Black and White Baby Nursery

by Sheri L Koetting
(Long Island City, NY (USA))

Our Black and White Baby Nursery was inspired by the light fitting. When we purchased the house this light fixture was in a bathroom. We decided its quirky character was worth saving. We installed it in our 2nd bedroom and designed vinyl graphics that look like baroque shadows from the fixture itself.

Thus a black and white theme was born! It is of course serendipitous that babies enjoy high contrast such a black and white while their eyes fully develop.

We used Black and White, Behr house paint and Rust-o-leum Black Chalk Board Paint for the chalkboard insets on the doors.

We ordered custom vinyl graphics online and rubbed them onto the ceiling.

The crib is a Black Jenny Lind. We found a used changing table on Craigslist and painted it. The shelves are standard, adjustable wall standards and shelving brackets. However, be sure to order the kind where the shelves can be screwed down onto the brackets for stability and safety. The low play table and Eames rocker are family heirlooms.

The crib bedding is Tadpoles Damask 4-piece crib set from Amazon.com.

We designed and hand made the alphabet chart. Several family members knitted black and white blankets which we used as decorations. The rug is made from woven recycled plastic which I salvaged from a photoshoot years ago.

The black fabric boxes on the shelves store all sorts of baby toys, blocks, and stuffed animals. The changing table has closed cabinet storage underneath which will be a god send as well.

The whole thing came together over about 3 months. It was so much fun to do and easier than we thought! As soon as we convinced our family members that black and white was a great idea for a nursery, everyone got on board buying us only black and white items to compliment the theme. It was easier than we thought!

We designed and planned the entire thing ourselves. Our goals were:
1. Spend as little money as possible.
2. Focus on used and re-purposed items wherever possible.
3. Avoid items made of plastic.

Since he'll be spending a lot of time on his back we wanted to give him lots of wonderful things to look at. I think we succeeded.

PS: The process also inspired his name, Grey.