As soon as I discovered that we were having a little girl, my next thought was to formulate a plan to convert our guest room into a cute nursery. Decorating is fun! My goal — other than to create an adorable girl’s room — was to spend as little money on new decor as possible, and use what we already had around the house. After some thought, I realized I had the perfect idea for the ‘theme’ — pink flamingos! What is more perfect for a midcentury-style nursery than pink flamingos? I immediately started the search for flamingo stuff that would go with the furniture I already had and came up with my plan of action.
Three of the former guest room walls already were painted Sherwin-Williams Springtime green with a bright orange accent wall. A quart of ‘Pink Flamingo’ paint — from Sherwin=Williams Suburban Modern paint collection — to cover the orange wall was all that was needed to ready the space to become a pink flamingo paradise.
I decided to go with a simple, white crib from Ikea that would pop off the dark pink wall.
Next, I found the most adorable flamingo mobile, purchased on clearance sale from Pottery Barn Kids, to hang over the crib.
The white clouds and green leaves tie in with the rest of the colors in the room nicely — and of course, there’s the pink flamingos!
Ever since I did the story about flamingo shower curtains, I’ve kind of been in love with this flamingo design by CatCoq, so I was pumped when I found out I could order a print of these goofy flamingos for the baby’s room. Luckily, I even had a white frame laying around the house that was the perfect size!
Because I’m a DIY kind of gal, I decided to tackle making fitted crib sheets, a quilt and curtains myself. Hey, I reupholstered two vintage sofas — how hard can some curtains be? Luckily, I found two adorable coordinating flamingo fabrics that worked perfectly with the color scheme of the room.
I used ‘Tropicana Flamingo Toss’ in cream (above) to make two fitted crib sheets.
Then I used ‘Tropicana Flamingos and Palms’ in green (above) to make the pencil pleat curtains, which I lined with blackout fabric.
I was able to use the same Ikea Kvartal curtain tracks that were already up from my panel curtains, to hang the pencil pleat curtains. All I had to do was pick up some curtain hanging clips from Ikea that fit into the rails. (Note: Looks like Ikea has recently replaced the Kvartal system with a similar system called ‘Vidga‘)
There was enough of each print left over for me to make a quilt. I lined the back side of the quilt with a coordinating pink minky fabric and used silky hot pink binding around the edges.
The flamingo pillow on the chair was a gift from my Mom. The vintage green chair (given to me by family friends) and end table (a $25 ReStore find) were already being used in the guest room, and with the addition of a footstool ($15 estate sale find) and lamp borrowed from the living room, this corner of the room was shaping up nicely.
To add a little interest to the plain pink wall, I put up a shelf — a ‘Lack’ from Ikea — that we had from our last house. I hung it up in the nursery to display a collection of flamingo goodies.
To tie the room together and add a layer of softness, I found a pink and white striped rug from Target that is very soft and fluffy — and easily cleaned.
Precautionary Pam here:
Proceed with Caution!
Warning Warning Warning:
CUTE OVERLOAD JUST AHEAD!
Hidden behind the closet doors you can see that baby already has a fantastic start on her wardrobe, thanks to her two grandmothers, who cannot seem to pass up the baby department when they go shopping.
Just in case that wasn’t enough cute little girl flamingo goodies for you, here’s just one of the many flamingo themed outfits given to us for baby girl. Yes, that’s a flamingo bathing suit, matching sandals, watermelon sunglasses and a retro-style pink flowery baby swim cap. Someone is going to be the most stylish baby at the pool next summer!
Resource list
- Crib — Ikea Gulliver crib in white
- Shelf — Ikea Lack wall shelf in white
- Chair — Vintage, given to us by family friends
- Footstool — Found at estate sale for $15
- Dresser — (set on wall opposite crib) Originally purchased to be converted into a vanity in my pink bathroom, Craigslist $25
- Rug — Pillowfort striped area rug, Target
- End table — Habitat for Humanity ReStore, $15
- Lamp — West Elm from about 6 years ago (this was in our living room)
- Green flamingo fabric — ‘Tropicana Flamingos & Palms’ in green (sold out!), Fabric.com
- White flamingo fabric — ‘Tropicana Flamingo Toss’ in cream (cream is sold out, but there’s still some in pink and aqua), Fabric.com
- Mobile — Flamingo Mobile, Pottery Barn Kids (no longer available)
- Flamingo art print — ‘Flamingos’ by CatCoq via Etsy
- Pillow — Flamingo Tufted Throw Pillow, Kohls
- Paint colors — Green: Sherwin Williams Springtime — Pink: Sherwin Williams Pink Flamingo
And, because I know some people will wonder — yes, this little girl is going to have one of the coolest doll houses ever to play with someday when she is old enough, but until then, the 1955 Betsy McCall DIY Split Level dollhouse and its micro inhabitants are being proudly displayed on top of the Brasilia hutch in our dining room.
Stephanie Shaffer says
Congratulations!!! What a lucky little girl!!! I wonder if she will grow up to be an interior designer or an architect…. Everywhere she will look there will be something to inspire her.
renee says
how beautiful!!! congratulations
Kari says
It’s just my opinion, but every new mom needs a rocking chair!
Karen says
Kate:) More flamingo baby clothes at Cracker Barrel. And it’s on sale!
I agree Mary Elizabeth that guest appearances should be part of your timeline. Even just cute photos of your darling little girl. You have brought so much extra to RetroRenovations helping educate and provide us with the information that RR has become known for, things that Pam just doesn’t have time for.
And you may be obligated to come up with a few new Putz houses for Christmas.
In all the excitement of a little one, don’t overlook the importance of “me” time and “couple” time. It’s a life saver.
Leslie says
What a wonderful job you have done. I am loving the DIY touches. Congratulations on baby!
Kathy Burgess says
Kate, congrats on the new arrival Her room is adorable and the closet is just packed with cuteness. Living in Pensacola, I have a fondness for pink flamingos, also, and plan to use some in my 1940s pink bathroom whenever I have time to finish it. The parenting advice I can give you is to just love her to pieces.
Norma Beaird says
Kate,
I have really enjoyed your posts, your projects, your ideas and your commentary. You are an immensely talented and creative individual. Your sewing skills are amazing. It is such a blessing to have the homemaking talents that you do. I just look at the pictures of your renovations and am overwhelmed by your creativity. Your nursery is absolutely adorable; and, it’s even more beautiful to me because I love Pink Flamingos. I wish you many blessings in the future and pray for a safe delivery for your little one!!
mike d. says
i love you house. congrats on your baby. she is going to have the coolest room ever . sorry to see you go .
Kathy says
So cute! And will grow with her for a long time.
However, don’t be surprised if baby finds a way up the hutch to reach the dollhouse. Be sure to anchor all tall furniture just in case. Those drawers make a handy stepladder!
I remember like it was yesterday what a fright my son gave me. My son was hardly walking when he toddled naked out of my slippery hands and climbed to the top of a nearby bookcase in a flash! All for the sake of a little toy I had put up there to get off of the floor.
That was my first clue that kid could climb anything, and right to the tippy top of the metal monkey bars in the playground near our house, a good 15 feet from the ground. Fortunately we had anchored everything already and put in a safety catch for the stove so it wouldn’t topple over. But what a fright it gave me. Never again could I put a toy in time out on top of anything.
I never could trust myself to keep anything safe out of his hands or his mouth, so once that happened, we just packed away anything breakable, potentially unsafe, and what we would be very sad to have damaged, for the next few years, until as an old friend puts it, he reached the “age of sanity,” at around 4 -6 years old. I made salt and cinnamon cookie Xmas ornaments, replaced knicknacks with toys, stoneware with melamine, washable covers for upholstery. Made housework easier and safer.
The kitchen was strictly off limits most of that time with a sturdy baby gate, which slowed him down and let him know which places were OK to play in, and all the sharp things and chemicals were kept up high out of sight in the cupboards and a locked linen closet. One of the advantages of “closed concept.”
My son was a sweetheart and could charm the pants off of anyone, but he had a way of getting into stuff when my back was turned, in a new inventive way not covered by previous warnings. You never know what is going to capture their interest and imagination, just when you are trying to tidy up or cook dinner or otherwise distracted.
Michelle Diane says
That is the cutest nursery I have ever seen. Of course I’m an avid flamingo collector. What a lucky little baby to have such a talented mother that she can pass down these skills to. CONGRATULATIONS!