|
Decorating a Baby's Nursery with a Beatrix Potter Theme |
|
|
|
Written by Rachel Paxton
|
|
Monday, 16 July 2007 |
I don't consider myself an expert interior decorator. In fact,
I'm quite an amateur, but do enjoy do-it-yourself home
decorating. When my husband and I found out we were expecting
twins, we were both very excited to decorate the babies' bedroom.
My husband and I compromised on a nursery theme. We agreed that
even if we had boys (which we did end up having--two!), that I
could decorate the nursery with a Beatrix Potter theme, but after
two years it was my husband's turn to re-decorate their room
with a race car or airplane theme.
We started out by choosing a paint color for the walls. We chose
"Pooh Bear Yellow" made by Behr paint. We painted all of the
walls yellow. We then painted a white strip, approximately 12
inches wide, all of the way around the room in the center of the
wall (see photo). Above the white strip we sponge painted white
paint over the yellow, and below the strip we left the walls
yellow. The white sponge painting gave the walls a cloud-like
look. Never tried sponge painting? It's easy!
We decided to decorate the nursery with white furniture, which
gave the room a very clean look. We purchased two white cribs,
and painted two old wood dressers white. Grandma bought us a
white changing table as a gift.
While shopping on Ebay, I found some Beatrix Potter cutouts to
decorate the walls and furniture. Do a search on Ebay for
"beatrix potter wallies", and you will find what you need. These
are great! You just wet them and stick them where you want them,
and they are removable. We placed these in the white strip on
the wall. It looks like Peter Rabbit is hopping around the room.
We also put them on the white dressers we painted (see photo).
I also purchased some Beatrix Potter poster prints on Ebay. I
bought some white wooden frames for them at a local craft store,
and they turned out beautifully.
I decided to sew new curtains for the windows. At Walmart I
found some very inexpensive yellow fabric that had tiny little
bees on it. It is so cute. I just sewed a casing at the top for
the curtain rod and hemmed the bottom and they were done. You
can tie them back with ribbons or knot them in the middle.
Last but not least, we found some Beatrix Potter bedding sets for
the cribs. One set I purchased at a local consignment shop that
sells baby furniture and clothing. I purchased the other set on
Ebay.
When your baby is older and starts standing up you'll find that
you might have to move some of your nursery decorations. As soon
as one of my boys was old enough to reach out and grab at objects
he was pulling the bunnies off of the walls. I figure after the
bunnies are all gone it will be time to re-decorate!
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For easy
do-it-yourself home decorating ideas for busy moms, visit
http://www.frugal-home-decor.com.
|
Decorating 