Deacon's Cotswolds Inspired Nursery

It's only taken me 6 months but I'm finally sharing an in depth look at my son's nursery and walking you through my design process. One look around our home would tell you my taste in interiors falls somewhere between cottage-core, traditional, and airy. I love bright but cozy spaces that feel timeless but not stuck in time; fresh with color play, classic patterns, and modern textures layered with unique antique pieces to add interest and depth. That said, I knew when we got pregnant and ultimately decided to turn our guest room into a nursery for Deacon, I wanted the space to feel appropriate for our baby boy but also as a continuation of our home and my personal interior design aesthetic. Somewhere early on I became increasingly attached to sheep for my baby boy; for some its bears or bunnies, dogs, ducks, or flowers, but I loved sweet little sheep best and leaned into it as loose inspiration when I sat down to conceptualize the space which you can see my first design here. I was also inspired by a framed print I have of some Cotswold sheep and felt that a Cotswolds inspired nursery was the perfect direction for this space so I got to work sourcing.

My favorite part of the build process was that Brad + I did every aspect of the room together (almost always with our pup Oakley observing and lending helpful kissies nearby). It made it a room that holds so many beautiful memories from it's original conception to our day to day routine now that Deacon is here. One thing to keep in mind is that although we knew we wanted to dedicate a space for Deacon, our current home is not our forever home and in fact, we hope to move sooner rather than later (pending this crazy housing market) so certain design decisions came down to overall cost...was it something worth investing in for this particular house knowing his time in this room may be limited. I'm so happy that most of the touches that make this room feel so special are things we can take along when we do leave, but I'm also grateful for the things we did to make a permanent mark on this home not only for how it serves us now but maybe also in the hopes it will welcome the next family when we do decide to sell. I will say the hardest part in designing a space is being flexible enough in your design to find the layout that works best for the space. The overall layout changes two or three times throughout the process as furniture arrived and we got a better sense of how each piece would best serve the space and our needs.

In my head, the easiest and most cost effective way to create character in a room is to add a style of wainscoting. Depending on your design and overall mood you hope to set, anything from bead board, board and batten, or panelling can completely change a space...adding color to your wainscoting of choice takes it just one step further. I LOVE a colored wainscoting for any space but it feels particularly fitting for a nursery and creates the perfect opportunity to introduce and play with color while keeping the room from feeling too juvenile. I ultimately choose to do a raised panel wainscoting style that matched our dining room and a small entry nook in our living room that we fabricated a couple years ago to make all of our rooms feel cohesive. When choosing a color palette for this room, I wanted to makes sure it was something that never felt limited to any one season or time of year. This particular room also gets the best light in the house so I wanted to ensure we didn't loose that wonderful flooding of light. Green feels like a non neutral neutral that would compliment the overall theme of the room as well as the light in the room. To elevate the overall look, I also painted the doors and all of the trim in the room, the same color as the wainscoting. Next it was onto furnishings.

English countryside interiors feature a lot of beautiful, dark wood pieces that feel warm without making a space heavy. Once we decided on our brass crib (something gender neutral and that we could design any space around for future babies), I knew I wanted a dark dresser to add that kind of warmth and also be a piece that Deacon could continue to use as he grows into a more mature space. I added additional warm wood tones in the mirror above our dresser/changing table and in the later to be added wall mounted book ledge. I also swapped out the dresser hardware with brass knobs which again made it feel a bit more elevated and also translated back to the brass crib on the opposite wall. Other wood elements that were added were intentionally different grains and tones as to avoid any repetitiveness. I wanted the details of the room to compliment one another, not match.

When it came to our glider, again I knew I wanted something neutral enough that we could use it in future nurseries/spaces without it clashing with other furniture. Our glider was certainly an investment but knowing we would be using it for more than one baby, and frequently with each baby, it felt like the right place to invest a little more of our budget. I also love that it heped provide some additional lightness towards the bottom half of the room. Originally I hoped to add an ottoman for texture/pattern play as well as additional seating but with a reclining glider, that felt like an unnecessary addition. Instead, I scoured the internet until I found the perfect plaid curtains to again add some pattern and a bit of color. Lastly, I lucked out with sourcing the softest rug I'e ever stepped foot on completely by accident...when I revisited the budget as well as the overall vision for the space, my original plan to do a linear/plaid patterned rug felt too similar to the curtains that I just KNEW were the right fit so I pivoted to find a vintage looking rug that would provide a soft play space for us to lay, play, and read on. When the rug arrived and I got it unrolled, I knew it was exactly what the space needed. The green in the pattern reads perfectly back to the wainscoting and the design reads to the overall mood of the room.

Last item of business was to decorate the walls. Originally I hoped to have wallpapered the top half of the room but that was going to be a large investment into a space we didn't know how much use we'd be getting out of so hopefully I'll get to add wallpaper to the next space I create for D. In the meantime, I believe there is a VERY fine line between boring walls and junky walls. With the windows and or doors on every single wall, I sought out to be very strategic about what and where I placed the finishing touches to make the room personal to Deacon. Possibly my most favorite addition was the framed silhouettes I created of Brad, Oakley, and I. The contrast of the black and white ended up being such a fun point of interest for Deacon too in his early months which was such a fun added bonus! The frames were sourced from a framing store closeout sale but I just loved the shape and color of the wood and knew I'd find a way to use them in the room. Above his crib, I created a little gallery wall with special touches including a sketch I asked my dad to do for Deacon of his first dog, one of my very favorite shots from out maternity photos, a vintage piece, and the original print that initially inspired the room. Lastly I added some small shelves for a few special pieces like our ultrasound photo, the little bear we bought for 'baby B' on our trip to Mexico last year, and a few other items we'd collected or been gifted for him while we awaited his arrival. That left one wall completely bare which was hard for me...I knew something was missing but I wanted to take my time, confident that I would eventually find my way to the perfect "missing piece." Not pictured is the beautiful book ledge we added to display some of our favorite frequent reads and it truly was the perfect addition to the space.

We love this room and spend a lot of time in it as a family. Many beautiful memories are and have already been made and captured in this room and I'm so happy we made the decision to create this space that has already served us so well. If you get nothing else from this post, just remember that your home is where you spend the MOST amount of time, if your heart is calling you create a space that you'll love, you will never regret dedicating the time, energy, and money to doing so.