Vintage Beatrix Potter Baby Nursery Renovation Reveal

Do you ever go through a season of “I’ll handle that tomorrow!” or “I can do this just as soon as _____ is done.” While life passes us by in a flurry of appointments, events, and day-to-day chaos, it can be difficult to carve out the time for our endless lists of to-dos. This has proven to be the recurrent theme while working on Rylo’s nursery. We began working on his nursery while I was still pregnant last winter. He was born at the end of February and the project was placed on an immediate hold. This was mostly because our building is still fairly wide open, and we were building his room from the ground up. It was hard to conceal the hammering, sanding, etc. noises during nap times. The nursery project kept being kicked further and further down the road.

That was until mid-August when we finally said “enough” and put the pedal to the metal. We busted our butts (but mostly Kenny) to give Rylo his own space, and I’m so glad we did. He moved in just a couple of weeks shy of eight months and he has done excellent sleeping by himself. I expected him to struggle with the transition, but he thrives in his environment. My mama heart could not be more proud.

Throughout this blog post, we will deep dive into the nursery project including how we built the room from the ground up, restoring 120-year-old flooring, choosing design details, helpful DIY tips, and more. Come along with us as we discuss one of our favorite projects yet!

The Vision

Before we ever built walls or sanded floors, I had a clear vision of what I wanted Rylo’s nursery to look like. I knew I wanted it to be Beatrix Potter/Peter Rabbit-themed, and I wanted vintage wallpaper as a key design component. As a child, I loved the Beatrix Potter books and patiently waited for the perfect opportunity to bring them to life. In my mood board for the space, I complimented the creamy vintage wallpaper with a dusty blue paint color, a checkered jute rug, velvet curtains, a wicker lamp, and the Jenny Lind crib that was mine as a baby. My vision leaned into semi-monochromatic walls, various natural textiles, and deep wood tones. The color blue is known to have a calming effect which I truly hoped would relax him each time he rests in his space.

Building The Space

Once we had our vision, it was time for the nitty gritty. If you are new here, we live in a historic 4,400-square-foot brick building in the heart of downtown. Much of the upstairs which is now our home was originally part of the storefront. Because of this, the upstairs was wide open aside from one room. We were tasked to enclose the upstairs and convert the wide open spaces into individual rooms. When we started Rylo’s room, the only rooms were our bedroom/laundry room and Remi’s bedroom. It was time to build some walls.

I’ve mentioned before that this portion of the project is fairly boring, so I don’t document quite as much as I probably should. Nailing in studs, hanging sheetrock, and drywall mudding are tedious but necessary. We were snowed in during a record-breaking snow/ice storm in January, so we took this opportunity to accomplish as much as possible. Thankfully, we had most of our supplies and built the walls without a hitch. It’s a good thing because I began having regular contractions and had to take things easy shortly after this. The last month of the pregnancy was filled with “hurry up and wait,” so we couldn’t complete much beyond this point until after Rylo made his appearance. And this is where we will make the giant time hop from February to August.

Floors and Walls

In August, Kenny began working on the project again by completing the drywall mudding, which was left undone before Rylo arrived. Then he moved to sanding the floors. This is the second room in which we’ve sanded flooring (the first being Remi’s bedroom) and it is a rough process. We rent our sanders from Home Depot’s Tool and Equipment Rental program. We use the Floor Edger to sand around the edges of the room closest to the walls, and we use a Drum Floor Sander to sand the greater majority of the room. If you plan to sand your hardwood floors, I highly recommend researching beforehand which sanders will work best for you and your project. It is also important to seal the room airtight to prevent unnecessary allergies in the rest of the home. Unfortunately, we learned this lesson the hard way while renovating Remi’s bedroom. This time around, we used tarps and Tarp Zippers to enclose.

My biggest piece of advice when restoring hardwoods is patience, patience, patience. It will look worse before it looks better every single time. Don’t panic, keep going. The result is far worth all of the efforts. My second piece of advice is to secure any loose boards before sanding. If you have loose boards, it is best to use Trim Head screws to hold them in place and then fill the holes with wood filler. This will give the room a more complete look and feel.

After sanding the floors, it was time to stain and seal. This is my favorite part! We conditioned the wood using Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and we stained using Minwax Oil-Based Early American Semi-Transparent Interior Stain. It takes a bit longer, but we love to use these Staining Pads to smooth out the wood conditioner and stain by hand. The finish with the staining pads is unmatched in our experience. We top it off with two coats of Varathane Semi-Gloss Water-Based Polyurethane and a light sand with a high-grit sandpaper in between coats.

The refinished flooring tends to pull an orangey tone in photos, but I could not be happier with the results. They’re a deep, warm wood tone with a glossy finish- perfect for cleaning up baby/toddler messes. We opted not to sand all the scuffs, scratches, and dents out of the boards because we wanted it to have a rustic feel like the rest of our building.

I could not wait to paint the walls and see everything come together. I was starting to get antsy, and so were Kenny and Remi. The paint color I had chosen for the room was Sherwin Williams Debonair. It is the perfect mix of gray and dusty blue that feels like a cozy hug from a cloudy sky day. The underlying cool tones are opposite our warm wood flooring and furniture on the color wheel, therefore complimenting one another.

We color-matched the shade in one of our favorite paint formulas, Behr Scuff Defense (Interior Eggshell Enamel). This paint is a great affordable option that we recommend to everyone renovating their home on a tight budget. The coverage is impeccable and holds up to all of the “oopsies” that come with having kiddos. Seriously, you can’t beat it.

Wallpaper

After the flooring and wall paint were complete, we tackled the wallpaper. We had decided to only wallpaper the top 1/3 of the wall to make the project more affordable, and use a shelf that would span the width of the room as a dividing line. This tactic was one we used in Remi’s room in our old home and I loved it so much that I wanted to try and replicate it. I opted for a peel-and-stick wallpaper because inevitably, one day, we will want to remove it as he grows into bigger boy things.

We wouldn’t dream of attempting to wallpaper without using our laser level. It helps us start each wall completely level so it doesn’t end up crooked by the end of the row. We smooth out any air pockets or bubbles underneath using a credit card or wallpaper smoothing tool. Our favorite trick is using the credit card to guide the box knife when cutting off the excess paper. This ensures a straight cut on top and bottom.

Trimwork and Shelving

Once the wallpaper was complete, the only things left were trim work and shelving. Kenny cut 1×4 boards to the width of the walls and mitered the joints in the corners. He then stained and finished the boards to match the flooring (Early American stain) and secured them to the walls. To secure them, he nailed another 1×4 underneath the shelf and painted it the same dusty blue color as the walls.

Thrifted Treasures

It was time for the final touches! My Aunt thrifted a vintage shelf which I then thrifted from her. The only wall in the nursery where we did not install built-in shelving is the wall that has the closet and dresser on it (by the door). I was bound and determined to refinish the vintage thrifted shelf for this wall above the dresser. The dresser was another vintage piece I thrifted and refinished once upon a time, and I just knew they would look incredibly coupled together.

I got to work repairing broken places on the shelf where pieces had chipped away over time. I used a multi-tool to cut away the edges and low-grit sandpaper to sand them down. Then I stained and sealed with Minwax’s Poly Shades Stain & Polyurethane Combo in the shade Royal Walnut Gloss. I am so happy with how well it turned out!

The Final Result

Here’s the thing… life moves fast. If we learned anything during this renovation, it’s that life doesn’t stop for home projects. Babies are born, holidays come and go, kids grow up, months pass by, work is always there to greet you on Monday morning, and the daily whirlwind will never slow down. But maybe that’s the point. Our homes grow, and transform, and change alongside us. If life stopped for projects, imagine all the fun we’d miss out on along the way. All of the memories gleaned and challenges tackled. It kind of feels like that’s the way it’s meant to be.

So here’s to the difficult. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Here’s to taking nearly a year to finish a room and type a blog post. We’re so honored you’re here for the long haul. Check out the final result:

For a full DIY video loaded with content about how we completed this renovation, tap the post below:

All of our tools and supplies are linked throughout this blog post, but all of our decor items including the rug, curtains, and wallpaper are linked in our LIKEtoKNOW.it (thrifted items not included).

Tap the photo below to shop:

If you enjoyed this blog post, make sure to check out the link to all of our socials at the top of this page. Follow us to keep up with all of our future projects and let us know what you think in the comment section below!