Child's name and age: Sonny, 3 months
City: Phoenix, Arizona
What we love about nurseries is the tenderness and care that goes into every single aspect of their design. Sonny's room is a wonderful example of this. Filled with handmade items from friends and family (in fact, almost every soft item in the room was crafted by hand), this nursery absolutely exudes love. Sonny's mom, Tina, who also happens to be an interior designer, taught herself to make everything from bibs to curtains to quilts. She shares her photos and tips below the jump.
We asked Tina to give us a tour of some of her favorite items, but first we wanted some background about her inspiration for this room...
I knew that I wanted a fun space. I wanted to incorporate many colors so that when I purchased or made something, it didn't have to exactly match a color or theme. I wanted it to be modern, but not cold. I also didn't want it to look perfect and so expected. I based the colors and design of the nursery off of the bedding. The first thing I found was the striped fabric at a local quilt store. I loved how it was so vibrant and youthful. The stripes made it more uniform and modern, but the colors were so joyful. I decided to use the aqua color off the fabric as the field paint color for the room…and it all just went on from there.
I'm a huge fan of Day of the Dead artwork and I just love skulls in general so a friend of mine mixed cute with creepy and came up with this adorable stuffie! She also made the striped monster. She used the scraps of my striped fabric as his hair.
I made the bumper and bed skirt. I found a plain white bumper at Babies 'R' Us and cut off the ties to use as the filler for my bumper. The skirt was just a made-up pattern. I also made the stuffed 2D car sitting on the shelf above the crib. I'm always trying to sew new things, so this was my first attempt at a stuffed toy.
I made the bunting, as well as the orange retro painting. The painted wooden bird houses (hanging with the bunting flags and one big one sitting on the shelf above the dressers) were made for me by one of the many girls that put on my baby shower. The theme of the shower was "nesting" and the girls decorated the picnic tables with little nests filled with pastel M&Ms and bird houses painted in the colors of my nursery. The houses were centerpieces and I decided to keep a few of them to accent the room.
I made the chair pillow and the curtain valance. My Mom made the quilt draped over the chair. She and I went together to pick out fabric for a baby quilt and I fell in love with these colors. They are so retro and old, but in a good way! It just reminded me of the colors and patterns I saw when I was growing up.
The framed "Sonny" artwork was made by a close friend of mine. She asked for a piece of the striped fabric and came up with this beautiful piece of art. She hand sewed all the buttons to create Sonny's name and underneath it are mountains with little green trees! Sonny's actual name on his birth certificate is Son. It is a Vietnamese name and it means mountain... so that explains the mountains.
We asked Tina if she has any tips for our crafty, craft-loving readers, including people who might be intimidated by making their own toys or baby gear:
My advice to those who want to make their own items: go online, search through photos of things you like, and search for tutorials. There are so many books and patterns out there for baby products and most of the time you can go through the pattern and simplify it to fit your need. There are a few things I won't make -- like baby carriers -- just because of safety reasons. I just don't think I could make it as sturdy. If you can't make it, I recommend second hand/consignment stores. It's a great way to recycle, reduce, reuse!
Great advice! Thanks for sharing, Tina.
If you want to see more of Tina's craftiwork, check out her blog and her Flickr streams.
Comments (13)
Amazing talent! It really adds up to a beautiful, unique and cozy room. Out of curiousity, which Ikea dresser is it and where is the big, grey chair from? thanks!
This is adorable! I love the fabrics.
kristertrixter - I think we see 2 dressers from the Robin series (we used to have 1) but I believe the line has been discontinued. Too bad if so - it was a great, sturdy dresser.
Lovely! If you described it on paper I might not think all those colors would work together, but they do and it's great.
I spy a Popple!
Where is the rug from? Too cute. Thanks.
I'm pretty sure that rug is also from Ikea: LEKPLATS play mat
two questions: one, what is the paint color; and two, how can i get my hands on one of those day of the dead softies? they are super cute!
thank you for all your kind comments.
kristertrixter:bp090499 is right. the dresser is called 'robin'. i also think the line may have been discontinued. the glider is made by 'best chairs'. most of their chairs are really traditional looking, but we got pretty lucky and found this slightly more modern one on sale at a local baby store. it's more of a sandy color although it looks grey in the picture.
nikspencemom: indeed the area rug is from ikea. the lamp on the dresser is also from ikea.
cara o'd: the paint color is called 'tame teal' from sherwin williams. a friend of mine made the day of the dead bunnies. if you'd like her contact info email me. :)
thanks for the paint info, tina. i've been searching for your email but couldn't find it on the site or your blogs? thanks!
oops.... tina.nealis@gmail.com
What a creative mind you have...this looks beautiful!
Very cute.
where is that grey chair from?!