Personalized Design Ideas for Your Babies Arrival and Nursery

2 months ago I became a mother… it’s been surreal and beautiful and I’m so thankful for my little one. She came to us healthy and strong and we have loved seeing her grow and progress over the last few months. As I prepared to be a mother I quickly learned, nesting is real! I was determined to get as much organized and ready for her arrival as I could. I wanted to organize everything so it would be easier to manage when she was here and I also had a lot of creative design ideas that I wanted to create for her nursery. So, I made a list and prioritized what was most important to me, then took about an hour or two every day to work on them, even with that strategy I was working on projects down to the day I went to the hospital for her delivery! However, I really ended up having a lot of fun getting creative and making quite a few unique hand-made design details for my daughters nursery and I wanted to share them here in the hopes they can provide some inspiration for other mothers. I hope some day she will appreciate the love I put into each detail, although for now I’m happy to just see her gassy smiles.

Hand-Painted Design for Baby Shower Invitation & Baby Announcements

I created a custom card design for our baby shower invitations and baby announcements. I found an adorable rug for her nursery with a field of flowers and a whimsical style which ended up becoming the inspiration for the color palette and theme for her nursery and baby shower. So, I started out with that in mind as inspiration for a watercolor painting that had a similar color palette of whimsical flowers. I used the wet-on-wet watercolor technique which enables a loose, painterly design, that still worked well with the field of wildflowers theme. Once I was happy with my painting, I scanned the painting and uploaded it to Canva to use as the background of my card designs. I lightened the colors and softened the opacity to focus on the content of the cards. I was really happy with how they turned out.

Hand-Painted Design Printed on Fabric for Nursery Chair

My mom had found a very nice nursing glider and suggested she could re-upholster it for me. I already had this project in mind when I painted the watercolor painting of wildflowers I used for the card designs, so I used the same painting that was inspired a fun wildflower rug that I had found. Once the painting dried I scanned that painting and used photoshop to lighten the color palette and opacity as I wanted the fabric to have a delicate, more whimsical vibe. I used Spoonflower to print the custom upholstery fabric. My mother then sewed covers for the cushions. I love how it turned out. While I considering purchasing a cushioned, electric recliner, this really saved us quite a bit, it cost me about $200 to purchase vs. about $1500-$2000 for a new chair and we were able to use that savings to upgrade our stroller and highchair purchases. I’ve really enjoyed the personalized nature of this beautiful nursing glider as I’ve used it and I’m so happy we did this and I hope my daughter appreciates the uniqueness of the chair once she grows older.

Hand-Painted Glass Lamp Cover

I happened to have a lamp I had purchased years ago that had a clear glass cover. However, I never used it as I didn’t like how glaring the light was so I had been looking for lamp shades or something to fix that problem. After seeing some cute flower lamps I decided to repurpose the lamp I had for her nursery by painting the cover using an enamel based paint solving 2 problems. I decided to take inspiration from the same rug, using similar colors and a more simple, whimsical floral design with a cream base to make the cover more opaque. I love the warm glow it now brings to her room.

Flower Paintings Depicting the State Flowers for Mom, Dad & Baby

As an artist I wanted to put my own touch into the wall art in her room. I also wanted it to be something a bit more meaningful for our family, but still keep in line with the floral theme. I decided to paint a triptych of state flower paintings for the states each of us were born in. California Poppies for Mommy, Illinois Violets for Daddy and North Carolina Dogwood Flowers for my daughter. I’ve been loving using the wet-on-wet watercolor technique and watercolor sticks to create a soft and whimsical floral aesthetic.

Wood Flower & Bunny Mobile

I was inspired to make wood flower and felt bunny mobile for my daughters room when I was going through my things and decluttering. I had these wood flowers I had purchased for my wedding thinking we would use them in the decor, but now they were just sitting collecting dust. I asked my mom if she wanted them and she suggested I used them in the nursery, that’s when it hit me that I could use them to create this adorable baby mobile. I bought the felt bunnies and felt balls from a few Etsy shops then laid out the design and hand strung them. I love how it turned out.

Hanging Hooks Plaque - Painted New Design - WIP

This is still a work in progress, but I’m repainting this wood hanging hook wall plaque using acrylic paint. I had gotten this while I worked at Shutterfly as a free product sample. I painted it once already, now it will have a new theme and inspirational quote. When it’s finished there will be a variety of different color flowers on the rolling hills and I’m going to add the phrase “Oh the Places You’ll Go…”. I’m a big Dr Suess fan and I particularly love that book and how it encourages exploration.