It’s been a busy week behind the scenes as we begin our countdown to the birth of Tricia’s baby girl, Elizabeth, and her new nursery.
See that space? That’s the area we’re working on. Tricia’s immediate (and big) project is decluttering and she talks about the plan to do that in her post from Tuesday. In the meanwhile, it’s been my project to take the bones of that space and design a pretty room that will fit the needs of baby and mama.
I started by sending a little questionaire to Tricia. In addition to finding out the basic measurements of the room, window, and closet, I needed to know how she intended to use the space, her general design style, and what “feel” she wanted to shoot for. Through the questionaire, I discovered that Tricia loves the romance and details of Victorian design (hmmm… now who would have figured a romance writer would love romantic details? LOL !). And she’ll need the nursery to be a quiet retreat for her and the little princess for nursing and naps (and escaping a busy man-filled household I bet!).
We also discussed the design budget and potential challenges. Tricia wants to use a budget of $300 -$500 for this project. (I know some of you might be raising your eyebrows at this, but hey, this is a blog about BUDGET design, remember? We’re gonna rock that room for well within that budget, I promise you!)
Tricia’s in-laws have a white crib and bassinet in storage that baby Elizabeth will be able to use. This is a blessing, because that means we don’t have to budget for those big purchases. The minus (or challenge) is that they are white, and the room is white, and their home is a rental, so there’s no painting. This means we’re gonna have to bring color into the room in some other way… most likely accessories and fabric treatments. The other challenge is that the one small closet in the room has a slanted floor. This limits its use for storage somewhat, so buying furniture that will provide storage for onesies and cloth diapers and other baby accoutrement will be a big priority!
So let’s review. Our goals for the nursery are:
- Create a peaceful, calming, Victorian retreat
- Provide plenty of storage
- Bring color into the space with accessories and fabric
- Stay within a $500 budget
Tricia also requested that we include a comfy glider for late night nursing and general cuddling.
Armed with that information, here’s the results of my work for the week:
Floorplan (via Jordan’s Room Planner)
And, debuting for the first time ever, here is the inspiration board for baby Elizabeth’s Victorian inspired nursery:
1. Color & pattern inspiration, 2. Custom curtains similar to these in toile with pom-pom fringe, 3. Definitely need a victorian style mirror, 4. if we can’t find a dresser, we could do this to an inexpensive bookcase, 5. Must have bookcase for $50, 6. cute side table – $18, 7. example of victorian style dresser, 8. These are the details we need on pillows, bedskirts, curtains, 9. crib bedskirt inspiration, love color, add pom-pom fringe 10. pom-pom fringe, 11. glider, 12. example of boudoir pillows 13. dark olive ribbon to add to curtains, bedskirt, pillows
What do you think Tricia? What do ya’ll think? Does this provide the bones of a pretty and soothing Victorian nursery? I am a little nervous about the feedback…so be gentle with me! 
So that’s it from me so far. If Tricia agrees with these ideas at this point, the next step will be to create a source list for the items that have to be bought and a DIY list for the accessories and decorations that we’ll be making. I have some GREAT ideas brewing for inexpensive DIY projects… so go tell Tricia to give me the go ahead so I can start letting ya’ll in on them!
