Iris’s Nursery Tour

I like pink. And I like blue. I wanted to create a calm and neutral space for our second baby and decided on the nursery colour scheme regardless of gender.

Gender Neutral Nursery ?

Is a nursery “gender neutral” only if you use 50 shades of beige? I’ve read various blogs and instagram captions over recent months, and I must admit I’m confused. Shouldn’t it be about choosing the colours you think work for your baby/your nursery/your home/what you like rather than avoiding “stereotypical” shades altogether? It seems the internet is awash with quite passive aggressive comments against using pink for a baby girl full stop for example. Ultimately we want equality and choice right?

I bought the Regal Wingback armchair from Calvers & Sudval in pink because I love it. It is so comfortable, and I didn’t question plonking my arse on it to feed my baby in the nursery, whether we were lucky enough to have a boy or a girl. The moral of this story is, choose what you like and what you think is best, all the judgy pants parent brigade can do one….it’s just a chair. Or bedlinen. Or a rug.

Panelled Walls

I fancied a statement wall but couldn’t decide on wallpaper – lots of lovely options, but nothing I could commit to. We had the panelling created by a carpenter in March 2018, I had the idea initially for the guest bedroom – our cottage goes around a corner which although gives it architectural merit from the outside, hurts my eyes indoors due to the on-the-wonk nature of the curvature. A panelled wall not only straightened out the guest room so it was far more useable, but we now have “secret” storage space behind. The panelling in Iris’s nursery is purely for aesthetics, and I really like the effect. I was also keen to pay homage to my family home, which was up for sale at the time (it sold in September to a developer so essentially no longer exists). We had a fully original oak panelled dining room which I had a nostalgic soft spot for. I occasionally had a google hang out call with the Rock My team there so my Dad could watch Mabel, which would sometimes result in exclamations of: “Where the hell are you? Downton Abbey?!” And so the panelling situation spread – we have floor to ceiling panelled cupboards in the playroom too.

I’m not going to lie, I was worried it might be a bit…naff. And now the whole panelling thing seems to be everywhere I’m pretty sure in the not too distant future it may be viewed much like having an avocado bathroom, with carpet in it. But for now it’s beaut. A bit of Downton in the Warwickshire countryside.

I’m not big on loads of accessories, I just think dusty…..and with all those nappies/vom covered clothes to change on the daily, I would rather Mr Sheen wasn’t required that often. I have a small shelf section (the set of shelves were a £15 bargain from Tiger) which houses some of Iris’s special/sentimental newborn gifts from friends and family. One of the first toys I bought her was the Finn & Emma “Penny The Pigeon” rattle which amuses me no end – I bought it from Natural Baby Shower – they had a 2 for 1 offer on at the time so I bought the flamingo too.

The graphic illustrations are from Monoqi who seem to do small runs of unusual things, they often have discounts and offers so its worth signing up to their newsletter if you’re after unique pieces.

I bought quite a few pieces from H&M, the rug, the bunting and the wooden peg rail were all from there. The hanging light and table lamp are matchy matchy – the “Asher” range from John Lewis. I find lighting in general difficult to choose, these have a grey smoked glass dome with a pink pattered glass inset which is really effective and unlike anything I’ve seen before.

I find traditional changing tables cumbersome and generally hugely overpriced so I created my own from a one-off Etsy set of drawers (recycled/upcycled) topped with a Leander “Matty” changing mat. I would hands down say the latter is one of the best things we invested in, it’s sturdy, durable, wipe-clean and doesn’t ever feel “cold”, I recommend them to everyone and anyone that will listen to me wang on about their awesomeness.

Iris’s “reading corner” was created using an old Ikea picture shelf and what is actually the “Cairn” bedside table from Made.com – it has three separate storage sections which is perfect for books. The wardrobe is also Mabel’s old Ikea one, painted in Farrow & Ball’s “Plummet” to give it a new lease of life (also see, cover up the bright green wax crayon scribbles that she kindly decorated it with aged 3).

Last but not least, and for a bit of “behind the scenes” reality – this is my upstairs landing on the day we photographed Iris’s nursery. I told Adam I would have to move a few “things” out of the wardrobe/out of the way…….

Let me know if I’ve forgotten anything or if you have any questions on any of the decor ideas, I would love to hear about your recent interiors renovations, gender neutral nursery or otherwise!

P.S I remember when I featured Mabel’s nursery on Rock My Style…..it is her 5th birthday today. Treasure every moment folks. Treasure EVERY moment.

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