Since I was a teenage girl, I imagined being married to the man of my dreams. Unlike most teenage girls, though, I didn’t focus on the wedding day or any one day in particular. My imagination didn’t run away with details of wedding dresses, flowers, bridesmaids, churches, invitations, locations, or accommodating guests. I didn’t envision a personally designed engagement ring fit for a princess or the perfect proposal, although I received both of those with an open heart. No, my thoughts and wildest imagination centered on having a partner who loved traveling the world with me, who loved to explore and create a beautiful, unique life with me, and who cherished the daily events that filled our lives with joy. Designing a nursery for our precious baby girl was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. We created a dream world together. The accumulation of all of my teenage and adult dreams was met through the process of designing Athena’s room.
We decided on two colors – hot pink and green, ,but bringing them together and making them unique was a challenge. We had no desire to have a typical crib, changing table, decorations, or wall color that filled homes around the globe. Our first stop was Ikea, http://www.ikea.com/us/en/, where we found pink and green towels that
were exactly what we’d envisioned so we made them, along with a pink wall lamp in the shape of a flower and a green bug wall lamp, our starting point.
I read an online article called How to Paint a Crib, http://www.ehow.com/how_2154263_paint-crib.html, and my problems were solved. I had no idea that painting almost all surfaces was possible. Darren had agreed to paint whatever my heart desired and our room came together as easily as our relationship.
With colors in mind, paint in hand, and the knowledge that Darren would be meticulous about the painting process, I was confident that we could create a room that was a great place to grow up.
The wall decals and the bedding is from Amazon.com. I constantly scoured the internet for the perfect blend of green and pink with a hint of “fairy-like” garden included.
I made the tissue paper flowers by following the easy steps on Martha Stewart’s website. I love the added touch of color that appears to float in the air. They provided a frame for the butterflies and left room for a musical mobile.
As a teacher, books, books, and more books were an important additive to the room. I found great deals on craigslist.com and second hand shops around Orange County. After spending only $50, I filled a bookshelf with reading material for my little girl. Hopefully she’ll love reading as much as her mother.
As time progresses, we will add to the room decor; after all, I’m only four months pregnant, but we’ve already created a room that is unique and holds a special place in my heart for all of my hopes and dreams have come together.
This nursery looks like a little girl’s dream. It’s beautiful.
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Thank you. I wanted it to be more for a little girl than for an adult. I hope that she loves it even half as much as I do.
🙂
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What a sweet nursery! Color is the perfect platform to support sweet dreams of a life that will offer one little girl what few are privileged to experience in a lifetime. Having a baby is sort of like one-faceted genetic lotto – you never know who you’ll get, but for baby its a given. One very lucky baby girl gets you and your husband!
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The two of you have created a magical space for little Athena. It is just beautiful! I love the little touches you’ve added…..like the butterfly in the picture! Very creative!
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Thanks Wendy. I can’t wait until you can see it in person ❤
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I added a few other pictures from the final wall! Take a look 🙂
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What an awesome room! So full of imagination, playfulness, and possibilities! Also, really love the name Athena. How far along are you?
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Thank you for the beautiful comments.
I’m only four months along, but I’ve always dreamed of planning a nursery. As soon as we knew the gender of the baby, we began searching for ideas and inspiration.
Do you have any children? Although this is my first, I love everything about the process. Every time I walk into the room tears of happiness fill my eyes.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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I love this nursery! My little Nora has a pink and green room also! She also has tissue paper flowers hanging in lieu of a mobile…she loves it!! After having 3 boys, putting a little girls room together was so much fun!
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I made the tissue paper flowers from Martha Stewart’s webpage, http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/tissue-paper-pom-poms-how-to. We tried to add our own, unique touches to the room and make it original for our baby girl. I’m happy with the final product.
How old is Nora? I’m glad you are able to experience the joys of planning for a girl; it must be such a different experience for you. Congratulations!
Thanks for taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Wild and creative!!
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Thanks Jim. That’s what we were going for!
🙂
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Amazing 🙂 Its girly, but not soft and girly, its for a little strong woman to be 🙂
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Thank you. We wanted to to be original yet still fit for a baby girl.
Are you from London?
Thanks for commenting,
Lesley
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What a funky combination of colours, Lesley! The nursery looks absolutely fantastic. I’m sure Athena (love her name, too!) will love it just as much as you both do 🙂
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Thank you. I thought it was modern yet still “pretty” for a little girl.
I loved the name Athena since grade ten history class. It always stuck with me as beautiful and original.
Your photos in Casino Hopping In Las Vegas are great and inspired me to book another Vegas vacation. I’ll return in November.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Thanks for following my blog… because that led me to yours. Amazing stuff, and amazing, beautiful space. I love your aesthetic.
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Thank you! We tried to create something beautiful that reflected our relationship and hopefully our child’s dreams.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Wow, you’re really awesome, Lesley! I can tell that you’re going to be a great mom. All the best to you, Darren, and Athena.
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Thank you. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful husband who encourages me and supports me. It’s easy to create a beautiful family around that.
Thanks for reading and commenting,
Lesley
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Normally, I’m not much for decorating but I loved every minute of creating my baby girl’s room with my wonderful husband.
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I love your choice of colours. The contrasting bright colours will be great for your baby girls early vision, and she should love the butterfly theme :)It looks the kind of room that will be great for her all through childhood!
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Thank you! I was going for something beautiful yet practical. I think that I’ll be pleased with it for years and I hope that she is just as happy. It also serves as a guest room when we have company. We have a crib in our room for that time.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Love this room! I also have the pink and green theme, but yours totally trumps mine. I have the ikea flower too. gorgeous room!!
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I didn’t want the typical baby’s room, but I wasn’t sure how to make it unique. Although we have some common decorations like the Ikea flower light, I think we added enough personal touches to bring it all together.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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It is gorgeous, fun, creative, and a place your daughter will run to for solace, comfort, and peace and quiet from the world. What a wonderful creation. Way to go, Athena is a lucky girl already!!
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Thank you for your beautiful comment. I love the room and already spend countless hours in there imagining what a beautiful life we will have when she arrives.
Good luck with your family; they are beautiful.
Lesley
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such a sweet, fanciful, and unique nursery! (and impressed that you have it done so early). I’m looking forward to reading about how you travel with a baby 🙂
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wow! nice nursery room! congratulations! i loovvveee it!
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Such a beautiful and fabulous nursery! I love how three-dimensional the decor is. I wish I had that room growing up. 🙂 Congratulations on your baby girl and having the nursery done so early!
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To us, the three dimensional aspect was the most important feature of the room .
I love your photo from Rainy Day Sunday.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Wow! Beautiful. Athena is a very lucky Girl, in more ways than one.
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ooh, the painting on the wall is so cute!! The child in me says she would love to have a room like this 🙂 I don’t have kids, but if I ever have, I will definitely decorate their room myself, thanks for the inspiration 🙂 And I love that you put the same passion in decorating a room as in your travels!
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Thank you for the beautiful comment! The wall art is actually a decal that is peel and stick, but I love that you thought it was a painting; that’s what I was going for.
Your post, Magic and fairy tales, was a reminder of how blessed and beautiful my life has become. I’ve found my Prince Charming and I’m living in my fairy tale. In the last two years, I’ve learned that a life beyond my wildest imagination is possible. We’ve traveled to exotic locations together, we were married on the beach, we’ve experienced the extremes and now we have having a child. It brings tears of joy to my eyes to know that fairy tales to come true.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Congratulations! Your blog certainly has described many adventures, that I can very much admire. The jump in Las Vegas, how will it be when you read about your daughter making the jump? Mine bungied Victoria Falls, videoed the experience and the emailed the whole thing to her mom, saying with a wan smile, “Sorry Mom.” just before screaming into the plunge. Oh, the congratulations was on the pending birth of your child. As for fat, I learned long ago not to inquire or comment. As an MD, when I was wrong, nothing was more cutting than the response, “No. No, I’m not pregnant.” Of course, I learned from an obstetrician to make a prediction, girl or boy, then write the opposite in a little book. When the patient says you were wrong just point to the entry in the book. That way you’re never wrong. Best wishes to you.
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I know that either of my girls would LOVE a room like this 😀 Great job 😀 x
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What a gorgeous room! It must be so much fun, I always loved furnishing dolls houses when I was a kid but doing it full scale would be even better! Thanks for liking my blog post — reading yours makes me wish I did more travel blogging myself but I never got round to it when traveling and my words, pictures, and probably adventures are nothing compared to yours. I think you have the life I dream of! Congratulations and best of luck to you and your family, Lesley!
Xx Rosie
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Thank you for your kind words. My husband and I had a great time decorating the room together. I’m continuously impressed by his willingness to participate in preparing for our baby girl.
My posts are a mixture of old and new travels. It’s never too late to post about your adventures and I’m sure they are all special.
Good luck with your blog and I look forward to future posts.
Lesley
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love the colours.. room’s so pretty!
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GREAT JOB! My oldest girl is 6 and my youngest (outside the womb) is 2. I am JUST now creating a girls only room. My son is gonna share with the new baby. I have had fun thinking about how I wanted to decorate it. I wanna do girly colors and fairy and owls and birds… i love some of your ideas. Way to go with the hot pink CRIB! that’s awesome! I think I am gonna go make the martha stewart balls and figure out a way to do the butterfly group on the wall. Hope that little baby is a girl! But anything alive and healthy will be a blessing. Have another room to decorate?
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preciously beautiful …
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The room looks awesome & I’m so impressed that you have this much done and you’re only at 4 months. Even with my first, we didn’t get the room painted and somewhat decorated until there were only a few weeks left in my pregnancy. Thanks for liking my post on my blog too! I’m looking forward to keeping up with what adventures await you!
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Brilliant! What a fun color scheme!
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It’s so cute. The combination of pink and green is lovely.
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I love your nursery! I actually made a pink-ish and green mobile that hangs in our daughter’s nursery. I didn’t stick to just a couple of colors, haha. I’m not that organized. You can see a picture of it here http://adventuresinbaby.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/monday-getting-stuff-done-3/. It was pretty easy to make if you’re looking for a fun mobile :-).
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Gotta say, I give huge kuddo points for the room. Love the work and imagination that went into it.
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The nursery is GORGEOUS!
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Thank you! We’ve since changed it a little bit by adding a rocking chair and more bedding for the crib. I’ll post new pictures again soon.
Do you have children? This will be my first and I’m filled with excitement and anticipation.
Thanks for reading,
Lesley
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Yes! I have a two month old daughter. She’s amazing and has literally saved my life. How cool is that? I’ve been trying to work on the nursery for her. I got a crib last week. We’ve been co-sleeping. I love it, but it doesn’t let me sleep very well. It is convenient for breastfeeding though! I posted a pic of the crib I got over on my blog. It’s not the one I ordered, but it is beautiful.
I’m so very jealous that you can drive to an IKEA store! The nearest one to me is in Dallas and they charge an arm, leg and your firstborn for shipping. I just look at the online catalog and salivate.
I hope you have a perfectly serene pregnancy. I know your little one will be pink and round and precious! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m not an expert, but I have been pregnant!
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You are going to be a wonderful mum! Hold on to your spirit of adventure – the locations and challenges will change a bit but the joy of unexpected surprises and hidden treasures still remains a huge part of life once you become mumma:) I look forward to watching you sail over the horizon into mummyhood! xxoo
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Thank you for the words of encouragement. I love being pregnant and I can’t wait to show my daughter new countries, cultures, and adventures.
How many children do you have? Your thoughts on motherhood, “The love you feel will be deeper, more profound than anything you’ve experienced before” are inspiring.
Lesley
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Congrats on EVERYTHING!!!!! Having a little girl is a dream!!! You will have so much fun together and if she is half as creative as you are, there are lots of fun projects ahead for the two of you!!! 🙂
She is a lucky little girl…and will sleep well in her beautiful nursery!
Thank you for sharing!
~Louise
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Your feature wall came out adorable and the crib! Ahh love it. Congratulations.
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I have to give my husband credit for the crib; he put a lot of work into painting it and it turned out exactly as I imagined.
We’re in the process of painting a rocking chair and a book shelf. I’ll add new pictures when they are finished.
I love your Before and After photos! It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Thanks for taking the time to come over to my blog twice today! Means a lot. Enjoy this special time. My oldest is now 18 but I still see a little girl every time I look at her. That overdone is cliche is sadly true. These are really fun times you have ahead of you. 🙂
Truly, blessings to you. Irma
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I feel obliged to do the mommy thing and send you a pic of my kids. LOL!
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Tell me about your children, please. 🙂
You’d be surprised how many pictures I’ve received in the last few days of parents and nurseries. Please feel free to send along a picture; maybe you could even include a personal note for my baby girl due in March! I’m thinking about creating a post that includes stories,ideas,and photos from others as a thank you for all of the support.
Just send me an email at [email protected] and I’ll forward you my address.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Lesley
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Great way to make a unique room! Those are great, vibrant colors. And I agree on the hoping your daughter loves reading part. When I have children, I hope they share my love for reading. To me, opening a book is like entering a completely new world.
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Cute nursery! My husband and I are going through the nursery design process right now. It’s so fun to plan dream. Looks like from your posts that you and I are due about the same time…my due date is April 20. Hope all is going well with you and baby!
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I’m due March 25th; I’m just a crazy planner when it comes to the baby 🙂
Do you know the gender?
Lesley
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Now THAT is a nursery! We skipped that whole phase since we co-sleep, but that is pretty awesome. Great job!
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Thank you for stopping by my blog and congratulations!
It looks lovely. I think it’s a good color choice for a toddler and a pre-schooler too. My 4 y/o daughter loves bright color combos like pink and green.
We had the same rainforest bouncy seat.
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I love the rainforest collection. We have the bouncy seat, the high chair, the swing and the tummy time mat. What makes them perfect is that they have a great color scheme that can be unisex. We hope to have more children in the future so I’m sure they will be well used.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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Athena’s nursery is magical! You did a beautiful job.
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Thank you! We’ve since made some changes so we could add a rocking chair. I’ll post new pictures when it’s complete.
🙂
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Thumbs up on the rocking chair! Make sure it is comfy 🙂 I think I spent at least three months per kid in our rocking chair. (I’d always fall asleep while rocking the baby.) You are in for a grand adventure!
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Hi Lesley, thanks for liking my blog post. What a lovely nursery you’ve created, your little girl is very blessed with creative and purposeful parents. I also love how you placed emphasis on creating a little library to encourage a love for reading.
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Your baby’s nursery is beautiful! What a dream. I know she will love it.
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Lesley,
You have created a little “Narnia” for your precious gift, your Athena. I know that she already knows how loved she is and how blessed she is to have you as her Mommy.
M
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Let me tell you one thing.. What ever gender the baby is gonna be He/She is the luckiest to get parents like you guys ..It looks like you have put your whole heart in preparing this nursery..I hope you dont mind me asking when is the due date???
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What a HAPPY nursery you and your hubby created for baby Athena! She will love playing and dreaming there! It’s beautiful! God bless you and your sweet family!!!
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It’s an adorable room that should grow with your daughter. I made the mistake with my first going overboard with baby stuff that have been long since outgrown and passed on to other babies. I now look for things that ought grow with my children.
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I just had to “pin” your nursery!! Wonderful job with it! I love how bright and vibrant it is. And this looks like a room that little girl can grow into 🙂
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I absolutely LOVE this room, I kinda wish I had had a room like that when I was little. I love how you incorporated the bed into the room too, you’ve really put so much thought into the room, your daughter is going to love it. The colours go together so well too!
On a side note, thank you for the like, which lead me to discover your blog 🙂 I truly look forward to looking through some of your other posts about your adventures (I’ve already bookmarked the page about the Vegas sky jump for when I eventually make it out to vegas)
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My husband and I put every ounce of energy and creativity into creating this room for our first daughter. I’ve never been so happy in my life as I am to be pregnant and the day that she arrives will be the most beautiful day of my life.
The Skyjump was too amazing for words. My heart speeds up just thinking about standing on a ledge preparing to jump from the tallest building in Vegas! I hope you do it and blog about it after 🙂
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This room was amazing! Geesh I hope this is a girl…lol
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After three ultrasounds at three different places, I’m feeling certain that it’s a girl but if not, my husband and I really enjoyed creating the room and we’d be happy to fit it for a boy.
Thanks for your kind words and for taking the time to respond; it’s appreciated.
Lesley
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