Inspiration Board: Little E's Matisse-Inspired Nursery

Dear friends of ours, the Doctor and her Brilliant Husband, recently had their first child. Like us, they wavered over the decision to enter parenthood. We had several conversations regarding our own experience of choosing parenthood and joys the Sprout has brought into our lives. We also talked about the honest struggles that I've had about being a woman who feels called to her profession and yet wants to be fully engaged as a mother. I am delighted for them as they start this new adventure, and I think they're going to be fabulous parents. In fact, I hope the Sprout has a roaring crush on Little E when he grows up.

In the meantime, the Doctor asked for some help designing Little E's nursery. She knew more what she didn't want (cutesy pastels and traditional baby themes) than what she did. But the Doctor had a great inspiration point---the Matisse cut-outs that she'd recently seen in the National Gallery in DC. She also had a glider they had scored on the cheap and wanted to recover. And the room had recently been repainted a soft blue that they weren't in a hurry to repaint.

I had so much fun thinking about Little E's room and finding photos in my files that I've gleaned over the years in my love affair with the internets. I stayed up late one night just playing with ideas in my head and images. Here's what I came up with for an inspiration board (top panel) and some inspiring photos of other nurseries (bottom panels).

My recommendations:
--Three Matisse Prints securely attached (velcro?) over the crib
--A simple crib with organic cotton crib sheets in a solid color and then bring in the fabulous Alexander Henry Matisse Color in Stripes fabric for additional bedding or for recovering the rocker-glider.
--I also included a link to the fabulous crib bedding at Aunt Bucky on Etsy. Even if you aren't in the market for crib bedding you should check out her great fabric combinations. Bright and shiny!
--Skip the changing table and buy a sturdy dresser instead and put a changing pad on it. For Little E's room I would love to see one painted that famous Matisse blue or the tomato red from the center print.
--Some sharp prints on the wall like the custom name prints from Jennifer Ramos or the I Like to Rock print from Jaime.
--A Calder-like mobile from PukaPuka or The Wonderland Studio.
--Storage! Kids come with a lot of stuff. Some open storage is great for displaying well-designed toys and books.


This was the perfect kind of design challenge for me. All the fun without any of the work. If anyone else has design challenge they want to send my way, I'd love it!

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Photo Credits:
Unfortunately, when I save images for myself I don't always keep the source of the photo attached. I know the one photo with cloud-painted black-out shade (brilliant!) is from Toby's nursery on a Cup of Joe. Other images are likely from Design Sponge and Etsy.