Room Tour: A Sophisticated Safari Nursery

Photo: Nesting With Grace

Though it's always hard to say goodbye to a useful spare bedroom, the decision was an eagerly anticipated one for Brooke of Nesting With Grace. See how she reinvented this beachy guest bedroom into a safari-themed nursery, intentionally veering far from the saturated color palette and cartoon animals so often associated with kids' spaces.

We live in a 1,200-square-foot Cape house in Connecticut, about a half a mile from the beach. We have lived here for about a year and a half, and have really enjoyed it. We're from Utah, and all our family lives there among a lot of friends. Luckily for us, they visit throughout the year.

Photo: Nesting With Grace

The room we remodeled to be our baby boy's nursery was our main guest room. It held a queen bed, large TV, and made for a really comfortable spot where guests could make themselves at home.

Photo: Nesting With Grace

We do have another room that we use as a family room which has a sleeper sofa in it. We've had up to six guests at one time, so we knew that we'd miss that extra guest room.

Photo: Nesting With Grace

Photo: Nesting With Grace

When deciding the furniture for the bedroom, besides a crib the main item I knew I needed to fit was a daybed. The room is about 10 feet by 11 feet, making it large enough to fit everything on my
wish list.

Photo: Nesting With Grace

The most helpful thing I did when we started looking for furniture was to create an “idea board” on Wayfair. First, I searched for daybeds, and added any I liked to my board. I could quickly compare them to each other and narrow down to my favorites. I picked a daybed that was fully upholstered, knowing it would be the most comfortable. Along with being able to sleep on it, I wanted it to function as extra seating. We have two daughters who are 8-years-old and 5-years-old respectively, and I knew they'd want spend a lot of time around me when I feed or rock the baby.

Photo: Nesting With Grace

I also wanted to make it a really fun room that felt different from the rest of the house yet still flowed nicely with our home's overall scheme. My son's nursery is right off of our master bedroom, which is painted in a dark gray. It features white bedding and a black-and-white striped rug. It flows really well with his bedroom, yet his room feels more masculine and unique. The astronaut wallpaper on the ceiling makes the biggest impact to the room. If we were to take that away, the room would look pretty generic. I picked timeless pieces, but added a punch of something funky.

Photo: Nesting With Grace

Photo: Nesting With Grace

We're really excited to be able to spend time in his room together as a family. The seating from the daybed, rocker, and little pouf have made it welcoming for people to gather. The bookcase, dresser, and side tables help to keep it clutter free and organized, along with the large baskets to store extra diapers and clothes.

I think the environment and colors will be very nice for the baby as well. I know he will enjoy looking up at the wallpaper as he goes to sleep. The drapery panels I selected keep the room light and bright when open, but when closed, they actually block out all the light. They make it a cozy place to sleep, or to turn on a lamp and read him a baby book. We just cannot wait!

Photo: Nesting With Grace