So far I have stuck pretty close to my vision board for Eleanor’s room. The one change I have made is the dresser. We are eventually going to order the dark wood one from Isabel’s original vision board instead of the light wood one seen on hers. 

Isabel’s room however has been a different story. A while back I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to do silk curtains in the nursery. I don’t know what prompted that thought, maybe it was the amount of jelly that has been smashed into my sweatshirts since May when Eleanor’s love of cereal bars really took off. Maybe it’s the ever present smudge of something or other that appears on my pants at some point in every day. The bottom line is kids are kids. They are messy. And try as you might to restrict food and markers and messes to specific areas, remnants will eventually make their way into other spaces so the silk will have to wait until there is some self restraint. I am all for quality. The longevity you get from quality pieces is truly worth the investment. But this specific thing seems silly with kids. 

Please note my obsession with washable slipcovers. I insisted on a new white couch for the living room and got JD on board with the washability of the thing — which has already required a good scrub thank you Finn and chimney inspectors. 

So, Isabel’s room.

After nixing the curtains I went back to the drawing board. It took me a while to figure out what to do in this space. I liked another pair of striped curtains (these to be exact) but with the other pieces we had selected for the room they didn’t feel quite right. I kept circling around solids and patterns and couldn’t land on anything concise. Everything felt too over the top or too boring. Eventually I noticed that the ones I liked most had more whimsical qualities. I love these for example but can only envision them in an Americana themed room. That is when I decided the whole plan for the room needed to be scrapped. We were starting from scratch.

I love the ideal of an Americana, red, white, and blue room but this is something I picture happening at a lake house. But, I have an ick about themed rooms. In the kindest way possible, this is MJ’s fault, absolutely. See ya cute cute fireworks curtains. You don’t fit the vibe. Maybe one day. 

Then I saw this rug and the wheels started turning. It reminds me of those old Dutch tapestries with the unicorns on display at the Cloisters. It was perfect. Neutral enough for a nursery, but with whimsy and a tiny bit reminiscent of those toddler floor mats with the road patterns for kids in the ‘90s by way of the river. 

I’m laughing right now thinking about how much of my home decor inspo has originated at The Met.

Once I had the rug nailed down we had a starting point. We painted Isabel’s room Cotton White by Sherwin Williams, which is a warm white that reminds me of clotted cream. Her crib is “Heirloom White” which I didn’t realize was so close in color until it was assembled. After seeing how similar the crib and walls were I wanted to be extra careful in selecting the rest of the pieces for the room so as not to clash or be too matchy-matchy. The curtains would need to be bright white if they were to have any in it and I started leaning away from the green striped curtains. Then I found these — clean white with a scalloped edge in a contrasting trim, green or cornflower blue to perfectly match the rug. We went with sage, naturally. 

To round out the space I ordered these French return curtain rods with an industrial feel in warm gold. This lampshade would be a fun way to tie in the greens all around on an alabaster lamp. The dresser pictured was originally on Eleanor’s board. I really love it and went to see it in person too. But, we also saw the dresser that matches Isabel’s crib in person and are now torn which direction to go in. And finally, this sweet nightlight with a ruffled skirt. This shop has the sweetest designs for nightlights. I ordered two, one for each of them. 

Eventually we will get her a little chair to go in her reading nook with the little bookcase we currently have in there. It used to be mine. I went back and forth about getting a glider and ended up deciding against it. Our set up for the last 8 months (!!) has worked pretty well for us. No need to need to purchase and then relocate a giant chair at this point. 

This feels more like a nursery doesn’t it?