Malia's Jungle Nursury

Hi Christine,

First of all, I loved the nursery you did and want to thank you for the inspiration to finally DO something with our soon-to-be nursery.

Here is the picture of the tree your mom did for us today. The blue tape is where I want to put some wall shelves. The second shelf is just as long as the others, but isn't shown as such because of the paint.
We are going to be putting a rocking chair of some sort to the left (which we will probably need your help with as well!) and the toy chest will remain there.
I also attached a picture of our crib set. We have the hamper, diaper holder, and bedding. We also have the mobile and valance, but I don't know if I want to use them. What do you think?

My questions:
1. What do you think of the spacing and placement of the shelves? It currently is one foot apart with the shelves being 3 inches, leaving only nine inches of space to put things.
2. What should I put on the shelves?
3. I'm leary of introducing too many more colors because the dresser (bottom left) and crib is honey, while the toy chest and shelves are darker brown. What color frames should I look for?

Thank you so much for helping us!
I can't wait to hear your suggestions.

Malia

Dear Malia,

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to respond to your question. I wanted to go over to a friend's house and take a picture of her wall shelves, but it is just taking me too long, and you are going to have your baby!! So- I will just tell you what I wanted to show you. First of all- your tree is awesome! I love how understated it is! Very cool!

1. Your shelves look great. If you haven't already hung them, you might consider putting them a little further from each other, but if they are already up- don't worry about it, it will look great. With that spacing, it is perfect for 4 x 6 and 3 x 5 photos.

2. What should you put on the shelves? This is what I wanted to show you. My friend Shelby did such a fabulous job on her wall shelves in her living room. She has TONS of pictures. All black and white if I remember correctly. So many pictures that you have to move them around to see them all. It is a great look. This is one idea. Another idea? Combine picture frames with stuffed animals, and books with book-ends. You can also find "jungle" type children's books, and set them on easels. Cute wooden toys with a jungle theme would also be nice. Keep it simple, consider adding a spotlight above the shelves/tree mural with a dimmer on it. That would make a nice night light.

3. For your frames- pull out your paints. Wouldn't this look cute- paint them the prints of the letters at the top of this post. (I found the letters on poshtots.com). Or - better yet- get your mother-in-law to paint them! You could intersperse these decorative frames with some painted a solid green, gray and yellow, (using the other colors in your bedding).

I would skip the valance- a little too cutesy in my opinion. The mobile? -- either way. My friend Marika just did a fabulous jungle room for her baby Isaac. Marika- will you send pictures please?

Congratulations on your baby coming! Send us a picture of the final look!

- Christine