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Personal and Non-Traditional Art in the Nursery | One Room Challenge Week 5

May 3, 2017

I can't believe next week is the reveal! The nursery has definitely come a long way in 5 weeks and today, we're so excited to share with you a few of our favorite artistic touches we've added to the room. I will say, there was an internal struggle for some time when deciding what we wanted to hang on the walls. Because the truth is, I didn't want to hang anything really which is pretty opposite of how I normally feel (have you seen what's above our bed?! Haha). The wallpaper itself makes such a statement when you walk into the room, and I didn't want to take away from that or add so much that it loses that peaceful feeling.

Faye's nursery had a completely different vibe, and the huge initial art pictured above (easiest tutorial right here) was the right thing for her room. But even if we did know what this baby's name was going to be--I don't think the same kind of thing would fit in here. And although the room will surely evolve over time, maybe a photograph of the girls after she's born on the walls?, for now, we decided on three different kinds of "art" for this room.

The first was this mobile from West Elm, that moves like a mobile but feels more like an art installation.

I looked at so many mobiles and none of them felt just right until I came across this one that could work in any room in the house--really! I was really drawn to the variety of shapes and finish, but when it arrived we were blown away with the quality.

It was very well packed and Chris especially loved that we didn't have to worry about strings of a traditional mobile getting tangled. To hang it, we put an anchor into the ceiling and then screwed a small brass hook into that.

The mobile came with additional string at the top if you wanted to hang it lower, but for our standard 8' ceilings, hanging it directly from the eye at the top of the rod was perfect...and easy peasy.

The second piece of art we added is a little more personal--an ultrasound print of baby girl herself!--from Baby Blue Print on Etsy.

Here's how it works--you email the shop your ultrasound print (you can scan it, take a picture with your phone--easy!) and they create a beautiful print in your choice of a variety of different sizes and colors. We are fortunate enough to call the owners of the sweet shop friends of ours so Ellen came over with swatches of all the colors they currently offer (they're always adding more) so I could see which would work best for the room. In the end, we decided on a dusty pink called Rose in their 5x7 size so it could live easily on the changing table or a side table next to the glider.

I slipped it in this simple acrylic block frame (so slick!) that's self-standing and it makes me smile every time I see it. If you're still trying to think of the perfect Mother's day gift for the new mom....

The last thing we added in the room was maybe less art, and more accessory, but it required putting a hole in the wallpaper--deep breaths! We hung a mirror over the changing table. The ever popular Target brass round mirror, because it's just that good and inexpensive and it mirrored the circular knobs on the dresser in shape and color so perfectly. We actually have the same exact mirror over the fireplace in our family room/playroom. We brought it up here to try it and loved it so much, we went and bought it again.

A few of you mentioned to try putting a small X in the wallpaper and peeling it back so it would be easy to repair if we ever decided to change what or where something was hung on the walls. It definitely seemed worth a try...

But, goodness! We could not get the paper peeled back. Perhaps it was just too fresh or the glue was really strong stuff. We thought it was better to make one small hole than try a force it back and have it rip. Fortunately, we were right on a stud so we could skip the anchor and drill one small screw in place.

We still have a few things to finish up (there's more than just the changing pad missing! Ha!) before next week's reveal, but we're stop excited to be in the home stretch!

If you have missed anything up to this point, you can check out:

Week 1: Befores and the plan
Week 2: Adding all that trim
Week 3: Hanging the dreamiest wallpaper
Week 4: Details on the rug and dresser

 

See how the other One Room Challenge participants are doing this week (Is everyone going to make it?!) by clicking the links below:

Centsational Girl | Christine Dovey | Dwell With Dignity | The English Room

Glitter Guide | House of Brinson | House Updated  | J+J Design Group | Lark & Linen | Abby Manchesky

Nesting Place | Old Brand New | Old Home Love | The Pink Pagoda | Rambling Renovators

Erica Reitman | Sketch 42 | Suburban B’s | Erin Williamson  Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by CIH

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  1. Oh good trick about the X ... i didn't know about that before but i guess perhaps it needs to be done before the paper is totally dried. the mobile is so fun and I am so happy to see the non-traditional ones in nursery. One week to go, wish us luck!

  2. A mobile that hangs from the ceiling - genius! We just had to take ours down (normal crib attached one) because the mister started pulling it down, you'll get so much more use out of that one!

  3. I want that mobile for my 59th birthday gift!!!
    It's beautiful & is perfect with that mirror.
    Loving everything about this room, just so elegant and peaceful.

  4. That mobile is gorgeous. I also chose mobiles that would work after the baby stage and they are still hanging in my children's rooms a decade later. Mine still have a more kiddie feel overall though so no living room hanging will happen but if West Elm had had yours way back when - I'd be all over it. Truly stunning and I think baby will get plenty of stimulation from the light hitting the metal while it swings around overhead.

  5. Love this vibe. We have a similar styled mobile (from Target) for our nursery that we have yet to hang. I'm worried about the baby eventually being able to pull at it when standing up in the crib. Our ceiling is slanted above the crib making it more difficult. How high above the mattress did you hang yours so it's out of arms reach?

  6. I love how this room is coming together! You have such an eye for bringing together different textures and colors. I would suggest, once the reveal/photoshoot is over, adding another mobile, perhaps one that clips onto the crib, that is designed to be fun for baby to watch from her perspective. I think beautiful sculptural mobiles like the West Elm one serve a lovely aesthetic function for parents and help create a beautiful, peaceful space, which I'm all in favor of, but when the baby is lying in bed, she'll won't be able to see the different shapes. Just my two cents :)

    1. We had one of those clip on ones for Greta but were only able to use it for a couple months before she started grabbing at it, versus a ceiling hung one we had for Faye that we used for over a year! I hope the shininess keeps her attention, regardless of not being able to see the different shapes--but I'll keep you posted!

      1. I'm currently working on my own nursery and love the West Elm mobile—so beautiful! and it would look great with the light fixtures I'm going to install!—but was thinking along the same lines as Anna. Could you share a photo of it, from below? Maybe on instagram? Sorry for the slightly ridiculous request! :p

  7. It's coming together so beautifully! I also have that mirror in two different rooms in my house - so versatile!

  8. So, almost our entire house was wallpapered when I was growing up. My mom used to kind of pick or pull the bit of punctured wallpaper out of the nail hole. Kind of like if you pull a snagged thread through to the other side of a sweater? And it would just blend back into the rest of the wall. Not sure if that makes sense! Mom always used nails if possible (with the j-shaped picture hanging thingy - don't know what they're called).

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