Sleep Sanctuary: A Serene Baby Nursery that Curbs Overstimulation

It's now almost 3 months since the arrival of our baby girl, and I'm happy to report that our carefully planned nursery is a big hit with her. Since I didn't know the sex of the baby throughout my entire pregnancy I chose a sophisticated safari theme that I am still in love with all these weeks after baby came home.

Nursery Decor DIY to Achieve a Calm and Modern Look

I deviated a tad bit from my original polyvore idea board, but overall, I was able to achieve the same serene look I was after with a monochromatic color theme and a few DIYs.

I looked up Dana Obleman's 10 Tips for Creating a Sleep Sanctuary prior to starting on the design. She basically lays out all the ways and things you need to promote better sleep for your baby. From regulating the temperature to installing a sound machine, you can use simple methods of creating peace in the room.

Since overstimulation is a big problem with babies, gone are the days of bright garish colors and tons of disney characters on the walls. You want your baby to sleep when in their crib, not stay up during nap time to babble with their sticker buddy on the wall. For this reason, I kept the colors cool and started with a grayish white on the walls.

Ready for Baby: What to Pack in the Hospital Bag

So I have about 2 weeks to go to my due date. Baby is almost here and I just finished packing my hospital bag. It's even placed in the car — talk about being well prepared.

I did a lot of research on what I absolutely needed for labor, delivery and after, as I didn't want to overpack. Turns out you need a lot of crap, and shouldn't forget to include items for the hubby and of course, for baby.

Labor, Delivery and Baby — What to Pack for the Hospital

I started with what I usually pack for a weekend getaway, then slowly added the not-so-sexy essentials listed in most pregnancy books. Here's the mommy bag list I finally ended up with:

Gender Neutral Nursery: Sophisticated Safari

I'm officially 35 weeks pregnant and I think I've finally settled on a theme for the baby's nursery. Most people have not been shy in calling us crazy to our faces — they just can't believe that we willingly chose not to find out the sex of the baby. It doesn't really bother me though, so I just smile and let them know that I don't care either way and am just praying for a healthy, happy baby and a safe delivery.

"But, but..." they persist, "how are you going to know how to decorate the nursery?"

I can't help but laugh at that comment. I really don't think the baby is going to care what the nursery looks like. Besides, even if I knew whether the baby was going to be a girl or a boy, the colors I choose would never be pink or blue. I think gender assigned colors are outdated and quite frankly, both colors feel a little depressing to me. In fact, I feel best when surrounded by light, bright shades of white, yellow and gold, so that's the direction I'm going.

I would never paint my own room pink or blue, so why would I choose those colors for a room that I am going to be spending hours nursing, changing and playing with my kid in?

How I Chose a Safari Theme for the Nursery

Anyhow, as with any decorating project. I usually take stock of the decor pieces I have have on hand. Since I have a habit of buying items that speak to my soul, even when I don't yet have a place for such objects, I always have a few pieces in the garage or in storage just waiting to be put on display.

For the nursery, I knew I wanted to use one of the painting my hubby and I had bought on our honeymoon in South Africa (check out some of our honeymoon pictures if you are up for it). On that trip we bought two large oil paintings on canvas of safari animals, which needed to be framed as we had brought the rolled up canvas home on the airplane.

Knowing I wanted to use the elephant piece because of the grays and gold colors in it, I set about researching the most eco friendly cribs and mattresses on the market. After settling on the Babyletto Modo 3-in-1 crib, I created a polyvore collage to get my ideas on one page and voila! I came up with the image I have posted here in this blog post.

The best part, I think that this room can grow with the baby. For actual pictures of the nursery, come back soon as I'll be posting those once I finish the final touches.

Unisex Baby Shower: Black, White and Gold

This past week has been a whirlwind! I traveled back to Toronto for a few different reasons — mainly to attend a good friend's wedding on New Year's Eve, to see family and celebrate Ukrainian Christmas, and to attend my own baby shower (hosted by two of my sisters and a very close friend). Oh, did I forget to mention that my husband and I are expecting our first child in about 10 short weeks? Crazy!

All Black, White and Gold: My Sophisticated Baby Shower

The baby shower was from 11am to 2:30 and it was just oodles of fun. The lovely hosts sure know how to throw a great party as the decor was not only beautiful, but so much thought and effort had been placed into every game, morsel of food (and there was so much to choose from) and party detail.

Since the hubs and I don't plan on finding out the gender of the baby, I had asked that the theme of the party be kept gender neutral and classic. I find gold to be so very on trend this year and always makes any shindig a classier affair, so what better way to perk up the ever sophisticated duo of black and white?

The hosts asked me for a few baby shower ideas and preferences that I had in mind, then ran with it and planned the most perfect day without any stress on me. What godsends!

I couldn't have asked for a better day. Here are the close up photos of all the black, white and gold party and decor elements that made up my beautiful baby shower, starting with the receiving table, cake table and streamer backdrop: