BrittanyMakes

My son, Zano (pronounced like “on” not “an”, more about his name here), is technically a toddler now. 14 months old. I can hardly believe it! He is officially saying words now. His vocabulary consists of “shoe” and “cheese”, which sound like “choo” and “chee”. I die.

I think the denial I’ve carried over him growing up so fast spilled over into his nursery. If I didn’t finish it, he wouldn’t grow up, right? Do you recall the mood board I created? I was all about the neutrals, keeping things light and airy and serene in hopes to counteract the loud colors of baby toys.

 

First, I painted his walls a nice shade of gray (Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore), brought in the decor and started hanging art and mirrors that I had on hand. I bought a white rug (which I loved but was two sizes too small, ugh!) and told myself “be happy about this, it’s exactly what you wanted!”

For some reason the space really bummed me out. It was OK, but it wasn’t jiving well. The walls looked dingy, the art and mirrors weren’t purposeful, the rug was too small, the rocker wasn’t working with the space.  I happened to be researching something about light and color, and learned about directional light its impact on the color your walls. Zano’s room receives Northern facing light, and the colors you don’t want to paint in a northern facing room are: gray, white, blue. Basically anything with cool undertones are a no-go. The trick to dealing with a northern facing room is to embrace it’s drama and intimacy, and go dark!

Here’s what happened. I sold the rug to a cute, expecting couple, and went on the hunt for something vintage. I wasn’t looking for red, but this rug had me at hello!  Then, I painted the walls a dark blue, Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore. This wall color is everything!

 

Then, my good friend Shavonda hooked me up with these stellar chairs, for a deal that was basically free! They are in such good condition, I feel terrible even thinking about reupholstering them. I let them hang in our living room for about a month, but I knew they were destined to be set against those walls. Tell me you agree! Mustard + Navy 4eva!

I would say I’m about 85% happy with the room so far. A larger rug would be preferable, but I love the energy this one brings to the space. I also need to figure out the blank space above the crib as well as the blank space below the wall sconce. I’ll get there soon!

Sources: rug (vintage) / crib (discontinued, similar here) / crib sheets (target, past season) / himmeli mobile / hamper / brass floor lamp (vintage) / side table (Target, past season) / curtains / sconce / wildebeest bust (West Elm, no longer available) / hare print / chairs (vintage) / mongolian fur pillow / flokati / fox / wolf / hedgehog