Baby Prep: Nursery Tour + Paperramma Review

This is probably not breaking news to people who know me pretty well, but I'm gonna put it out there anyway: I'm a pretty particular person. {Read: Nitpicky.}

I'm a perfectionist by nature and that translates to lots of parts of my life: Organization, work-style, surroundings, etc. Sometimes being so picky causes things to take a little longer than it would for others -- like picking out nail polish colors when I get a pedicure and deciding on a color scheme for a room.

I'm learning to let go of this because I know that babies aren't all about perfection and order, so I need to get over it. But when it came down to putting together the baby's nursery, I knew I wanted something that I'd feel happy in since I'll inevitably be spending many early mornings and late nights hanging around in there.

The main issues I had with nursery planning could be categorized by three main factors: budget, space and a lack of interest for anything that looks remotely babyish.

Some people are all into themes and cutesy little things that scream "newborn", and I can understand why teeny tiny soft things can definitely bring about the warm fuzzies. But I prefer a more classic style that can easily translate to life after diapers, so it was a challenge looking for things that towed that line. These were some of the looks I had pinned when the planning first began:

Swoon. {From Eat.Sleep.Decorate.}

Found on Pinterest.

I started out with bedding because I figured that would be a good jumping off point as far as colors and styles. I found this "Make a Splash" crib bedding set from Land of Nod and thought that the colors were great and the whales gave a playful touch without overdoing the whole animal thing. With that picked out, I was able to go from there with the rest of the décor.

We live in a rental -- a three story, 2 bed 2.5 bath townhome -- so I knew there wouldn't be any wall painting to do because we didn't want to have to worry about painting it back in the future. So, picking out cute art was a must.

Enter Paperramma. Upon first glance, I immediately loved the look of their modern, fresh prints that had all the whimsy you want in a nursery with a custom twist.

I browsed their stuff and fell in love with the idea of creating a custom,"interactive" map to put over Cole's crib, but wasn't sure if I could pull off buying all the wall art I wanted and still stay within budget.  Lo and behold, I found out that they were working with bloggers and offering custom creations for those who wanted to review their Paperramma experience. How perfect! It was meant to be.

After getting accepted to work with Paperramma, they immediately started the customization process asking me things like the baby's name, date of birth, color scheme and any other special things that might be important to the design. This is where I immediately started to freak out. Because this is usually the part where I can't make up my mind, or can't express exactly what I'm looking for.

So... I emailed them with as many details as possible. I sent a picture of the bedding and asked if they could coordinate the colors {they could}, and if they could add a custom quote instead of the date of birth at the bottom {they did}. I basically mashed together two of their custom map ideas to create one perfect map to match what I had in mind.

The two maps I used for inspiration.

My custom map!

With just ONE try, they were able to capture exactly what I imagined. That never happens! Color me impressed.

I'm so excited about the fact that we can add pins to show Cole's future travels. Gotta start planning some trips soon! I'm also going to eventually add a wooden frame around the border -- that's a DIY project for when things get a bit more settled. I'm thinking a distressed gray outer frame... anyone want to come over and build it for me?!

We had a few more frames to fill over Cole's changing table, so I purchased one more print from Paperramma -- a print that holds a lot of meaning to our little family. For years, "Three Little Birds" has been our song whenever times are tough so, as soon as I saw this adorable print, I knew we had to include it in the decor.

The rest of the artwork we {will} have on the walls I made myself with PicMonkey using inspiration from other quotes I had seen during my pinning sprees. I simply created them and will have them printed and hung them in these nice frames that I purchased during Michael's BOGO sales. I repurposed an old frame I've had since college and turned it into a little clipboard frame for mementos and pictures with a quick coat of paint and some metal clips. Done and done... and on the cheap, too!

Classic white furniture {just a crib, a glider and a dresser for which I purchased a removable changing table top} and a bold striped rug easily completed the look I was going for -- clean, boyish and modern.

Side note: One of my favorite parts of Cole's room is actually his closet. I love storage and organization. I bought this piece from Walmart and it works perfectly for all the little odds and ends that need a home but that I don't necessarily want out in plain view. I now want to redo my entire closet so it's as tidy as his!

So. Much. Clothes.

There are still little things here and there that I'd like to tweak and add to, but I'm so happy with how Cole's space turned out -- and even happier that I came across Paperramma and had the amazing opportunity to work with them!

Looking for custom prints of your own? Paperramma is offering The Kitchen Prep readers $5 off any order of $50 or more! Simply type in the coupon code TKPREPBLOG14 at checkout.

A big thank you to my friends at Paperramma for creating the finishing touches for the baby's room! I'm sure I'll be making some more purchases in the future for more custom adorableness. 🙂

{Note: I had the baby! I wrote most of this post before he arrived, so there's not much about him in it -- except, of course, that last picture! I'll be sharing more about our new lives as parents soon!}