We knew when we designed Little Lion’s nursery (you can see more of the original room here and here) that there was the possibility that it would eventually be a nursery for a girl. With this in mind, we specifically chose items that would work for either gender. I love the bright colors of his nursery, and with a few small changes it is all ready for baby sister!

Our recent home addition included adding a wall to create a hallway to the new part of the house. This means that the bathroom and the laundry room are no longer inside the bedroom (hurray!!) but the room is a bit smaller. To compensate for this, the big shelf that used to be in this room was moved to LL’s toddler room and we added a smaller bookshelf that used to be in the laundry room in its place. Since this shelf doesn’t have a back, I used push pins to attach one of the curtain panels that we no longer needed (this room also lost a window) to the back of the shelf. The shelf now hides unsightly cords, and adds an extra pop of color.

ADVERTISEMENT

Because of the smaller size of the room, we also moved the rug that was in this room to LL’s toddler room and purchased a smaller rug for this room. Eventually, when we no longer need the glider and turn this room into a toddler room for baby sister, we will add a larger rug and more storage. But for now, this is the best fit.

While I love the color combination of the original room, I felt we needed a little something to make it a little more unique and to “girly” it up a bit. I bought a few wooden frames from AC Moore for about $2 each, and a can of coral colored spray paint. I painted all of these frames, as well as the frames that used to be orange, in this color. We also added a coral changing pad cover, and eventually (when she has a name!) we will add letters above the crib in this color as well. It seems to complement the other colors and was a very inexpensive upgrade!

We also changed out the framed prints and left room for new pictures of our family of four! The gallery wall prints were all free printables (that I found here, here and here) and the large stand alone print was purchased on Etsy for $5. Just like in LL’s room, all of the glass in the frames has been replaced with acrylic for safety. I love having frames down low so that babies can inspect them up close. I would love for the gallery wall to be down low again, but unfortunately we have much less wall space now and there isn’t room. When her room becomes a toddler room and we remove some of the big furniture we will have more options.

Reusing Little Lion’s nursery has worked out really well for our family! We only spent about $100 on “upgrades,” including the spray paint, new frames, rug, changing pad cover, and a few more little items. We are thrilled with the way it turned out, and now are just anxiously awaiting her arrival in February!