How to Create a Nursery When You Rent

Many moons ago, I made the decision to attend a private, Christian university. While I look back fondly on my college experience, my four years there left me with more than just an undergraduate degree. Yup, you guessed it. Student loan debt for the win.

Chuck and I are counting down the days until we can chip away at our debt and afford to own a house of our own, but until then...we are renters.

When the time came to think about creating Charlie's nursery, I was bummed that I wasn't going to be able to do all the fun, Pinterest-y things I wanted to. No painting. No installing new light fixtures or shelves. I felt a little bit limited, but I wasn't giving up hope.

I envisioned a not overly baby boy-ish nursery that somehow incorporated my love for Uganda and I think I did a pretty good job. Here are some of my tips for creating a fun nursery when you rent:

TEXTILES

It was amazing what a difference adding some valances and a rug made in brightening up our stark white second bedroom. To avoid being completely whitewashed, I tried to pick out bold colors and a fun crib bedding set with coordinating window coverings and changing pad cover. I like to think that my color palette complimented the white rather than working against it.

DECOR

Lucky for me, I'm a master with spackle. While we won't be installing any hardcore shelving or large decor, I figured a few small nails wouldn't hurt and can be easily filled in when the time comes for us to move. I stuck with a lot of decor I already had since we were working with a really small budget and added a few small things here and there. My favorite addition was the birth announcement canvas I made at TinyPrints.

PLACEMENT

I felt that by placing my limited decor asymmetrically, it made the bare walls appear to be a little more dynamic than they actually are.

COLOR

My number one takeaway from trying to decorate a stark-white boring room? Don't be afraid of color! I tried to infuse color wherever I could (as evidenced by the bright red paint job Hubby did on our dresser).

With those (amateur) design tips in mind, check out the finished product!

 The nursery is Charlie-approved!

As of now, Charlie still sleeps in our room and we don't have any plans to move him until he starts sleeping through the night. Which gives us plenty of time to still check a couple remaining items off our to-do list, including putting up some kind of mobile, hanging a tapestry behind his crib and finding a bookshelf or storage cubes to put against the wall near the doorway. But as someone who has never decorated a room in my life, I think it turned out pretty well!

SOURCES

Bedding Set, Changing Pad Cover and Valances // Mudhut Baby Collection @ Target (No longer available)

Jenny Lind 3-in-1 Crib // Target

Shermag Glider and Ottoman // Target (Grey, no longer available)

Rug // IKEA (No longer available)

TARVA 6-Drawer Chest // IKEA // Safety Red Paint // Sherwin Williams

Birth Announcement 12x12 Canvas // TinyPrints

Globe, Woven Baskets, Frames // Pre-owned

Chalkboard Crate and Wooden Masks // Gifted