A Rustic California Home Nursery + Shop the Look

It’s a neutral, Texas-inspired baby room, and I’m pretty into it.

I have a theory that in a lot of ways nurseries are just our own ‘kid’ fantasy rooms – it’s the room that we would have wanted as kids had we known it. I know Charlie’s is  – which you will finally get to see in a couple of weeks as its finally coming out in a magazine. And I’m pretty sure Brian has plans for his room ‘kid’ room in a couple of years that involves Star Wars and/or Comic Books (Batman, obviously). We live vicariously through our children so obviously we must force on them any and all secret desires of ours – especially if that includes a life-sized batmobile as a bed.

Well Shana grew up in Texas and they both love good classic music (think ‘The Stones’, and ‘Beastie Boys’ not Mozart necessarily) so this nursery is reflection of that, while at the same time still working with the style of the rest of the rooms. Of course you don’t need to have your kids room be the same, but its nice when rooms are jarringly different.

The first thing was choosing fantastic wallpaper – it’s a bunch of hand drawn ships by the designer’s son (who is 8 years old). You know those art skeptics that are constantly saying ‘My kid coulda done that!’. Well, her kid did and it worked. It is so sweet and magical, and yet since it’s in this color-way (cream and black) there is a sophistication about it.

The finished result is this very happy, yet very neutral Texas inspired nursery:

We decided to then accent the room in more masculine finishes – the dark gray blackout drapes (custom) and different dark woods (the crib and dresser-turned-changing table). And then to soften the whole look we brought in this intensely soft mongolian sheepskin rug in there – plus a big white rug on the floor makes it all look and feel so much bigger. We once again tried that leather chair but Shana wanted a glider so we splurged on that Restoration Hardware one that is so pretty.

The dresser is vintage, purchased in LA for $700 I believe and it had the most beautiful raw finish already on it. We decided to not stain it and just leave as is. We simply bought a wooden changing tray and screwed it to the back of the dresser with brackets that came with it.

You might notice how the color of the wallpaper changed from the before/process photos to the after and that is just because of the amount of light a good camera can capture. The wallpaper is definitely more on the ‘beige’ side than the ‘white’ side so if you are thinking about splurging on it, get a sample sent to you first.

Once we brought in some whites it was easy to make them look good in the space, even though its beige wallpaper. The mattes of the frames, the white wood of the shelves and all the books/bedding/and toys help keep it looking fresh and modern.

It’s a little room, as nurseries tend to be, but man it’s so cute and happy when you are in there.

The nursery is so different from mine, Joy’s, Joanna’s or the beach loft nursery I did, and yet I love it as much if not more.

What y’all think? Could you have this Texan neutral nursery?

Look for Less:

1. Crib | 2. Wallpaper | 3. Navy Curtains | 4. Grey Rocker | 5. Flag Garland | 6. Flokati Rug |  7. White Knit Blanket | 8. Kilim Pillow  | 9. Bookshelf | 10. Rocking Horse | 11. Cream Lamp | 12. Name Train

Get The Look:

1. Crib | 2. Wallpaper | 3. Navy Curtains | 4. Grey Rocker | 5. Flag Garland | 6. Flokati Rug | 7. White Knit Blanket | 8. Kilim Pillow | 9. Bookshelf | 10. Rocking Horse | 11. Cream Lamp | 12. Name Train

Photos by Tessa Neustadt

See the rest of the project here: Living Room, Reading Nook, Guest Bedroom, Master Bedroom, Dining Nook, Kitchen,  and Master Bathroom.