"This place (...) is so marvelous that if I described it to you now you would go crazy with excitement." - Fantastic Mr. Fox
It all began five years ago when I was wistfully walking the baby aisle at Target, dreaming of adding another member to our family.
We had one little boy already who brought us so much joy. My husband and I were ready to be parents again. However, we knew we needed to wait. We were just not "ready" to be driving down the street of New Parent-hood again. But then I saw these adorable fox crib sheets and they were so beautiful. I remember crying right there. Right there in Target over crib sheets and no baby in my belly and the notion of patience.
Screw patience. I bought the damn crib sheets.
And they've been sitting in a drawer, collecting dust, since that restless day five years ago.
But wouldn't you know it that after years of planning and dreaming we're in the last few weeks of our pregnancy with our second son? We are all tickled! And last month, I busted out those fox crib sheets to design a colorful, wild Fantastic Mr. Fox - inspired nursery for our little man.
I knew I wanted a literary nursery as our oldest, Noah, had a Peter Pan room when he was first born. Plus, children's literature has a big place in the heart of me and my husband.
One of our favorite stories is Roald Dahl's, Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is so deliciously strange and cozy. Our baby is due in the Fall which matches perfectly with this book. And in my mind I get the feeling from him that he is going to be just a bit wild and colorful, just like the Fox Family.
I designed a mood board for inspiration on different textiles, colors, and themes I wanted to surround ourselves with. Specifically, I wanted this room to be a haven for play. We get gorgeous natural light from the side window; I can just imagine lots of reading and tummy time during the cold months ahead.
There are a few things I haven't been able to add, yet. I want to create a record mobile and add some more DIY's with a wall of pennant flags. I'm also eyeing a basket fixture for the overhead light from IKEA. The light we have now is a bit of an eyesore. But! I cannot go anymore. It's getting too close and I'm exhausted every day. Ha!
One of our new additions that I absolutely love is the accent wall. It's removable
wallpaper that I found on Amazon which is perfect, because we rent! It was incredibly affordable, easy to apply, and made a HUGE impact in this tiny room. (Can you spot those fox sheets?)
Another awesome Amazon find was the alphabet rug. We placed it on our registry and my grandmother gifted it for us. I absolutely adore it! It's is fantastically soft and I can just see a spread of books, blocks, and a baby on it.
The furniture was gifted to us by my wonderful boss and friend from Oklahoma Children's Theatre! We would not have been able to do all of this if it weren't for her kind gift. The rocker is so cozy and luckily, as I was shopping around, children's illustrator Christian Robinson (Gaston, You Matter, new illustrations for The Last Stop on Market Street, School's First Day of School and more) had just debuted his collection with (*surprise, surprise*) Target. The crochet, rainbow pin-wheel blanket is his own design and I think it adds a fun pop of color. It's also snuggly and great for late-night
nursing and stories.
There were a lot of DIY's! I felt like I was constantly sewing something for this room. Things that were handmade is the orange gingham pillow -- which was a tablecloth we were going to use for our drive-by shower! And when things weren't DIY'ed they were thrifted! Like the fox pillow below and the owl lamp above. Both of those were a $5 steal.
I also made special prints to hang inspired by the book. They're not accurate (as to avoid copyright), but they are fun and colorful. You can purchase those as a collection for your own fun room in the links below!
Above those I used scrap fabric from the rail cover I made, some red felt, and yellow thread to make Foxy's star apples as a garland. It was one of the more fun projects! It was my first time to embroider and I love how perfectly imperfect they look.
"(...) Even these apples look fake - but at least they've got stars on them."
And that's that. Our nursery is finished. It's delightful and happy and oh so colorful. Now, we just gotta have this baby. Cuss yeah!
Love,
B.
Foxy & Fantastic Print Collection
Amazon Affiliate Links for Nursery Items
Green Herringbone Wallpaper:
Black and White Alphabet Rug
Comments