certainly achieved that in this room
i think this room is lovely and i must agree with you that color does not equal joyful. I think a joyful space is one that is serene, beautiful and cozy. you have certainly achieved these things with this room!
I think the room is beautiful. Love the color Gray, our daughters room is gray and we have the same mobile from Anthropologie. "color' in a child's room does NOT equal joyful! Our daughter is 1 and 1/2 and is the happiest baby around. And for that matter her twin brother's name is Gray and he is as happy as a clam. You have achieved a peaceful and lovely room.
I love this. Serene. Simple. Classic. I would like my whole house to look like this!
I love this room. And I love katid's poignant and elegant response to someone who represents the societal pressure to conform and buy more stuff :)
I absolutely love this room! So serene and beautiful, a very calming space. I want to sleep in it! :) Babies are bombarded with sensory experiences; there's no reason a bedroom also needs to be full of loud colors.
I *MUST* have that bird mobile!!! I love it! I checked the Anthropologie website and they don't have it anymore... does anyone know where I could find it?
this site also sells the "flock of swallows" mobile!
http://www.upriverhome.com/699.html
absolutely gorgeous room! I reposted it on my blog earlier.
I've always felt that bedrooms (and this is my personally feeling, of course) should be havens of quiet and rest. Obviously as children grow and develop their personalities, they may incorporate some pretty crazy stuff into their decor, but I really love the idea of providing a baby with a very serene environment like this.
I love the bright rooms featured on here but I love rooms like this even more...I just kind of had an "aaaaah" moment when I looked at these pictures.
I love this. It is just beautiful. I would really like to see more of it, perhaps a tour?
I really love the feeling of this peaceful and quiet room. The palette is incredible !
When I did my son's nursery, everyone thought it was a bit plain and not colorful. Now that he is 10 months old, his own toys add more than enough color. When he will be older, I intend to display some of his drawings, so that will add color too. I love the focal point (ie colorful point) to be made and loved by the child who lives in the room. I think your room will grow beautifully with your child !
This is a beautiful room, period. It was obvious even before I read the comments that every item in here was chosen with love, which is as it should be.
Thank you for sharing.
I agree about the color! First of all, it's beautiful, and perfect for a little boy. Grey is wonderful in that it can be played so masculine but could also be so feminine. It's all about how you work with it.
I definitely don't think that it's too depressing! The lack of lots of color in the room is very soothing to a young child. Grey is wonderful in that you can add pops of color in to make it more exciting. Besides, his bedroom might not be where he really plays or needs to be active, it's quite possible that they have a separate play room.
I love it!
I love the room; I love grey and white. I've read that babies (little babies) can distinguish black and white before they distinguish colors, so this might be an excellent room for a tiny baby to learn and live in. However, kids love bright colors (my favorite color scheme as a youngster was bright red with bright green), so I think that as Muller grows, he might want brighter colors in his room, and I hope you'll humor him in that. Grey and white seems to me very adult taste, not really what a child would choose.
my kids do have a big, bright playroom that is currently messy as hell. and colorful! so i think they'll survive. :)
thanks so much, everyone! so glad most people love it as much as i do :)
thanks for the paint info. would love a house tour!
I'm a big fan of bedrooms are for sleeping, and this space is SO serene. Really lovely.
Considering I live in Portland and it's gray and cloudy enough as it is, I have to say this room is ridiculously depressing, especially for an infant. I'm all for gray soothing walls, but you definitely need some pops of colors around.
well bless your heart, lafferteezy ;)
Oh goodness! I simply adore this room- so peaceful and serene. This room reminds me of my best friend- if she was allowed to paint at her place, I expect that her child's room would be similar.
Bravo katid!