Aloha DIYers! So I dropped off the face of the bloggerworld for a while but decided that this post was deserving of my resurrection. A lot has happened in the last year, namely I got pregnant and we're prepping to add a little dude to the mix in the Metzner household in approx. 3 weeks! That being said, we've been crunching designs out of our ears to try and get "THE NURSERY" done in time. I say it like that because it's literally been the topic of discussion and effort for the last month and a half (with planning stretching months back), what seems like non-stop. But we're DONE! And the reason I thought it necessary to share with the interwebs is because when I originally thought in my head, "hmmmm this is what I want for a nursery" there was NOTHING online. Like literally, I couldn't find a single nursery like the one I envisioned to glean inspiration from. Now I'm very much one of those people who sees something, thinks, "oh pretty, I'll copy it" and I do. This nursery had to come from scratch which was incredibly stressful but actually turned out being really fun and both Jason and I are stoked about our vision coming to fruition:
Alrighty, now for some nitty-gritty details for those of you interested in perhaps creating a Traditional Hawaiian Nursery and you like what you see. Let's start off with the "K" (for Kai) gallery wall over the crib:
It all started with a paddle. While in Hawaii earlier this summer we fell in love with the mini koa wood paddle you see featured in the middle of the wall. Instead of having just one lonely paddle over the crib we decided to make a showcase of some different kinds of artwork from the islands (or inspired by), some fabrics, some art pieces:
We wanted the room to have a cozy feel that showcased different textures and wood variations. We tried to accomplish this by mixing up the frames used throughout the room to add a lot of different color variety. Instead of sticking with traditional closet doors, we decided to go with something a little different and tried out curtain panels. This sounds like, "oh yeah easy decision, boom" but it so wasn't. I think I stressed out for about two weeks about what we should do since all that was there originally were these horrid, ugly, honey oak, flimsy doors that just wouldn't do. Throughout our house we have louvered doors which I'm a huge fan of but we had a really hard time finding some to fit the closet space in the nursery that weren't going to cost a fortune. When I found the woven curtain panels, we were both a little skeptical at first (Jason especially) but once we saw them and installed them, we loved how much natural texture they brought to the room:
On to the bookcases. Jason custom built these guys so they would fit snuggly around the crib and give us precious room for all the books I plan to fill them with! He used simple pine and we stained them with a mixture of Minwax "Cognac" and "Golden Mahogany" to get the Koa-esque color.
As for some of the artwork around the bookcases, some of my favorite pieces came from a gorgeous book "Pele: The Fire Goddess" by Dietrich Varez and Pua Kanaka'ole Kanahele.
To add some more variety and textures we also hung a traditional Maile-Style Ti lei (with a more modern Uke ;) to match the small dried Ti lei hanging over the crib. The Hawaiian Ti plant (Cordyline terminalis) is thought to bring good luck!
Moving over the other side of the room, you start off by seeing our beautiful NAKED Pottery Barn chair. OOOOhhhh lawd, don't even get me started on this one. I'll start by saying that I love this chair, the Pottery Barn Kids Comfort Swivel Rocker...would I buy it again? Probably not. We've had a plethora of problems with Pottery Barn since buying this chair which has majorly scared me away from buying any large furniture pieces from them again. As you can see, we have the chair with it's padding and all but we've been waiting four months for the slipcover. It was delivered with a completely wrong slipcover (not sure how you get denim blue and white stripes from cream twill...) and since then we've been waiting and waiting and waiting for the new, correct slipcover. We've been told that the fabric is on indefinite back order now and they are hoping they'll eventually get it in October...you know, like after my due date. Anywho, the chair is great, but maybe stay away from Pottery Barn furniture (I've heard a number of other similar horror stories so I guess we aren't just an anomaly) especially if you've got a specific time in mind to get the furniture. Moving on, the artwork you see hanging is a complete mixed bag, from some beautiful Heather Browns to Jason's custom wooden spears.
We wanted to stick with the very traditional Hawaiian spear design for this piece and I think they turned out fantastic. Jason crafted them out of Hemlock and used the Minwax "Golden Mahogany" tint to get them that lovely Koa-esque shade.
The showstopper of the room though really is the beautiful Japanese Sashiko Manta my Mom hand-stitched:
Jason also built the simple frame for this out of the same Hemlock and stain mixture as the spears. Other bits of the room you can copy are the ottoman we purchased (there was no way I was dropping $500 on the matching Pottery Barn Kids Ottoman) so instead found this awesome, unique one from Target: Kelsey Round Pouf Ottoman. The little side table you see next to the chair actually are two small bathroom tables we found from Home Goods that Jason just drilled together. We also found the Tommy Bahama Lamp from Home Goods.
Below the window we placed this woven toy chest we found at Home Goods along with this guy who we've affectionately named "Pono" (Melissa & Doug Giant Plush Sea Turtle) along with the gorgeous wooden Monstera nightlight (From Rob Whitemore on Etsy).
Last but not least! The lighting!! And paint!! These two elements (along with the closet doors debacle) were probably the most frustrating, hand-wringing parts of this room because for the life of us, we just couldn't agree. Jason hadn't been too much a fan of drum lights but there was an awful, dim, nipple light in the nursery that just wasn't going to fly but we couldn't agree on what to change it out with. Because we have fairly low ceilings, it really cut back our options and I finally talked him into trying a four-bulb drum light, which once installed, did the trick. It provides plenty of lighting and he even liked it so much we installed the same light in two other rooms! Bronze with Off White Shade 18" Wide Ceiling Light Fixture.
And finally, what paint color is the room you ask? Sherman William's Sands of Time. We probably went through about 10 different samples and just couldn't figure it out. They were either too light, too dark, clashed with the carpet, clashed with the furniture etc. To be honest, Jason was sold on Sands of Time from the get go. I really think the main reason for this was because "Sands of Time" happen to be items in World of Warcraft, Prince of Persia, and a plethora of other nerdy games which I think really got him stoked on the color. I was afraid it would be too dark but after painting a whole wall, he had me convinced.
In closing, if you want that Traditional Hawaiian, Hawaiian Plantation, etc vibe for your nursery (or room, or house, or whatever) don't be afraid of all the loud surfboard, grass skirt, hibiscus, inspired rooms you're bound to find online. I'm a big fan of neutrals, and unisex design so this was perfect for a room that I hope to use for a while in the future. However, if Kai decides he wants a Frozen, Seahawks, or Pirate room, *le sigh* fortunately we can use almost every decoration from this nursery somewhere else in the house!
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