After playing it safe on every other wall color in her home, Courtney let her imagination run free in her son Oliver’s nursery room. “You cannot believe how many people thought I was crazy and hormonal when I picked black as the wall color,” Courtney said of Oliver’s nursery wall. She was yearning for a room that was modern and sophisticated yet fun and definitely non-traditional. Courtney went with this bold decision for two reasons. The first being that she could follow the fashion adage that black goes with everything. “I could pair whatever color I wanted with it, be it blue, orange, yellow, white, red, hot pink, whatever. Black offered me total flexibility.” It also dealt with the reflective light from the skylight magnifying all other colors. That almost everything in Oliver’s nursery was a DIY project is what Courtney says makes his room so special and affordable. The very first item Courtney bought is one of her favorites: the crib. It was an amazing four poster Bassett crib she considered her dream crib. However, in the store they retailed from $1400 to $2400. “I watched Craigslist for about six weeks until I finally found it. I ended up getting an amazing deal, and for $80 I got the crib and mattress.”
Riding high on her Craigslist cloud, Courtney waited until she knew Oliver would be a boy before deciding on what color to paint the originally white crib. While the graphic print pattern is what might be most striking, Courtney adores the equine artwork. “I adore his modern horse painting, because it feels unexpected. I feel like it sets the tone of the room and makes a huge impact.” Rhinos also play a part in Oliver’s space. A white rhino head is on his wall, wearing a party hat that Courtney made and took with her to the hospital. Oliver has since worn it for his birthday. “It was one of the first things I purchased after finding out it was a boy. I thought it would be funny and whimsical to hang in a boy’s room and even funnier to hang under his “flying light bulb” flies. The light fixture was chosen for its mimicry of the wall pattern. A “steal”, Courtney likes it because it adds a bling factor, but not a feminine one. The owl lamp has special meaning to her, as it was gift from her husband and was waiting for her when she came home with Oliver from the hospital. Courtney’s biggest challenge was in creating this room was the lack of space. Her house is a cen-
BabyLifestyles.com www.B
37