Scandi modern Nursery makeover!
Oh wow! I never thought we’d get here but I am so happy that we have!
Hello everyone! I have been working away on this HUGE project for the last couple of weeks and the outcome has been emotional, in a very good way! If you’d prefer to watch a video, head over to here, i’ve filmed that for you too! Before I go into what’s gone on, I just want to say a massive thank you to Nick and Lottie for giving me the opportunity to work on this room. It has been such a pleasurable journey and I’m just as pleased with the outcome as I know they are! So, let me take you, the reader, through the makeover from start to finish.
It all starts with an idea…
Some background info before we begin. Nick and Lottie are part of my wonderful family and they have 2 sons, Warren and Milo. Both are absolutely adorable and Milo has recently turned 6 months old which means one thing, he’s ready for his big person room!
Lottie messaged asking if I could help out with designing the nursery turning toddler room and of course, I jumped at the opportunity. We started with Pinterest, the best source of inspiration! She already had a board on the go so I hopped in to that and we started to refine the ideas from there;
Scandi themed mountain feature wall
2 tone walls and the skirtings to match
The inside of the door painted to match
Flexibility to adapt and become a toddler room
Everything else put into the design was found through duplicate images on the board so I knew it would match the overall vision. I was set to start finalising the design for approval.
Design & conquer…
Above are the images that were sent to finalise the design process. Lucky for me, first time was the charm! It really helps when your client and yourself are on the same wavelength from the beginning. We had back and forth conversations regarding purchasing new items for the room. I felt flattered that everything that was to be purchased was sent to me for approval including paint.
Finding the right paint was definitely going to be the biggest obstacle in this makeover. It had to be a multi surface paint to cover all the surfaces we needed it to whilst having the matte finish that Lottie really wanted. We ended up going with Little Green paint & paper company, choosing Wood Ash and Juniper Ash for the room. A tester of Mono was also purchased for the background mountain range on the mural wall. A non-sponsored shout out to this paint company, their products were a dream to work with. They are a high-quality company and it is reflected in the price but it’s 100% worth it.
Prep & paint…
Painting had to go in a series of events to make sure each area had a chance to dry before the next part began. The whole room took about 4 full days to complete, less any touch ups, here’s what happened;
Day 1 - Walls were washed from debris and the first coat of grey paint applied
Day 2 - Second coat of grey applied including the top part of the door. The door was sanded (keyed) and cleaned prior to painting.
Day 3 - Taking the measurement from the door, the line going around the room to separate the colours was taped off. Any debris was cleaned from the walls as before and the blue paint was applied, including the forefront mountains.
Day 4 - The skirtings were sanded (keyed), cleaned and carpet taped off. These were then painted in the same blue paint. The background mountains were added to the mural wall in mid grey.
The snowcaps in the final images of the mural were added during Day 5. It gave the other paint around 72 hours to properly cure which was really important when re-applying tape over the top. I used a lot of tape during this process so be prepared! For any tape on the wall I used 3M painters tape; I applied it to the wall gently, stepped back and when I was happy with the placement, wet the edges of the tape to seal them. It’s important that once they have sealed with water to work fast to get paint onto those edges of the tape! Naturally there will be a small amount of bleed, for a perfectionist that was a no-go and I touched everything up in the final stages. If it doesn’t bother you, you will have some great success with this method. When coming to protect the carpets, I used thick masking tape to separate the carpet fibres from the skirting boards. Your tape should have a small lip that touches the board when you place it on the carpet so you can use a tool (or your fingers) to push it down to the underlay. If theres any drip from the paint, it will collect in this crevice you’ve just created, saving your carpet! This is the first time that i’ve painted skirtings a different colour. Was it nerve-wracking? Yes. Did magic happen? Yes. The method I used was flawless and not one bit of paint graced the high pile carpet!
Furniture, fixtures & fittings…
When it came to the furniture, the family had saved the majority of it from Warrens previous room. It was white so fit well within our theming, however to give it a modern re-vamp, I change out the knobs on the wardrobe and drawers. I opted for these sleek black ones that gave the furniture a new lease of life, this is also a great tip if you want to help existing furniture fit a new space. There were new fittings added in that were purchased for this room as you can see below.
You may well notice the teepee pictured above. It was from my previous DIY! There’s a whole blog post on the process of how this was made so check that out if you haven’t already. The BEKVAM spice rack hack isn’t new but to turn it upside down, just unscrew the fittings on the back and flip them upside-down before screwing them back in. I wanted to give the option of hanging Milos’ clothes for the next day up for convenience, rather than the original shelf style. It's just as sturdy but just be slightly cautious that these shelves naturally don’t hold a lot of weight! Once the furniture was placed and all the extras were installed, I was ready for the final styling of the room.
I just want to take the time here to thank my good friend Lizzy over at Lily Rose & Mae for gifting Milo the custom crochet bear (sitting under the teepee) and lion rattle (on the shelf) you’ll see in these images. She is incredibly talented in her craft, her products are great quality and she will soon be releasing a shop. The crochet rattles will come in a range of cute designs at £25 RRP, Milo has already given his seal of approval to both! In the meantime, please check out her Facebook and Instagram for more info!
The final countdown…
Check out the images below to see how I styled the room!
And here’s the before and after shots for you…
Thats it! The complete room! There was a lot of love and labour that went into this makeover. Seeing as it was my first time taking a project from start to finish, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Luckily for me, Nick and Lottie love the room, as does most of our extended family who have already seen it. That really is the best part of doing something creative like this.
There will be a product directory just below if you’d like to check out any of the brands or products used.
I hope you enjoyed coming on this journey with me and hopefully there will more content like this to come. What did you think? Do you have any design questions of your own? Let me know in the comment section below. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for exclusive behind the scenes updates on my posts!
See you all very soon!
Disclaimer: We are still in unprecedented times and whilst undertaking this room makeover, myself and the family were all safe. I personally took my temperature every morning and worked in this room alone. I washed my hands regularly and was equipped with hand sanitiser and a mask for added protection. I would only be moving around the house, undertaking tasks and entering other areas at the discretion of the family. My top priority was their safety before, during and after the project.
Directory;
Juniper ash paint - Little Greene Paint
Wood ash paint - Little Greene Paint
Mono paint - Little Greene paint
Furniture - Mothercare (Discontinued)
Alternative furniture - John Lewis
Rocking Horse - Mamas & Papas
Star muslin (Twinkle 3 pack) - Aden and Anais
Grey cloud blanket - Snüz (New version linked)
Bookcase - Aldi (Discontinued)
Alternative link for bookcase - Wayfair