Name: Polly
Age: 16 months
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Hot on the heels of our Small Kids, Big Color contest comes Polly's room, which beautifully illustrates how a white backdrop serves as a perfect foil for lively color. Polly's mom, Katie, found her inspiration in a set of Ida Pearle alphabet cards, using them as a palette for repainting all the hand-me-down furniture in the room. The result is fresh and bright, yet still wonderfully restful.
No surprise: Polly's mom, Katie, is a design pro. Her latest project, Art Wall Online, is a carefully curated virtual display space that exhibits the artwork of independent artists. Katie has applied these same admirable curatorial skills in Polly's room. Colors and textures are layered in a comfortable way that is homey without being cluttered. We asked Katie about her favorite elements, toughest DIYs, and more...
Inspiration: My inspiration came from the Ida Pearle Alpha cards. They forced me to create a room without a real color palette. Any color works in this room.
Favorite Element: Denyse Schmidt quilt
Biggest Challenge: Painting everything. The walls were chartreuse when we moved in, and they're wood. Tough. The ceiling. We painted all the furniture in the room: the changing table, dresser and crib.
What Friends Say: It's a happy space.
Proudest DIY: The linen roman shades. They were... hard.
Biggest Indulgence: The custom glider. I really wanted a chair that was super comfortable. I felt like I could splurge on it since all of the other furniture in the room was free.
Best Advice: Create a happy space.
Dream Source: Etsy
Resources: Crib, dresser, changing table, side-table were all hand-me-downs. The dresser was actually mine from when I was a little girl. The mobile and butterflies are from Etsy. The glider was custom made at The Comfort Shoppe (Madison, WI). Quilt and pillows are by Denyse Schmidt. The alphabet cards are by Ida Pearle.
Thanks for the tour, Katie and Polly!
Images: Katie Stephenson, with additional photography by Stephanie Natale
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It's lovely and so cheerful!
I love it.
What a wonderful mix of colors! If the walls weren't white they would be overwhelming, but as it is, they're perfect. And I love those butterflies, and the quilts are lovely.
beautiful! i love the walls. it makes the room feel like it's on a boat.
Just beautiful! Way to represent Madison. =) I love seeing nurseries, especially girls' nurseries, that aren't overwhelmingly girly. This is lovely.
This is very soothing and happy. I love it!
The quilt and pillow are gorgeous and artful -- such a nice departure from so many pre-fab crib sets. Also a space that will be easy to update to a more "grown up" look as your daughter gets older, without too many changes.
warm and cozy! love it.
Oh, my goodness, this is just fabulous! Oh, the colors are glorious, the feel of the whole room is perfect! Yay Katie! Lucky Polly!
I love this room! It looks like such a happy place to be. Everything looks so beautiful and original and welcoming. The butterflies are a lovely detail, too.
ooh it's LOVELY! thanks for this.
where is the red teddy bear from?
I love it all! Where did you get the bear?
I've seen a similar or identical bear for sale at Old Navy. The one I saw was hot pink -- adorable and affordable!
that bear has some attitude :)
is there any way to find out where the bear came from?
I trawled Etsy and Google and couldn't find it! If anyone finds out where the bear is from , please post! :)
Hi Everyone. Thanks for your lovely comments. The "bear" is actually a "kitty cat" who came from Anthropologie. It's my daughter's favorite "baby," and yes, it does have attitude :)
Thanks TammyE! Still looking for the red one though..
Oh, and it's bright hot pink, not red. Bad photo-processing skills here, sorry.
Love the roman shades (and the whole room)...where did that orange linen come from?
Thanks!
The peachy-pink linen came from a local fabric shop in Madison that specialized in custom window treatments: Creative Expressions.
It's not a bear, it's a hot pink corduroy cat from Jellycat. I'm a big fan of Jellycat. He's called the Cordy Roy cat and you can get him at many places.
http://jellycat.com/usa/products/jellycat/cordyroys/
ooh happiness! thanks Katie, thanks Pencils! :)
I love this one- http://www.justjellycat.co.uk/Browse-by-Animal/Bears/Cordy-Roy-Bear/p-7-101-4002/
I absolutely love what you've done with this space! Would you mind sharing the paint color you used on the yellow dresser?
Wondering where the mirror came from? It's totally awesome!
Paint color coming up, I just need to retrieve it from my storage space, stay tuned. The mirror is from "A New Leaf" in Old Town Chicago where Lincoln meets Wells. Love that little florist/shop/event space.
Hi again! Paint is "Chameleon"--Ben Moore "Aura" collection. It's actually not yellow but more of a chartreuse.
Thanks so much for posting the paint color!
The butterfly that landed on the mirror is a sweet touch. The dresser and mirror photo is my favorite. The eggs in the basket - I will remember that for my little girl.
Sorry, the paint color was a color match--I did use Aura paint but the paint color is actually from C2 paints, and it is called Chameleon.
I love the Denyse Schmidt quilt and have my eye on one of her set's for our son who's due in October. The glider is great, too... just ordered one yesterday from a dealer in Massachusetts near our house and I swear it's the same manufacturer and fabric!