BeingBratton: Park's Wilderness Theme Nursery

Putting together this nursery was quite an adventure {literally}! I'd been seeing a ton of outdoor/woodland theme nurseries on Pinterest, so I knew I'd be able to find a bunch of cute stuff. The furniture is from Restoration Hardware Baby+Child, and it is their Weller Series. I love it because it looks so rustic.

I got this cowhide rug from Craig's List. So perfect!

The first thing I started with was the fabric for the crib bedding, because I knew I would plan the room’s color scheme around this. I found this fabulous Buffalo plaid and woodland creatures fabric.

I decided to use foam to make the crib bumper this time, which is soooooo much better than making one with batting. The foam stays upright and doesn't collapse.

This precious woodland fabric is appropriately called "Hello Bear"

Bert’s new room already had a crown molding window cornice, so I recycled my old cornice and recovered it. I bought these nailheads to match the chair instead of using piping.

Wilderness baby mobile

Park's baby wreath

This chair is my favorite piece in the whole nursery! I wanted this chair from Anthropology, but of course, it was like $1 million dollars, so I decided to try and do a copycat chair. I searched craigslist for months, but these tufted leather chairs are apparently hot right now, and they would be gone before I could even get a response from the seller. I even tried to pay one seller to give me the contact info of whoever bought it from him so I could make the other person an offer. That guy definitely blocked my number (even after I gave him my “I’m 8-months pregnant” sob story) Ha ha!

Finally, a law office downtown was selling this red chair with a broken leg for $30. I jumped on it! Problem was, I showed up to get it super-pregnant...carrying Bert in my arms...in my tiny Acura. The security guard looked at me like I was a crazy person and said, “Do you need help?” It didn’t fit in my car, so I just left my trunk open with the chair sticking out and drove 2 mph through downtown in rush hour with my flashers on! The chair color was all wrong, so first I had to figure out how to paint pleather. I found this great product from Rub and Restore that was super easy to use. I wanted to switch the legs out for a rocker, but my carpentry skills were lacking, so I just repainted them.

Before

After: the piece de resistance!

I {tried} to make a terrarium like this, but I managed to kill 10 plants before finally buying fake plants! I officially give up on gardening. To me, its like baking. Either you have the magic touch or you just don't.

I bought these vintage boyscout books on ebay. Love them!

I wanted to fill the bookshelf up with “outdoorsy” knick-knacks. I got this great antler skull from the grandson of one of my coworkers at the surgery center where I operate.
I found these bell jars at Michaels, and I had this great idea to display real animals. I first found this turtle shell on ebay. It’s actually the Tennessee state reptile, the Eastern box turtle. I was shocked at how much these things go for. A finished, cleaned turtle shell was selling for over $50 with tons of bidders. Who else would possibly want one of these??!! Mine was the real deal (and only $20), straight from the swamp. It even had bones inside of it! I had to soak it in vinegar, clean it out, and painted it with a varnish. I love the way it turned out!

My second adventure into taxidermy was the displayed butterfly. I bought it on ebay from a guy in Thailand – it was kind of a sketchy transaction and since it was coming from overseas it took like a month to get here. The butterfly arrived framed and spread out, but I had to take it out to display it in the bell jar. As soon as I took it out of the frame, all the wings fell off. So, wearing my surgical loupes, gloves, and using tweezers, I first tried super-gluing them back together – no luck, total disaster. I was beginning to feel like Frankenstein gluing body parts together. Next, I tried hot glue. It seemed to work, but once I got it glued to the display I realized the lower wings were a little off... At that point, I was thinking, “why didn’t I just buy a fake butterfly from Hobby Lobby?” Anyways, I think you get the point – it’s my little adventurer’s captured butterfly.

These badges and framed sashes were
Rob’s from back in his Boy Scout/Eagle Scout days.

This teepee was a true labor of love – it was by far the hardest thing to make in the nursery. I used this tutorial, which seemed straight-forward. But, when I tried adjusting the size of the teepee, it threw off all the measurements for the poles. There was lots of re-cutting, re-sewing, etc., but in the end, it turned out great. Bert has been loving this teepee, and he runs and hides inside it.