Blair's Nursery Reveal + Decorating Tips For New Moms • The Perennial Style

I’m so excited to share a look into our baby girl’s nursery today! Since Peter and I wanted to keep the gender a surprise after IVF and waited until birth to find out if we were having a boy or a girl, we chose a gender neutral theme then added lots of girly touches once Frances arrived!

Working on the nursery was one of my favorite projects during pregnancy. It allowed us to nest and prep for our baby’s arrival, and also helped to make sure we were fully prepared when we delivered. Thankfully we started this project early, since Frances arrived healthy and precious a month early due to my preeclampsia (read more here).

We decided to turn one of our guest rooms into her nursery, and we chose this one because it has the most natural light! Instead of choosing a blue or pink paint color, we went with a neutral White Dove to brighten it up and make it feel cheerful and bright. We also recarpeted the room with a soft new carpet, since Frances will be crawling soon. Having a new base made the room feel fresh and ready!

OUR FAVORITE BABY BOOKS:

CURTAINS

We debated a lot about blackout curtains (Pottery Barn Kids had the best selection) or curtains that allowed some natural light. We wanted Frances to get used to sleeping in places that wouldn’t always be pitch black, so we decided on a medium-weight curtain from Ballard to hang on these chic Lucite rods – and I love how it turned out!

FURNITURE

During the first four months with Frances, I lived in this rocker! We fed her every 2-3 hours for months, so I was always rocking her and feeding throughout the nights. I love my rocker, and I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a good footrest! My chair doesn’t recline, and I think that would be a great feature to consider in the future – but either way, a rocker and footrest are essential for a nursery!

I also knew I wanted a sturdy dresser that had great storage and would last for a long time, so we could transition it into her “big girl room” someday. After lots of research, most of the baby furniture I found seemed small when I finally saw it in person, so I’m thrilled I chose this dresser from Pottery Barn Teen! We added this changing pad and stored her changing essentials on top, and it works perfectly.

DECOR

Decorating a nursery is so much fun, because every single detail is so sentimental. I wanted to mix in some favorites from my childhood and start a new collection of toys and trinkets for our baby girl to treasure as she grows up.

One of the items I was so excited to add in her nursery was the rocking horse my grandmother painted and my mom saved all of these years from my nursery. I also hung the pastel bunny painting from my childhood bedroom, and filled her shelves with a mix of treasured items like my silver rattle, Herend baby boot, and crystal clock. I’m so grateful my mom held on to all of these special items over the years, and I’m so happy Frances can enjoy them too!

I also recommend a book shelf to store her toys. So many of my friends and family gifted Frances with cute stuffed animals and trinkets, so being able to display them (as well as easy access for her to play with them) is a great way to combine storage and decor!

SHOP SIMILAR CHANDELIERS

Having books within reach of the rocker is incredibly helpful for story time each night, and I love these acrylic bookshelves I ordered from Amazon. I’m very pleased with the quality of these shelves, and highly recommend them!

One of the first gifts Peter gave me in college was a D Porthault heart-printed pillow, and I have loved it ever since. When I found the D Porthault bunny, I was so excited and it was one of the first items I ordered for her crib!

The final touches were adding this beautiful crystal chandelier that originally hung in our dining room growing up, as well as this painting above the crib that Frances’ great grandmother painted! My grandmother was an artist, so hanging it above her crib is so special – plus this one has lots of pink pastel colors, so it was perfect!

Keep scrolling for more photos from my nursery, and I hope these tips will help you when you decorate your nursery!