Archive for the ‘Newborn Nestorations’ Category

Happy Friday everyone! As promised, today I am posting part 3 of the most recent maternity and newborn lifestyle sessions. Today we are highlighting the nursery of a beautiful and very lucky baby girl!


Hello Amanda! I am so thrilled to be able to show everyone your daughter’s beautiful nursery. Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us all about what makes Leala’s room so special!

Q: Firstly, I know that you decorated the nursery yourself. Where did you find your inspiration or ideas for the room?
A: Most of the inspiration and ideas for Leala’s nursery came from Google searches, Pinterest, and the colors of a mix of Potpourri that we have in our guest bathroom. Another inspiration was my mom who is an interior decorator, so naturally, growing up my bedrooms were always beautifully designed. Having my own haven to come home to always provided a sense of comfort and beauty. I’m hopeful that Leala will feel that too.

Q: Did you have a particular theme in mind or a favorite color? What was your starting point for the design?
A: Well I definitely knew from the beginning that our daughter’s room needed to be designed with bright and cheerful colors. She was very active in my belly so we figured a happy colorful room would suit her personality. So I started the design process by looking for art, hoping to find the “inspiration piece”. Google helped with this one, I literally searched for, “happy nursery art” and then came across oopsydaisy.com. What a fantastic website for children’s art! I was so excited to find “Cherry Blossom Birdies”. I loved the happy birds and the color pallet of pinks, teals, greens, ivory, and brown. All other aspects of the nursery design developed around that piece.
After finding the art I realized we have a bowl of potpourri in our guest bathroom with those same colors. I’m a visual person and the matching colors of the potpourri further confirmed my decision on the nursery’s color pallet.

Q: Your paint selections are wonderful too and the striped wall is fantastic. Do you recall what colors you used? Did you paint yourself and if so, was it difficult to create the stripes?
A: Thanks! The colors on the walls are from Sherwin Williams. The off white is Roman Column (SW 7562) and the teal is Embellished Blue (SW 6749). My father painted the room for us – what an amazing gift! He’s a great painter and the walls turned out beautifully. He started with the Roman Column on all four walls. Once dry, we both spent probably half a day prepping the back wall for the stripes. We are both extremely detail oriented so as tedious as it was, it ended up being a fun project to work on together (and my husband was more than happy to let us.) We were all relieved though when the prep work was completed. After that, my dad finished the stripes in Embellished Blue.
The most helpful tool we had was our laser level ($15 from Home Depot). Without it, creating straight stripes would have been impossible.
I found a blog online that shared a GREAT tip for painting stripes on a wall. It explained that if you first seal the painters tape with a thin coat of the base color (for us, Roman Column) and let that dry, the striped color wouldn’t bleed through. It worked! We’re all very pleased with how it turned out.

Q: What item do you think had the biggest influence on the design path for the rest of the room?
A: Once again, the piece of art from oopsydaisy.com. It inspired every design decision made for her nursery. It was so fun to create a design pallet based on those colors and that happy feeling.

Q: Please tell us about the furnishings and the textiles in the room. Did you shop local for any of the furnishings or decor? If so, what items did you find locally and where?
A: Locally we found the crib at Baby Furniture Plus here in Columbia, SC. I knew I wanted an espresso colored crib to match the brown in the painting, but wanted to make sure that dark color wouldn’t be too overpowering in the room. So we decided to go with a traditional style crib because it was more “dainty” than most of the convertible cribs we saw. I love the lines of the crib, especially the feet as they remind me of a French vintage piece of furniture. I looked for that style of dresser on Craigslist and found one in Charlotte for $50!
I went the Craigslist route because I was inspired by an online tutorial on how to refinish a dresser and wanted to take the DIY plunge. The dresser/changing table required a complete overhaul of stripping, wood filling, sanding, priming, sanding again due to wrong primer, priming again, painting, sealing, and drilling holes for new knobs. The paint color is Sherwin Williams Tame Teal (SW6757) and the knobs are from Lowes and were very similar to the knobs from Restoration Hardware that I originally had my eye on. I considered this my special project for the sweet little girl that was growing inside my belly.
The side table was given to us by my father-in-law. It was originally dark green so I pulled a lime green from the Cherry Blossom painting for a splash of warmth. It was a breeze to paint after the complications of the dresser. The green is from Lowes -Valspar’s Lime Mousse.
I found the ideas for the book shelves and the curtain panels from Pinterest. The book shelves hanging on the wall are actually just spice racks from Ikea. They sell out quickly so I learned after several trips to check their website to make sure they’re in stock. They were a light wood and I spray painted them dark brown to match the crib. The linen curtains were purchased from Bed Bath and Beyond, it was super easy to sew on the Pom Pom Fringe (from Joanns) before hanging.
The rug and glider were gifts from family and both from Pottery Barn Kids. The bookcase was ordered new from JCPenny, I contemplated painting that, but decided to keep its original color. Lastly, the bedding was purchased from an etsy shop – the patterns, ruffles, and colors still make me smile!



Q: I love the different art pieces in the nursery too. Can you tell me about them? Do any of the art items or accessories in the nursery have any special significance to you or your family?
A: Thanks! The monogram over the bed is the newest addition to the nursery. I purchased the wooden letters from SouthernProperMonograms.com and painted them a bubble gum pink. For the background I ended up wrapping a canvas in a beautiful lace from House of Fabrics here in Columbia. Once wrapped, I used craft glue to attach the letters.

The angel wings and frame were in my mother’s home and were given to us when Leala was born. The frame was an antique gold that we decided to spruce up with pink! We love how that turned out.

A few special accessories from my childhood are the mirror, the silver teacup, and the wooden wagon on the last shelf of the dresser. I have fond memories of them all and am grateful my mother saved them for my daughter. Books were always special to Michael and I and we’re hoping Leala will feel the same way – all of the books in her bookshelf, with the exception of the top shelf, are Michael’s and mine from childhood. The booties on the bookcase were made by my husband’s maternal great grandmother, we cannot wait to share that piece of family history with Leala someday. She also has a few hand knitted blankets from her great grandmother and some very loving friends that we wanted to be sure to display.

Now we’re just waiting to put one of our newborn shots above the dresser! Once that’s up, the room will feel complete.

Q: Where did you splurge and where did you save?
A: We splurged on the bedding! And we’re so happy we did. As I previously mentioned, I found the bedding from an etsy shop – once again, thanks to a Google search, this time for “green, pink, and aqua nursery” images. The owner of the etsy shop custom makes all of her bedding. It was a little pricey, but since we saved in so many other areas of the room we decided splurging on the bedding would be ok.

All of the pieces of furniture (except for the bookcase and mirror) were gifts or hand-me-downs from our family – so we definitely saved there. A big THANK YOU to Grandpa Jeff, Grammie, Pop Pop, Lala, Papa Tom, Papa Mike, H-Chie, Aunt Abbey and Aunt Mary Kay for helping make Leala’s nursery so special! We love you!

Q: What would you say was your very best purchase in preparing for Leala’s arrival?
A: To be honest, the nursery is amazing and we cannot wait for her to start enjoying it. But I’d say the most valued purchase to our family is the newborn photography session. The pictures are breathtaking and they captured our family at this moment in time. All members of our family will benefit from them for years to come. Leala is going to love looking back at her beginnings!

Ahem! I would just like to insert here that the previous response was totally unsolicited! Do you see why I think I have the most fabulous clients in the world?!


Q: Is there anything you would change?
A: I’ve been thinking about changing the background of the monogram. I might paint the canvas a lime green, then add the lace back on. I’ll test it out when I find some time.

I’d also change our carpet. That was the original carpet when we purchased our house – it’s in great condition, but I’m not crazy about the color. Maybe down the line.


Tania: I love reading the Q&A and seeing how an idea became a concept,that resulted into a creative venture, that in the end produced such an amazing haven of awesomeness for their princess. Just stunning! I think in life we all that 1 piece of art that inspires us- Love that they used a piece of inspiration and built on it. Their daughter will love that there was so much thought and love put into this! Amazing work Ashley- how blessed they are to have you capture these images!

Kel Ward: I have GOT to stop looking at your Nestorations post! I love decorating and, darn it, I am DONE having babies, but I want to decorate a nursery! Haha. This is GORGEOUS! I love the fun mix of pieces and colors. She did an AMAZING job! I also literally LOL when I saw the last photo. TOO cute!

Amy Medeiros: I LOVE Leala's nursery and hearing all the thought and care that went into it!

Carrie: Oh how gorgeous! And the last shot of the puppy is so adorable!!

Gail: I love these nursery posts! Such sweet treasures to know all the thought that goes into a nursery - and it looks like baby thinks her room is the perfect nest for sleeping! So pretty!!!

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I’m so excited today! This is the very first edition of a recurring post I will be featuring on my blog. It is information and inspiration for moms-to-be (and dads), new moms (and dads), or just anyone who enjoys reading and images pertaining to interiors, design, or nurseries.

I hope it’s no secret that I love visiting my clients’ homes! I see the home as a sacred space……a place to love and nurture and bond, to grow and bloom and dream, to teach and learn and create, to find encouragement, comfort, and joy. And I believe the home and the decor should inspire and nurture the people living there. And a baby’s room is so important. That very first room will be where they seek comfort and rest and where their sense of curiosity and wonder begins to develop. I know when I was pregnant with my daughter, planning the nursery gave me such immense joy. I felt that with every item I chose, I was pouring my whole heart into her environment. And when I visit the homes of my clients, I can see the love they put into their nurseries as well. I LOVE photographing a baby’s room. And I thought you might love getting a little better peek at some of these awesome spaces too and learning a little more about how they evolved. So from time to time you will see the Newborn Nestorations post and I will feature images from a client’s nursery. I will ask questions about inspiration, color, design, budgets, resources, and anything else I can thing of. I also have some special posts lined up with interview and articles from experts that you won’t want to miss!

So, without further ado……let’s dive in to this first post and visit Hudson’s nursery and talk with his mommy, Jordyn!

Hello Jordyn. Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about Hudson’s nursery. I think other local moms and moms-to-be will find it very interesting and inspirational.

Q: Jordyn, I just LOVE Hudson’s nursery! Did you do the decorating yourself or did you have assistance from a professional?
A: I did all the decorating myself. While I would have loved to have professional help or a design team, our budgets did not lend themselves to those amenities. I used the same design method with the nursery as I did with decorating the rest of my house. I make purchases piece by piece and slowly (but surely) pull things together. I dislike the ‘matchy matchy’ way of design and love how different pieces complement each other once placed together. My original goal was to have some ‘antiquey’ pieces because I love that look, but as I started to collect I realized I was as far from that goal as possible.

Q: Did you have a particular theme in mind or a favorite color? What was your starting point for the design and where did you find inspiration?
A: We decided not to find out the sex of our baby. When this happens people typically turn towards neutral colors like yellow. I am definitely not a go with the flow kind of girl but this is exactly what we did. I was not thrilled at the idea of having an entire room painted yellow. While yellow provides a bright and cheery atmosphere I was a bit concerned about how loud it may be. I wanted a color that would tone it down and pair nicely with it so I started searching magazines and internet sights to find the trends this season. I loved the contrast between the gray and yellow and thought it would be perfect for either a girl or a boy. Once the colors were picked out I turned to bedding. After realizing that custom bedding was out of our price range and too overwhelming to choose from I searched the internet for gray and yellow nursery bedding. I found the chevron pattern at babybedding.com and fell in love with it. We matched the gray from the bedding as a wall color and decided to accent one wall with the yellow from the bedding to highlight the large window.

Q: Your paint selections are wonderful too. Do you recall what colors you used?
A: We purchased our paint from Lowes. Valspar ultra premium oatlands daisy was the yellow and Valspar ultra premium passive was the gray.

Q: What piece or item do you think had the biggest influence on the rest of the room?
A: I think the window seat had the biggest influence. I wish I could give myself credit for the crafty vision but after scouring baby rooms (especially gray and yellow themed rooms) on the internet I spotted this bookshelf. Originally marketed in the stores and catalogue as a vertical bookshelf, somebody had the vision to flip it horizontally which I just loved. I knew I had the perfect spot under the large window and could fill it with the Baby’s toys and books. This item was a must have and I had no doubts about it! The bookshelf only came in three colors (black, red and white) and therefore dictated the color of the remaining furniture in the room.


Q: Where did you purchase the furniture for the room?
A: We purchased our bigger items from two different places. We went to Baby Furniture Plus for the crib and the recliner and Ikea for the dresser and window seat. We had to go back to Ikea on 4 different occasions due to out of stock and faulty merchandise. This was quite frustrating! We purchased the white side table/drum and red lamp from World Market, another favorite of mine.

Q: Did you shop local for any of the furnishings or decor? If so, what items did you find locally and where?
I love the different art pieces in the nursery too. Can you tell me about them? Do any of the art items in the nursery have a special significance to you or your family?
A: We purchased two of the art pieces at Portfolio in five points. I have a friend who works there and of course love to shop locally whenever I can. They are Story People prints and the stories of these prints have to do with raising children and we thought that was a perfect addition to a room dedicated to our first child. We also purchased two of the three ‘friendship/witch’ balls at Portfolio. The blue one was previously given to me from a good friend. I thought that purchasing two additional balls would help spread more positive energy throughout the room. All three matched the color theme with the pillows below and I thought hanging them near a window would be a perfect way to expand the eye when entering the room. I also like their significance as they catch what’s good and spread it throughout the room as the sun reflects into the balls.
The palm tree is from Earnest Lee aka “The Chicken Man”. The irony of this purchase is that we bought it over five years ago and could not find the perfect place to hang it. As we were creating the nursery and removing items from what was once the office we found this painting. We thought the colors and theme of the painting was a perfect fit for the nursery.
The sunburst mirror was purchased at an antique shop in Charlotte. I think it’s the closest I got to getting something ‘antiquey’ as I mentioned earlier.
Lastly, the framed elephants are left over material from the pillows. I thought this was a fun and inexpensive way to incorporate more color on the wall and tie together the accents. The frames are purchased from Ikea.

Q: Leftover fabric from the pillows…..so did you make the pillows? Where did you find that adorable fabric?
A: I was thankful for a coworker who made them for me as a gift. I ordered the fabric online – 2 different sites only because one didn’t have everything I wanted. Fabric.com was one of the places I purchased from…I can’t remember the other place.

Q: Where did you splurge and where did you save?
A: The goal was to save throughout the entire decorating process. With the addition of a new baby we realized our already tight budgets were going to get even skinnier. We chose Ikea for this sole purpose and as a secondary benefit we loved their stuff. The dresser and bookshelf from Ikea, as well as the crib from Baby Furniture Plus, were all reasonably priced items. Where we decided to bend our budget was with the recliner. We needed something that could accommodate my husband’s height and larger frame with comfort and something that reclined. I was assuming we would be spending many hours in this chair. In hindsight, I’m glad we splurged in this area as my predictions were accurate – we have logged many hours in this chair and could not be happier!

Q: What would you say was your very best purchase in preparing for Hudson’s arrival?
A: In reflection on the nursery, I can honestly say that I don’t have a best purchase. The room feels so complete to me and everything seems to complement each other. If I had to choose something that was a favorite, I would pick the chevron and elephant pillows.. They were the last item to be placed in the room and really tied everything together.


Thank you for visiting my blog! If you loved this segment, let me know! Leave me a little love! And share it with your friends:)
Special thanks to Jordyn, the mom, who really took the time to give well thought out answers to my questions and despite her new busy schedule, was so timely as well!
And a big thanks Tania Pineiro-Colamarino of Ama Photography for the awesome new feature logo!

The next edition of Newborn Nestorations is already in the works! So please check back. If you like this feature and want to see more, why not leave a little love below and let me know about it?! And please share with friends and those you know will find the post helpful in their nesting journey!

sharon: What a great post Ashley. I'm sure this will be a popular read on your blog. Xx

Dawn: Oh, my, gosh. I LOVE reading stuff like this!!! I can't wait to keep up with even more newborn goodness.

Anelle: I LOVE this! What a wonderful idea. I love this nursery, too!

Emily S.: This is going to be so much fun, I can tell--- What a cool idea! :) I'll be back, I promise you. Keep this up!

Rachel: What a fun and gorgeous nursery. I am so excited for these posts!

Shelby: What a BEAUTIFUL nursery and such a wonderful idea Ashley to feature some of your clients awesome nurseries and to share "How they came to be." I've seen quite a few nurseries here that have peaked my interest and I'm excited to see more of your Newborn Nestorations!

amy lenhart: i love reading about decorating and looking at beautiful decorated rooms..and even though i am done having babies of my own i adore looking at nurseries!! great idea to have these posts for other moms planning their baby's arrival!

Clarice: This is such a great post! I love love love looking at how people decorate nurseries! This one is beautiful and you did an awesome job capturing all the details!

Kari: I absolutely adore this room! I love the neutral with the bright pops of color - love it. I can't wait to see more rooms featured.

Fabiana Beatriz: This is going to be such a valuable resource for those who are ready to welcome a brand new little one into their home. And Jordyn was so wonderful to share all of this info with your readers!!! I love this post!

Kristin: I love everything about this....I love the room, I love the details, I love the "Newborn Nestorations" feature and will look forward to seeing more, I love the images of all the things I said I love, and last.....I love this beautiful baby! Perfect. Congratulation on the new path, it's a perfect fit for your style and work!

Audrey: I love this idea, I can't wait to follow along and see all the great decorating ideas.

Melissa: Love this new feature Ashley ! Gorgeous nursery and so awesome to hear how mom pulled it all together and your portraits feature the room perfectly ! Can't wait to see more on this subject !

Natalie: Very cool! I love this new feature! And your photos and this nursery!!!

Jerusha: What a beautiful nursery! I love the color and decorations! This is an awesome idea and I can't wait to see more rooms featured.

Tania: This is such an amazing concept! I love it!!! I love the inspiration you give to new parents and the way you capture the nursery so amazingly. So excited to see more!!!!

Carrie Scruggs: LOVE THIS!

Danielle McCarty: Love your entire post, very interesting! And I love your logo for this, so original!!!

Gail: Awe - what a great feature! I love hearing the details about how people design the beautiful spaces in their homes.

Dori: Love this new idea you've had for your blog. This first post was a fabulous read. So nice to see other people's ideas on decorating. Thanks for your beautiful images to pull it all together.

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