Deacon John // Adventure Nursery

I have been meaning to post photos of Deacon’s nursery ever since he was born, but alas, having two kids is busy! So 6+ months later here you go! When we found out we were having another boy I instantly had inspiration for his nursery. We had already done a nautical themed room playing homage to my California roots (and let’s be honest my love for all things east coast preppy). So for Deacon I knew I wanted to do something more “Colorado” and a bit more modern. I still used a similar color palette…navy, red and grey that would work well with the rest of our house but also added in some accents of hunter green and mustard yellow. I wanted the underlying theme of this room be a mix of vintage outdoorsy/camp/adventure while really playing on the idea of a young boy being brave and EXPLORING the Colorado outdoors and more importantly life’s adventures. When designing our kid’s rooms I always make sure they will transition well from a nursery into a big kid room because I am not doing this twice!

The entire room really was a labor of love and included lots of DIY projects. When we started the room I got the idea in my head that I wanted navy furniture, much to David’s aggravation because of course you can’t just go out and buy a navy crib and dresser! Believe me, we tried! Thankfully Angie at the Painted Piano came to our rescue and refinished the crib and dresser for us taking one thing off our plate! While the furniture was off being painted we started by painting the room grey and painted stripes on the crib wall. I loved the idea of having one stripe of a different color to make a bold statement. After painting we installed the crown moulding. Next, I wanted some rustic industrial shelving and my amazing husband brought my vision to life! He stained 1″ x 10″ pieces of wood and we spray painted steel plumbing pipes and attached them to the wall with iron floor flanges. In addition, at the entrance of the room there is a long skinny wall that I wanted to transform into a chalkboard wall. It was David’s idea to actually build a separate chalkboard that was framed out in stained wood that matched the shelves and secure it to the wall. I then did a little chalkboard art at the top that can be changed up with life’s events. Of course Parker already draws on the lower part of the chalkboard and I am sure DJ will soon enough!

Like with Parker, my mom and I collaborated and put together a quilt design on paper incorporating all the colors from the room and having a compass be the central focal point. She was the seamstress and the final product is just breathtaking!! I am thinking once he is in a big boy bed it will lay on top of his bed to really display it fully. I then sewed a couple pillows for the glider as accent pieces. A red and white cross similar to the Swiss Army Knife logo and another in an eclectic Navy and White print. The beautiful hand weaving above the glider was made specifically with the room design in mind by Deacon’s Auntie Tiffany. Isn’t her work amazing?! Lastly, I put all the other elements together either by hand making them (deer and bear silhouettes, EXPLORE print, NESW Chalkboard, Camper Penant), scouring online shops or finding them in various stores. We love the final product and hope our little Deacon enjoys growing up in it!