Lil’ Man Cave : Our Boy’s Nursery
We have been working on our nursery since we first started trying to get pregnant – this is over 2 years of visualizing and planning that has finally come to life. When I say ‘we’, you all know what I mean: Scott has been inundated with my constant crazy gushing over pinterest ‘ohhhh, how cute is thiiiiis?!’ without actually having any input. He’s lucky I even gave in and let him put his little Star Wars Itty Bitty on the shelf!
So the plan from day one was a gender neutral nursery despite us both wanting to find out the sex of our baby. We never had plans for a vomit of bright pink or blue on the walls – use colour to accessorise people, please. And think about possible re-sell of your house in the future! I have always been a fan of interior design, and decorating our home is a passion and hobby of mine. To me, the nursery was such an exciting project, and one that would keep me very busy on Instagram each night! I know a lot of people will be saying that the baby can’t appreciate it and won’t use pillows until he’s a toddler, but I will appreciate it and the pillows are freaking cute!
We began with a colour scheme: neutral brown, mint and white, with a touch of blue or pink depending on the gender of Baby Purls. Scott painted the back wall of the nursery a gorgeous ‘warm neutral’ by Dulux, and we used ’41 Orchard’ triangle wall stickers (removable) to liven it up. After this, we waited for our 20-week scan until we found out that we were having a healthy little man, and then I went nuts! Unfortunately, our PayPal account is set up in Scott’s name and he began to receive multiple emails with receipts of my pricey purchases! Lucky he loves me :)
One of these indulgences was the leather strap shelves which I stumbled across on my ever-favourite Instagram. I knew I had to have them when I first laid eyes on them (see, it’s actually like a love affair or compulsion – it’s dangerous!) I ordered these from Interior Motives very early on and when I finally got to hang the shelves on the wall, my vision began to fall into place.
The next big adventure was daunting – Baby Bunting. We had planned a Sunday to go to the homemaker centre and get the ‘big stuff’ – the cot, pram, dresser etc. I will never forget the feeling of walking in there and immediately wanting to run in the opposite direction (and never ever return!) There were people everywhere, there was ‘stuff’ everywhere, and I quickly realised just how little I knew about having a baby. There were cot mattress protectors and sheet sets and coverlets, but not just one, there were ten different designs and styles and options just to freak you right out. So I took a deep breath and decided to find what we had gone to get, and panic later. Let’s just say it didn’t help that Scott was suffering from the worst hangover in the history of drinking! Thankfully, I had done online research before entering the store and knew which cot and pram we wanted, and I highly recommend others do the same. As much as you want to spend an hour with the staff getting their opinions and having them dote over you, it just doesn’t happen that way!
And then this is where my addiction to Adairs became a real problem! I would hate to know the amount of money we have spent in that place, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Their baby/kids decor is to die for, and their linen is so soft and delish – I have been tempted on multiple occasions to hop in his cot and snuggle up! I totally recommend becoming an Adairs member (Linen Lovers) – it costs $20 but you immediately get a $20 voucher when you sign up meaning its actually free, and you get everything in store cheaper even if it’s on sale. I promise I’m not an Adairs sales rep, but maybe I could be? Staff discount? One more thing, Adairs have an amazing rocking chair which isn’t on their online store, but I’m so glad I heard of this through word of mouth as I couldn’t find a comfortable nursing chair anywhere else – so here’s your heads up!
My next project was a dresser – we don’t have a huge amount of storage in our place so I wasn’t keen on the stock-standard change tables they sell at the big baby stores. I looked on pinterest for inspiration and found a beautiful 8-drawer large dresser on ‘project nursery’ with a change mat on top – again, I had to have it! I then found out it was from Ikea (eeeek). Without sounding like a pompous bitch(!) I knew I had to make it more unique – this is where the leather strap drawer handles come in, AND they match the shelves…winning!
Lastly, we re-designed the interior of the existing built in robe to make it more ‘kid friendly’. We reduced the hanging space and added shelving for extra storage. This idea again stemmed from Pinterest, and was a clever idea to organise our man’s copious amount of clothing.
From here on in, it was all ‘final touches’. I ordered some useless (but oh so adorable) décor for the shelves and dresser, which add the ‘wow’ factor (sourced from local small Australian business’). After my baby shower, I was able to stock up all my drawers and step back to look at the end result of our ‘little man cave’ – one I am super proud of and, most importantly, one that will make Baby Purls feel completely comfortable and utterly loved.