When Alexandria, Va., residents Lia P. Davis and her husband, Ben, found out they were expecting their first child, they wanted to be surprised about the baby’s gender, not about the nursery.
“We didn’t want a room that screams frills or footballs or anything like that,” Lia Davis said. “We wanted something that was calming and relaxing.”
They had a starting point: a painting by D.C. artist Julie Wolfe. “We had admired this artist’s work and something about the painting spoke to us,” Davis said of the work, a floral motif with pale greens and yellows and pops of orange and blue. “We wanted to have something in the nursery that was visually stimulating for the child.”
For the rest, they called Heather Safferstone, associate designer at Liz Levin Interiors. To make her job easier, “Lia had her doctor contact me only and tell me whether it was going to be a girl or boy,” said Safferstone, who added pink accents such as the Duralee Wellington Solid Cotton Canvas window treatments after Eleni was born in August.
After emptying the 9-foot-6-inch by 10-foot-2-inch former guest room, Safferstone and Davis worked together to find baby-safe nursery essentials, such as an Oeuf Sparrow collection crib. The simple design in a natural-color birch wood meets Consumer Product Safety Standards, meaning there are no more than 2 and 3/8 inches between the crib slats, no corner posts are more than 1/16th of an inch high and the headboard and footboard have no cutouts.
“I think the No. 1 mom concern is furniture that seems dangerous as the baby gets older,” Safferstone said. But most baby furniture is made with safety in mind. For instance, the Kendall Extra-Wide Dresser from Pottery Barn Kids she chose has no sharp corners.
Safety is important in a nursery’s layout, too, she added. “We talked about hanging the art piece on the wall above the crib, and then we reconsidered that because we thought as she gets older, she’s going to have hands and feet out of the crib,” Safferstone said. “We didn’t want it to fall off the wall and fall on her.”
Other musts for a baby’s room are easy-to-clean fabrics, such as suede microfiber, which covers the stone-colored Luca glider by Monte Design Group, and washable paints like the Benjamin Moore “Waterbury Cream” that coats the walls. “Everything is easy to clean, but it still looks pretty,” Davis said. “This is a chair that I’d feel comfortable sticking in my living room.”
Storage space also is crucial, Safferstone said. Davis found Elfa shelving to replace a single rod in the walk-in closet.
Davis — and Eleni — love the “BlackBerry-free zone” Safferstone created. “Heather and I talked a lot about creating a space that was very calm and peaceful,” she said. “My sister-in-law came over the other day and she was hanging out in here and said, ‘I’m just getting sleepy being in here,’ and I was like, ‘Success!’ That’s great because this is a space that we wanted to be relaxed not just for the baby, but for us.”
Heather Safferstone of Liz Levin Interiors
Washington, D.C. 202-333-LEVN (5386)
http://www.lizlevininteriors.com/
Oeuf Crib, Sparrow collection in birch
www.oeufnyc.com
Luca Glider in Stone suede microfiber, Monte Nursery Furniture, Pink & Brown Children’s Boutique, Old Town Alexandria
www.pinkandbrownboutique.com
Meringue pendant lamp, Bella Modern
www.bellamodern.com
Window treatments: Fabric panels, Duralee Wellington Solid Cotton Canvas in Blush and Pink Lemonade, Judith Broughton, G Street Fabrics, Roller Shads in Malibu Naturals Glacier Tweed, Next Day Blinds, Wrought Iron window hardware, Calico Corners
www.gstreetfabrics.com
www.calicocorners.com
