Read all about how I transformed a tired old room in our house into a fun, colourful scandi inspired nursery for my baby boy, featuring a reading nook, hand painted wall mural, decoration ideas, suggestions for where to get your furniture at great prices, and more.
When we first moved into our house 2 and a half years ago George’s room was a blue box, with nicotine-yellow woodwork, an Artex ceiling and an over-stairs cupboard that felt really dysfunctional because it was not easily accessible. It had been the cat’s bedroom in a previous life and I wanted a much lovelier space for the baby boy that still grew inside my tummy.
I knew I wanted a scandi inspired nursery with a woodland theme after seeing so many lovely images on pinterest and you can see the moodboard for the room here. This is what the room looked like when we moved in:
The furniture
The cot and changing unit are part of the Hensvik range from Ikea, it was discontinued shortly after we purchased it which meant that we were never able to find the matching wardrobe in the shop. However, with some crafty ebay-ing I managed to pick one up second hand for £50 and it was in near perfect condition. For a couple of years it remained plain white, but recently I have upcycled it which you can read more about another this post by clicking here.
Choosing Colours
I hadn’t quite worked out how I liked to use colour in my interior decor when I did George’s nursery, so I decided to keep it simple and paint the walls white with colour brought in via a few accessories, and my first attempt at some handpainted wall art. It was such an easy solution that is easily replicable for even the most novice decorators.
Top Tip: white emulsion looks so transparent when you first apply it but dries much more opaque, so don’t worry when you first put it on, although it will need 2-3 coats depending on the darkness of the colour underneath
Hand painted tree mural
The idea for the hand-painted trees came from seeing some beautiful birch tree print wallpapers, but having investigated them, to get a nice one was going to cost upwards of £100 a roll which I just didn’t have the money for. So I decided to get a cheap sample pot of paint from Valspar and wing it. I have saved a video tutorial of how I painted the birch trees on George’s wall on my instagram page here.
Reading Nook
The cupboard above the stairs was non-usable when we moved in, unless you had go-go-gadget arms there was no way you could reach the hanging rail, so I decided to make it into a book nook for the kids. I removed the door, used some decals on the walls from Scandiborn and surrounded the opening with cotton ball lights from Cable & Cotton to decorate it. A little step ladder from Ikea finishes it off and provides the kids access to climb in and out.
Top tip: Use the code GEORGE for 20% off your own set of Cable & Cotton lights, which you can build in any colour palette of your choice. Click here to shop.
Decoration Ideas
There are so many beautiful small businesses to buy little bits and pieces for kids rooms from. Instagram and Etsy are a perpetual source of inspiration for me. These little spice raks from Ikea for only £3 each are such a gorgeous way to display trinkets and treasures, and can also double as a functional little storage space for things like creams, calpol, and other bits and pieces that you want to keep out of tiny hands.
The total nursery makeover was done on such a small budget thanks to the use of colour being limited to splashes for which I only needed sample pots of paint, the sourcing of second hand furniture, and lots of the decoration coming from small businesses rather than big retailers. I have recently given this room another refresh for George who has now moved out if his cot and into a big boys bed, the post all about the changes made is to follow.