Gender Neutral Goes Bold Kelly Green in this Baby Nursery

Jennifer loves designing rooms for children.  “Their rooms are truly some of my favorites and I love that it will be a part of their memory when they grow up.” When it came time to design this gender neutral nursery, the master behind Jennifer Bishop Design was given the direction that it should be gender neutral, but not much else. “With lots of freedom there is always that fear that you may be so off base and that your client won’t like it.  I think for me the challenge fell more that it had to be gender neutral than it did with the freedom.  That being said, adjustments can always be made to a design so I always put myself out there.” With her allotted budget, the final design was her first design choice.

This nursery may have needed to be gender neutral but it certainly did not have to be NEUTRAL! While many find that gender neutral nurseries can often feel limiting in terms of color, Jennifer pulled the color palette from the artwork on the walls. “I find so many times when people think gender neutral they think of just light or mint green. Why not go bold?  It truly was the boldest I’ve ever gone in a room.  It made me a little nervous at first but again, I trusted my gut, and it really came out striking. I really can’t imagine that room in any other color now.”

Jennifer loved the mix of colors in the art as well as the longevity of the print. She knew she wanted to use the brightness of Kelly Green for the walls and something striking set against. That’s when she found the white birch tree decals along with the wooden owl decal.  “I didn’t want to take the woodsy go overboard so I then focused on bringing in just plain modern elements.  The cork board was a Home Goods find.  It was a bronze mirror originally and then I painted it, inserted the cork and laid the ribbons and buttons for an entirely new look.  Bows or photos can be tucked in the ribbons now or when the kids are older they can use push pins on the cork.”

“By far my favorite detail was the cork board.  It’s such a focal point in the room and is something they can easily re-paint down the road should they want to incorporate a new design I really love to use photos in a room.  I usually work with my clients in selecting just the right ones to use in their rooms.  The pillow in the glider was another favorite.  I sewed a pile of felt buttons onto the front to pull all the colors in from the room and provide a bit of texture on the chair.”

The dresser started out as an old standard honey-oak dresser, already painted white when Jennifer arrived wanting to take its makeover a step further. At first she tried to do a wood grain paint technique using a grain tool.  “I just could not get it to come out right.  I then ran across the paper and decided just to decoupage it on the fronts.  It was much easier and looked fantastic when it was done!”

It’s always great when someone knows how to sew. In this case, baby-to-be’s grandma was able to make the crib bedding, contributing a project to make the room more personal. “Almost every room I do has some sort of custom sewing involved with it so it’s always great when either my clients or someone they know sews when on a tight budget.  In this case I chose all the fabrics for the client’s mom and she became my worker bee!”

Since this nursery needed to be ready for a boy or a girl, Jennifer made her bulletin board pull double duty a both a bow holder and a photo board. “I love how it turned out and it created such a great feature in the room.”

A sweet baby girl now occupies this fabulous room. And if you’re wondering what the parents thought of Jennifer’s work… she’s currently working on their other daughter’s room. So all signs point to love! Thanks Jennifer for sharing your bold nursery design with us!

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