Jane’s Nursery Room Reveal

Bookshelf stacked with a combination of books and trinkets, some of which were saved from my childhood. 

A simple makeover of our daughter’s room, just in time for her second birthday. A lesson in using red, this was a playful and fun project with a surprising learning curve.

Vintage child sized dresser is painted in Benjamin Moore Heritage Red, with blue and white ceramic knobs from Amazon. A basket with books tucked into the corner for bed time, thrifted art, and a vintage small Persian wool runner rug (also secondhand). 

Unexpected Red Theory

There’s an idea floating around in the design world called the Unexpected Red Theory. To my understanding, this theory states that you can throw an accent of red into a room and it will both provide a pop of color and almost magically reconcile itself with its surroundings— both because and despite the audacity of the color.

I was curious about testing this theory about the time I stumbled across this darling child-sized dresser at an estate sale. It was painted white and in disrepair, and I fell in love with idea of refinishing it for my at-the-time baby daughter. I decided to paint it red. Bright red. (The color is Heritage Red from Benjamin Moore’s Historical Collection).

We don’t have any red in our house, and so finding a color scheme for her room that made this work without looking too out of place was a challenge that really tested this unexpected red theory to its limits. Given the amount of paint samples I went through and laboring over my Pinterest vision board to get the combination of hues just right, I’m not sure that this theory is completely foolproof! If you’re curious to see more about my behind the scenes design process, I’ll link my Pinterest board here.

But I will say that in the end I pulled it off, and I’m quite pleased with the results.

Blue and white striped curtains from Amazon, handmade ruffle valance with a remnant of Scalamandre fabric, which was a lucky find from a warehouse sale. 

The wall color

The wall color took many trials, as I wanted a neutral that leaned pink/apricot. Nearly an impossible task, I was distracted by beautiful pink tones that just weren’t right, and apricots that were way too bright or tan or orange. The walls ended up Benjamin Moore Pompeii, which is a part of their Off Whites collection and has the perfect whisper of both blush and apricot.

I almost went a pink route but am happy that I didn’t. It’s pretty as a little girls’ room and I can add accents of pink, but it’s versatile in case this room is used as a nursery for a baby boy sometime in the future.

Wall color is Pompeii, by Benjamin Moore.

The decor

Much of the decor in this room we had already, and is a combination of the things we’ve used for our two children. I picked up a couple of thrifted small pieces, and the only thing I did invest in was new curtains for the room— the Scalamandre floral fabric remnant that I used to make the valance ended up being the real piece de resistance that helps pull the different colors together in a cohesive way.

I ended up using my favorite piece of self given advice throughout— which is to reference specific decor pieces in the room to bring cohesion to the space. This was a bit tricky because the red dresser really was main piece inspiring the room, but the art I found as well as the curtains all blended together the blue, red and neutral/blush tones I was looking for.

Down the road, I’d love to warm the room up with an area rug, and add a lamp and side table next to the chair.

Dresser top decorated with gifts from family members, and a "Mama Mary" planter filled with dried statice, which is the best Trader Joe's flower hack if you ever find it-- it makes for beautiful dried flowers. 

I converted the closet to a hidden away diaper changing station, to create more room. Cozy reading chair with a handmade blanket made by a friend, and a framed Waterhouse print I've had since I was a girl. 

I’m so happy with the way this room turned out. There’s something about the red, blue and apricot color scheme that I’ve just craved so much over the past few months, and though the red is different, the space does compliment the rest of our home very well. This third bedroom also gets the best morning light of any room in the house, so it’s a wonderful place to sit with coffee in the morning or sneak away in the afternoon with a book.