Elle’s Nursery Preface

Hey there – Happy Monday! So many of you have asked to see Elle’s nursery, so I’m thrilled to finally share an in-progress sneak peek at the room….

First and most importantly, we are so thrilled to partner with our friend and uber-talented designer Laura Umansky of Laura U Interior Design for this nursery design. When we first moved in our home years ago, Laura’s firm helped us make our house a home. And over the years, I’ve continued to admire Laura’s “classically current” approach to interior design. So, I was – needless to say – super excited to create a magical nursery for my baby girl. Indeed, Laura has been an absolute gem in bringing my vision to life. 

Second, in the spirit of keeping it real, Elle’s nursery was not finished when she was born. In fact, even though Elle will be three months old tomorrow, we are still not quite finished. As you might recall, I had a rough second and third trimesters with a gall bladder complication. So, my normal proactive, organized nature took a back seat to taking care of my health. And then of course she arrived a month early!

At first, I had total mom guilt about her nursery not being ready when she arrived. But eventually I learned to relinquish this guilt. After all, especially in the beginning, all the baby needs is love and milk! Plus, it’s been nice to take the time to get to know her, to live in the space, to figure out what we need and what we don’t need in the space. 

Elle’s Nursery Inspiration

In thinking about Elle’s nursery, my first thoughts centered around colorful + playful + modern + happy — even a bit of a mid-century modern vibe, if you will. I had some really bold ideas. But on the other hand, I knew I wanted it to be something she could grow with. I wanted the room to be one that’ll work through many stages of her life, just with some minor adjustments along the way. Thankfully, Laura helped me marry those two notions. You can see our original mood board here. 

What you see in the photos today is predominantly the soft, serene, bright happy base of the room. Slowly but surely, we are adding in the bold pops of color! Assuredly, you know my daughter’s room will be rocking some rainbow hues!

Two Key Components

In my limited interior design experience, it always seems that there is a key piece (or two) that I fall in love with, and subsequently, build the room around that piece or those pieces. In this case, there were indeed two such pieces.

Blush Ombre Wallpaper by Calico

First, I immediately fell in love with the Aurora Petal by Calico wallpaper.

A side note: I first learned of this wallpaper designer when I visited Paloma Nail Salon in Houston (one of our top three nail salons in Houston that we recommend!) One wall of the salon has an ombre effect wallpaper, similar to this but in a different color.

The pink ombre effect we chose for Elle’s nursery is absolutely gorgeous! It’s equal parts girly, fun, and sophisticated. And I am confident this will be something that can be versatile enough to grow with her as her room changes. 

Sazerac Stitches Chandelier

The other “anchor” piece for this room is the chandelier. Oh my gosh – I think I gasped aloud when I saw this! This colorful chandelier from Sazerac Stitches is what my interior design dreams are made of! From the rainbow of colors to the mid century feel, Laura agreed that it would work perfectly!

As a side note: a big thanks to my longtime friend Elsie at A Beautiful Mess for introducing me to the fine folks at Sazerac Stitches. I first learned of them through her when she featured one of their chandeliers in her guest room.

Other Key Components of the Nursery

The next big focal point Laura and I decided on were the drapes. They are blackout drapes from Crypton Home Collection in the shade ‘mascarpone.’ And, of course, we couldn’t just leave them at regular drapes; we had to add pom pom details, which we got from Kravet. 

Then, in an effort to incorporate the mid-century modern vibes, I immediately began searching for a lucite or acrylic crib. Googling that led me to the amazing Vetro crib. It turns out both Kim Kardashian and Beyonce have used this crib. However, I wasn’t willing to pay that price, so I continued the search for something with a similar vibe, and I found one equally as beautiful, The Land of Nod panorama acrylic crib.

Other components of the nursery that we adore just as much include the glider (soon to be covered in one of the fabrics you see above – any votes?) and the side table from Anthropologie.

Ultimately, we wanted this nursery to be light, bright, and, of course, colorful! I’m truly so excited about it and thrilled with how it’s turned out. We still have some things left to do, but it’s really been such an incredible project, and Laura has been unbelievable. 

A Couple More Things

Once we put the finishing touches on Elle’s nursery, we will share the final product with all of you! You can also check out Laura’s blog post here. We hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak peek, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow morning. 

Photos by Lynsey Jones