How to Design a Nursery You Love (Read Until the End for a Surprise Announcement!)

Decorating a baby's nursery can be one of the most exciting parts of planning for parenthood. It also helps to make your expected baby seem more real! I remember dreaming of decorating my future baby's nursery long before even getting married and pinned many a pin to a "Little Ones" board on Pinterest.

We were so fortunate to move into a 2-bedroom house in the months before our son was born, which meant I got to go all out and decorate a whole room for our baby (but you could certainly apply any of these tips for any area of your home that your baby will inhabit).

When we found out we were having a baby boy, I knew I wanted to go with an outdoors theme. Unfortunately, we couldn't paint his room (or any of the other pistachio green rooms in the house) as we were renting, but I knew I wanted to do something on his wall behind his crib to make it special. I ended up finding this amazing removable wallpaper by an Etsy shop called Coloritto. While we certainly couldn't afford to cover the whole wall, the shop owner was so kind and allowed me to order a custom size that would fit right behind his crib. It came in two panels, and the second was definitely more difficult to put up (like test the strength of your marriage difficult, lol), but my husband and I eventually were able to get it on the wall and even with no bubbling and absolutely loved how it turned out! I hoped our son would dream of the mountains and outdoors, and look where we live now! When we moved, we transferred it to a sheet of plywood and now he can have it in his room wherever we live as long as he wants!

We were actually gifted our bassinet and crib from friends from church, which was so kind and such a blessing. We loved the Halo Bassinest and used that for the first 4 months of our son's life. And after that, we used the crib that was given to us and our son still sleeps in it. It even turns into a toddler bed for someday when Jack is ready for that!

We also knew we planned on rooming in with Jack until he transferred to his crib, so we decided to just sleep in his room from day 1, rather than keep his bassinet in our room, to help him get used to his room. We also knew we would have grandparents staying over often and thought it would just be easier to have them sleep in our room, so we put my daybed from my very first apartment, which trundles out to a king size mattress, in Jack's room. We actually started sleeping in his room in the weeks leading up to his birth so we could get used to a different bed and his room as well. We did finally transition out of his room when he turned 6 months old (it took a lot of convincing from my husband, but I finally did it).

Another thing I knew I wanted in his room was a good rocking chair. I hoped breastfeeding would go smoothly for us and knew I would be sitting in this chair for many hours of many days. We finally found the most perfect rocking chair from a local furniture store called Bernie & Phyl's. Not only was it a beautiful grey color and so comfortable, but it was a swivel, glider, rocker, and recliner. We continue to use it to this day and absolutely love it! It has made for the most cozy place to rock, nurse, read books, and snuggle.

I also knew I would need a table next to my rocking chair to hold pacifiers, burp cloths, nursing pads, nursing snacks, Vitamin D drops, my water bottle, and anything else I may need easy access to. I have loved this table with storage in the bottom!

In keeping with the outdoors theme I registered for some wall hangings including one that appropriately said "The Adventure Begins" and the cutest little nightlight of mountains and trees (they no longer have ours in stock, but this one is super cute!). I also found this beautiful bear wall hanging at Hobby Lobby, which ended up matching his hamper and toy box (similar to this one) perfectly, (they no longer have ours in stock, but this one is just as cute!)

Finally, next to his rocking chair we have this beautiful sign that my mother-in-law gave us that says, "Read me a story, tuck me in tight, say a sweet prayer, and kiss me goodnight." I love the sentiment behind it, as this is what we do every night.

We knew we wanted to make reading an important part of Jack's routine and that we would have quite a few books from us and friends and family; so when it came time to figure out where to put them all, I found these from Ikea and love them! They hold so many books and I love how they are all on display. It also makes it super easy for us to see them all and choose the ones we want to read each night and even for Jack to grab and "read" when he's playing in his room.

The house we rented at the time did not have any overhead light fixtures, therefore we had to buy lamps for all of our rooms, plus I like lamplight better than most overhead lights anyways. We registered for this adorable table lamp, which reminded me of a little mountain and goes with Jack's room so well. We also found these super cute floor lamps at Target, which are so different, but I love them so much! I also love the wood elements of both lamps and how it adds to the outdoor theme.

I knew we would need a changing table for the many diapers we would be changing. We registered for a simple white one from Target, with a basic white changing pad as well (we actually had a second one we kept in the living room for quick and easy diaper changes in those newborn days). As far as changing pad covers go, we have loved these ones from Burt's Bee's Baby, and have matching crib sheets as well, of course with a mattress protector underneath! Speaking of Burt's Bee's, we've loved their burp cloths and onesies as well. They are so well made and have held up very well after many washings.

Of course, next to that changing table, we needed a diaper genie for poopy diapers, and we decided to keep a regular trashcan next to that for the less stinky ones! We love this grey and white diaper genie and these simple grey trash cans.

I kept it hidden until Jack arrived as we were keeping his name to ourselves, but I also found this sweet letter "J" for the door to his bedroom. It makes entering his room in the morning and after naptime even more special, knowing that the sweet boy who's name carries that first letter.

When I worked as a nursing supervisor, I had a patient who had frequent seizures and his mother used an Angelcare Breathing Monitor, which she couldn't recommend enough it enough to us for any baby, not just those who are medically fragile. It has a video monitor and breathing sensor, and we have loved the sense of security it gives us!

We also knew we would need plenty of storage. We already had a 6-cube storage organizer, so we moved it into Jack's nursery and I got some foldable cube storage bins that matched the grey in his room.

On top of the cube storage shelf, we placed these adorable a-z bookends where we kept some of our favorite books. I found ours on clearance at TJMaxx, but these are super cute too, and both these and these would have matched his room perfectly as well!

I wanted to make sure Jack's room was very cozy as well, so I got this super soft rug during Wayfair's Way Day Sale, which fits perfectly under his crib. Speaking of cozy, Jack got so many blankets, luckily my co-workers got my this huge basket that was perfect for putting all of his blankets in. And now, he has been very into stuffed animals lately, so I have placed all of them in the basket.

One of my favorite things that was made for us was this beautiful customized growth chart for us to measure Jack's (and any future babies) heights on through the years and that we can take with us from home to home until we find our forever home. It was handmade for us by a friend, and I will cherish it forever. There are also so many beautiful ones on Etsy as well, including this one.

In keeping with the outdoors theme, I registered for these adorable grey blackout curtains with trees on them, which my best friend got for me. They match Jack's room theme perfectly, are very effective as blackout curtains, and we have loved them!

Finally, I knew I wanted a mobile and few other small touches to finish off his room. I searched online for outdoors mobiles and saw so many adorable ones on Etsy, but none had exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to make my own! I had actually been placed on a couple of days of rest from my full-time job by my doctor toward the end of my pregnancy and decided to spend those days creating this mobile for Jack's room. I ended up just free-hand cutting out trees, different size and color mountains, a moose, and a bear to hang on the mobile. I even went a step further and made mountain pillows and a banner of mountains and trees as well to hang in his room, and I could not be more pleased with how they turned out! Not only did I now have exactly what I wanted to decorate his room with, but I made it for my baby, and that just made it even more special.

When the pandemic began and the world shut down, I decided to create a mobile for a friend who would be having a baby girl in a matter of months. I asked what their nursery theme was, ordered some felt, and got to work making a mobile of rose-type flowers in coral, and anemones in cream and navy blue. It was another labor of love, and I was overjoyed when they received it and loved it!

Then, I had another friend who was due in the months after who planned to decorate her baby girl's nursery in a fruit theme. I ordered some more felt and created a mobile of lemons, grapefruit, and oranges. It turned out so so cute, and I found myself impressed with how my skills were improving in making these mobiles. I was so excited when they received theirs and hung it above her crib right away!

Both of these friends were so kind and complimentary on the mobiles I had made for them. One said her sister-in-law asked if they had bought it from Etsy, and the other said, "I smell an Etsy shop!" when she received hers. So, the wheels in my head started turning...

And then, the strangest thing happened. An old friend who I grew up in the same town as, and who now lived on the same road as me once again, posted on Facebook asking if anyone local knew of anyone who made nursery mobiles. I re-read the post, then gathered some courage and sent her a message telling her that I had made one for Jack, then recently made two more for friends and sent her photos of the ones I had created. Then she took a chance on me and said her family would like to commission me to create a custom mobile for a family friend.

They discussed it as a family and decided they wanted a colorful mobile of all different kinds of outdoor critters. I put together a document for them with what I had in mind, and they gave me the go ahead. I worked tirelessly to create this custom mobile, and with each step I completed, I became more and more impressed with my creative side that was coming out. I loved cutting out then hand-stitching each animal, stuffing them to be perfectly cute, then adding the sweetest details to them to make them even more special. I was truly, and so very happy with the end product, and so was the family that I made it for to give as a gift. The mom sent a thank you card, the dad sent an email, and the daughter who had initially posted kept me in the loop on when they gave the mobile gift and told me how pleased the gift-receiver was to hang my creation over the just-born son's crib.

I cannot tell you how happy it made me to create something so special for such a special time in this new family's life and to make my old family of friends happy with their gift as well. I asked my husband if it would be crazy of me to create an Etsy shop, and he quickly said absolutely not, and, to go for it! So, I ordered more felt, and got to work.

Fast-forward to today and I am officially launching The Little Blessings Shop on Etsy! So far I have a mobile of blush flowers, a mobile of white flowers, and two space mobiles that feature a rocket ship, an astronaut, Neptune, Saturn, Earth, a star, and a moon. I absolutely love how these four turned out, but I just got a whole new shipment of felt in from another Etsy shop called bbdsupplies. With this felt I plan to make two outdoors mobiles like Jack's original mobile that started this all, as well as two fruit mobiles like the one I made for one of my friends. Once those are done, I also plan to start adding banners and pillows to match the mobiles like I did for Jack's room.

I am also open to custom mobiles, but probably just on a case by case basis so I don't get overwhelmed. But I know how nice it is to have exactly what you want, so I want to be able to do that for other parents as well!

I have absolutely loved getting in touch with my creative side over the past several months and I still have a lot to learn, but I am so excited to see what happens with The Little Blessings Shop. I hope you take the time to look at my current listings on Etsy as well as follow along on my The Little Blessings Shop Instagram page to see what I'm working on, watch my creations come to life, and maybe even some fun sales or giveaways in the future!

I absolutely love Jack's nursery, and still smile when I look at the banner I made over his changing table or the mountain pillows resting on the daybed in his room. I love how I carefully selected and placed each item in his room to make it a special place just for him. If you would like a special mobile (or in the future banner or pillow) to add to your little blessings' room, please comment here, send me an email through the blog, send me a message on Etsy, or send me an email at thelittleblessingsshop@gmail.com. And let me know what you think of Jack's nursery as well as The Little Blessings Shop in the comments!