Micah's Navy, Grey & Dog-Themed Nursery

I used to laugh when I would read other mom bloggers write: “I can’t believe my baby is one year old and I’m just getting around to showing the nursery!”… yet here I am with a 22 month old writing the exact same thing!

Oops. 🙂

Time really does fly by faster once you have children! These pictures were taken during his newborn session (when he was just 3 weeks old!). Even though the pictures were taken so long ago, we’ve only made 2 decor changes AND I can honestly say that the room ended up begin just as functional as I wanted (as well as pretty!)!

We found out Micah was a boy when I was 18 weeks pregnant. I really couldn’t believe we were having a boy … even though Matt’s family has more boys than girls, I always pictured us with a house full of ladies!! I thought we’d have one boy, after a handful of girls! Clearly God thought otherwise 😉 and now I can’t imagine anything but my blue-eyed, blonde-haired boy!!

I loved finding out his gender ahead of time since a gender neutral color palette is not my cup of tea. I envy friends who embrace an all white palette!! I WISH I could pull that look off but I always sway toward colors. I also love texture & wanted to really lean into a full on girl nursery (hello pink!) or, in this case, a full on boy room (insert navy & grey!)!

I blogged my inspiration for Micah’s nursery here and today, I finally get to share the real room! 🙂

Two things that have changed in the last 22 months:

Now a beautiful custom name sign hangs above the head of his crib. Our friends run an online shop & gifted it to us right after he was born; It’s a perfect fit in the space & we love it so much!! (You can see her shop here!!)
We hung a strand of white Christmas lights around the window beside his crib. Matt put them on a dimmer for me so that when I nursed at night, I could turn on just the faintest of light. Now that I’m no longer nursing him, we kept the lights and they work great for rest time and first thin in the morning when I don’t want to blind him with bright lights.

Matt built the wooden shelves in Micah’s room and they are my favorite thing about the room! I love that he built them – so sweet & sentimental. These were the inspiration (we just couldn’t afford that price-tag!).

The shelves have also worked great above the changing table. I wanted a traditional changing table (love the look!) but that means we don’t have storage on the TOP of the table; now that Micah is bigger we use the corner of the wooden shelf above the changing table for wipes, lotion, etc.. This way we don’t have to fumble around under the table while changing Micah – everything is easy to grab at arm’s reach!

It’s also been great to have keepsake books on the shelves. He LOVES books … but he can also quickly destroy them! 😉 We were gifted books that are not board books, so we keep those up high & pull them down for story-time as needed.

One of my favorite decor accents that’s also practical is the puppy dog basket accents from Pottery Barn!! His hamper is the cutest & I love the smaller basket for burp cloths. Now that he’s a toddler, he loves to “help” with laundry and will carry the top around.

I have also gotten a lot of use out of the Crate & Barrel pouf! I hesitated to buy one since the room is small, but I am SO glad I did! I love our glider yet I never used the recline feature. I found it was too loud when I was in there at night. Instead, I rest my feet on the pouf, slouch down a bit in the chair & get cozy. The pouf is light enough that we can easily slide it out of the way, too, and now that’s he’s older he will sit on it in his room.

I splurged on his mobile and it was worth every penny! I wanted a keepsake piece that I can save for grandchildren & this is it. The detail is incredible & it’s so well made! Plus, one of the pups looks like our dog, Knox!

Speaking of Knox, I loved having his custom illustration by Simply Jessica Marie in Micah’s room! I plan to have one done of Micah and Knox together, too! 🙂

In terms of additional decorations, I reused baby shower decor in the room, books we were given at our shower & other random things around our home that fit. I knew the decor was more for me vs Micah, but I wanted a space that would be inviting and also play on textures – plants, baskets, metals & wood.

I also have to point out that our changing table organization has worked form the time he was 1 week old up until now!! I still use the same metal holders for diapers and the baskets have gone from holding burp clothes / swaddles to now holding swim diapers, blankets & little boy accessories like hats + shoes!

Along with playing on textures, I wanted the decor to be things I can reuse later either in a toddler room for him or in other parts of our home. As he grows, I want him to be able to have a say in what his room looks like (per his personality & interests!). I hope he loves dogs & navy, but maybe he won’t!! This way, I have pieces that work elsewhere or grow with him as he grows! (Thankfully his 22 month old self LOVES dogs so I think his room theme is gonna stay around for a long time!)

These hooks have come in handy!! In the winter, I used them for his jackets / sweatshirts and now that spring is here I will be able to use them for “nicer” outfits / shirts I don’t want to fold. (His room is small and does not have a closet.) Plus, little clothes make for cute decor! 😉