The woodland nursery decor theme in Reeves’s room makes it one of my favorite places in the house. And I’m not just saying that because our baby boy’s nursery is the first and only room that we have decorated in the house so far. I love how peaceful and relaxing it feels to be in there thanks to the soft textiles and warm wood tones. The nursery isn’t completely finished (we still have some diy decor ideas that we want to add over the next few months) but today we’re sharing the progress we have made so far.

When Joseph and I decided to start trying to have a baby in Fall 2012, I immediately hopped on Pinterest and made a nursery design board. I had no idea then that it would take us three long years to become pregnant and carry that baby to term. Thankfully, our infertility story had a happy ending. That Pinterest inspo board became this rustic woodland nursery board after I found out I was pregnant:

Despite quasi-planning this room for three years, the actual execution part kind of snuck up on us. And some how, in January, with just one month to go until our newest family member was due to arrive, his room hadn’t changed much. Eight months in and we still didn’t even have a crib!

Nine months feels like a long time–plenty of time to do things like build a crib, plank a ceiling, and find all the cute little knick-knacks that make a room feel decorated. And yet here I am, eight months pregnant and only just starting to remove the old curtain hardware that we inherited when we bought the house. 

Like most projects in the house, Reeves’s nursery ultimately ended up being a mix of my style and Joseph’s style. We both agreed that we wanted a nursery theme that could in theory grow with Reeves into his teenage years. And, as always, we aimed to decorate the space on a budget. We are so happy with how it came out. Take a gander at these before and after shots.

Some of Joseph’s fondest childhood memories are from his time spent on his grandfather’s farm and the outdoor excursions he went on with his boy scout troup. We wanted to incorporate that kind of rustic outdoorsy vibe in Reeves’s room as part of the woodland nursery decor. The light fixtures we selected look like they would be right at home on a cabin out in the woods. In fact, they actually are outdoor fixtures that we converted into lamps by rewiring them.

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Joseph’s rugged camper vibe is tempered by my preference for color, patterns, and texture. I knew that I wanted to incorporate navy blue and gray into the room and that I wanted a patterned rug. In my experience, finding the perfect rug can be really difficult, especially if the rug has to fit in a room that has already been decorated. I’d already found the blue dresser at Ikea but I waited to buy it until I’d first found the right rug for the room. I knew it would be a lot easier to find a dresser that fit with whatever rug I chose than vice versa.

I’d had great luck with Rugs USA in the past and they came through yet again for Reeves’s woodland nursery decor. The colors were perfect, the price was right, and I knew the southwestern style geometric pattern would look great in the room.

The problem was that it was out of stock. I wanted that rug so badly that I decided that I would sign up to be notified when it was back in stock and then just wait it out. My hopes weren’t particularly high but I just hadn’t found anything that I liked nearly as much. Fortunately it came back in stock the following month and was in its new home just a few days later. The quality of the rug is amazing especially for the price.

Though we’d initially hoped to build our crib ourselves, we ran out of time. Instead, we got this one for a steal from Amazon for under $150. The crib is sturdy and gorgeous. I custom made the crib skirt from a gray curtain I scored on clearance from target for $8. It’s adjustable which means that as we’ve lowered the crib, we’ve been able to retie the skirt so it looks neat instead of pooling on the floor.

The ceiling is our absolute favorite part of the whole room. We’d both been itching to plank a wall in our home for years. And nothing says rustic woodland nursery decor like a planked wall. It is a bit of a commitment to do it on the ceiling though because to be safe we had to glue it on. That means that if we ever want to remove the planks then we will have to redo the drywall. Fingers crossed that we don’t have to cross that bridge!

The planked ceiling cost us $100 to make. We used three ¼” plywood boards cut into five inch planks then stained them using three different water-based stains. To give them a weathered look, we dry brushed them with Minwax Whitewash Pickling Stain. Then we marked the studs on the ceiling and attached the planks using glue and nails.

The floating shelves were another high-impact but cheap DIY project. The brackets are from IKEA. They came silver but we spray painted them bronze. The matching IKEA shelves only came in black or white, which didn’t go with our theme. We bought unfinished stair treads from Home Depot for $10 each, cut off the bullnose, and stained them using some of the leftover stain from the planked ceiling. We placed the shelves high enough so that when Reeves gets older we can slip a desk underneath.

A quick coat (or three) of chalk paint is all it took to transform the cheap white bifold doors into fun barn doors. As Reeves gets older he can use it as a safe drawing surface, a place to practice his writing, and eventually, as a calendar or to-do list.

Lastly, let’s talk textiles. Both the curtains and the orange pouf were DIYed by yours truly. I have no idea how to knit but there were tons of Youtube videos about there that taught me everything that I needed to know to make this basic pouf. I filled the pouf with two down comforters that I got here.

Total room cost: $1,500

Woodland Nursery Decor: Complete Source List

Rug: Rugs USA Radiante BC68 Modern Navajo Rug
Dresser: IKEA Hemnes
Sconces: Home Depot (Similar )
Ceiling Fixture: Home Depot Hampton Bay Metro 54” Indoor Outdoor Fan
Bedding: Amazon
Rocking Recliner: Purchased from Costco. Similar here.
Shelf Brackets: IKEA
Wood Shelves: Home Depot
Crib: Amazon
Pouf: DIY
Curtains: Fabric from Fabric.com here and here.
Cordless Blackout Cellular Shades: Blinds.com