Our Sweet Beatrix Potter Nursery Theme

As an architectural designer, my baby’s nursery was one of the most important (and fun) projects that I undertook during my pregnancy. The overall theme came to me fairly easily; I knew I wanted a gender-neutral scheme that would be classic, timeless and fun.

I have always been fascinated by Beatrix Potter’s delicate and detailed watercolor illustrations. Her soft color palettes and whimsical images are perfect for a baby’s room.

The theme would also serve as a subtle tribute to my baby’s heritage–my husband immigrated from England, having grown up not far from Beatrix Potter’s beloved Lake District in the north.

Designing a Beatrix Potter Nursery

As with most of my creative projects, the idea evolved dramatically over time. I really wanted the nature aspect of Potter’s illustrations to be the main focus, so much so that I considered painting trees on all of the walls. Deciding that such an undertaking would be far too much work in my pregnant state, I set out to find tree wallpaper.

treewallpaper

I quickly determined that designer tree wallpaper was well outside my price range, and it was more contemporary than I wanted anyway. I was looking for a softer color scheme and did not want the wallpaper to overpower the already small room.

I decided to look into other wallpaper ideas, including toiles and stripes. I particularly liked a toile print called “Day at the Farm” in a light sage green, but eventually decided that the print would conflict with the Beatrix Potter illustations I hoped to feature in the room.

NurseryToile

I concluded that stripes were the way to go–they would serve as an abstract representation of tree trunks (even if only I knew that), and make the rather cramped room seem a bit taller.

On one of my many “idea trips” to Lowes, I found an excellent book called Great Kids Rooms Collection. The cover grabbed my attention because it showed a room with broad striped wallpaper in yellow, complemented by red. I had always loved the red accents in Potter’s illustrations, such as Peter Rabbit’s kerchief. An idea was born.

GreatKidsRooms

The nursery walls would be papered in antique yellow stripes. About 3/4 of the way up the wall there would be chair rail molding to accentuate the ceiling angles and add interest.

The upper portion of the wall would be painted the lighter yellow hue, and above that would be pasted Beatrix Potter “Wallies” (small pictures coated on the back with wallpaper paste).

The curtains would be fashioned out of red fabric to look like that kerchief.  I also decided to have the room carpeted in a soft gold looped carpet.  The hardwood floors were in disrepair and I didn’t want to deal with refinishing them during my pregnancy.  The carpet would also make the room safer and cozier.

Molding would be added to the plain doors in order to give them a paneled look.

Painting a Wall Mural

I had hoped to include a Beatrix Potter mural in the room, but the products I found were much too expensive.  However, as I was looking for Beatrix Potter accessories on eBay one day, I came across a do-it-yourself mural kit featuring one of her illustrations.  Since I love to paint, it was the perfect solution.

The kit included a large line drawing (about 3 feet wide by 4 feet high) printed on paper, and some small pieces of carbon paper.  By placing the carbon paper underneath the drawing, the lines could be traced and transferred onto the work surface.

I chose to paint my mural on a piece of plywood so that I could work easily at a table and also to allow for the mural to be moved when we sell our house someday.  I painted with acrylics, thinning them with water to achieve the same watercolor look of Potter’s illustrations.

Painting a Beatrix Potter mural

I decided to add some text from The Tale of Peter Rabbit to complete the picture.  Once finished, the mural was screwed to the wall and framed with painted molding.

Beatrix Potter wall mural DIY

Nursery Furniture

We started out with a single piece of furniture for the baby’s room: an antique cherry dresser that we had purchased from a relative years before.  Although it is a bulky piece of furniture, the small drawers gave it a scale perfect for a child’s room.  The top provided enough space for a changing pad and various changing necessities.

Dresser as a changing table

I knew I wanted a high quality sleigh crib, but had a difficult time making a final decision.  I went to a store to purchase one crib, when a completely different model caught my eye and I fell in love.  It was the “Laurie” model by Pali (now discontinued).  Fortunately, the store just happened to have one left in the “Cognac” color that would match our old dresser perfectly.

Pali Sleigh Crib in Cognac

When it came to crib bedding, I was more or less out of luck.  I had missed the Beatrix Potter craze by a couple of years, and there were no ready-made bedding sets that would match my theme.  I decided to purchase a plain white crib bumber and then sew a cover using wonderful Beatrix Potter fabric I had found online.

I also made a matching crib skirt.  I purchased plain sheets in colors that matched, and my best friend made a beautiful patchwork quilt that also matched wonderfully.

Beatrix Potter crib fabric

A comfortable glider was a must-have for me, but the traditional wood gliders have never been my taste.  I found a wonderful armchair style glider with a matching ottoman at the same store where I purchased the crib.  Manufactured by Best Chairs, it is extremely comfortable and sturdy.  We were able to choose from a variety of fabrics, and found a plush yellow pattern that matched well.

Best Chairs upholstered glider

Beatrix Potter Nursery Decor

I discovered two adorable (and highly collectible) Beatrix Potter lamps while searching on eBay, but the going price is usually $70 and up.  I searched obsessively for weeks, and finally netted the “Flopsy Bunnies” lamp for a mere $24!

The lamp shade was old, plain, and crumpled, so I purchased a new lampshade.  I customized the look with green silk rose petals purchased at a craft store, making the lampshade look as though it was made from the “highly soporific” lettuce that sent all those bunnies to sleep.  It is an adorable lamp, and I was so fortunate to find one that I could afford.

Beatrix Potter nursery lamp

I was picking up a prescription at a drugstore just after Easter when I spotted a cute bunny arm chair on clearance.  I bought it for $20.  I then purchased some green fleece and some red yarn to fashion a tam-o-shanter like the one sported by Benjamin Bunny.

Benjamin Bunny chair

I purchased eight framed Beatrix Potter prints (actually vintage postcards) from a seller on eBay.  The frames were originally natural finish birch, but I painted them to match the trim in the room.

Beatrix Potter wall art

I also found a cute ceramic switch plate on eBay.

Peter Rabbit switch plate

At first I was discouraged by the lack of Beatrix Potter themed nursery items in stores, but in the end I had fun searching for treasures on eBay.  And I think it’s nice that my son’s room is made up of pieces that were carefully selected by other mommies for their children to enjoy.

Our finished nursery

My baby’s room is one of my favorite places in the house.  The calm yellow color scheme is relaxing and peaceful.  The room is always light, airy and cheerful, but not overstimulating.

Molding added to plain door

Beatrix Potter baby room

Dresser as a changing table

What a fun and worthwhile project this turned out to be.

Sources

Great Kids’ Rooms Collection (Better Homes & Gardens Decorating) – Amazon.com

Beatrix Potter Fabrics – Favorite Fabrics. The quality of this cotton fabric is super! It is heavier weight than most cottons, and fairly soft. I used the Border Stripe and Garden Tales Scenic for my bedding project.

Beatrix Potter Mural Kit – eBay

Glider – Best Chairs

Sleigh Crib – Pali (“Laurie” model, no longer available)

Wallies Beatrix Potter Character Wallies Wallpaper Cutouts – Wet and apply to the wall like wallpaper, or use for a variety of craft projects.

Jennifer Roberts

is the founder, designer and author of Jen Spends Less. Formerly an architectural drafter and designer, Jen cut her spending and embraced a frugal lifestyle to be a stay at home mom.

27 thoughts on “Our Sweet Beatrix Potter Nursery Theme”

  1. This nursery is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Seriously. You are BEYOND talented. This looks exactly like something out of a magazine. I would have never been able to accomplish this on my own. Even the mural that you painted is gorgeous. Your baby is truly blessed to have this nursery. My favorite minute detail was the lamp. It is TOO cute.

    Are you for hire? lol

    Take care,
    Shynea

    Reply
    • Thank you so much, Shynea! 🙂 I like to use my talents when I can to show the people close to me how much I love them. I wanted my baby to have a really special and unique room. I was so happy with the way it turned out!

  2. Hi Jen, I adore your nursery.
    Just wondering – did you paint the stripes yourself, or get them painted professionally?
    I love the look.
    Amanda

    Reply
    • Thanks so much Amanda! The stripes are actually wallpaper. I was planning to paint them, but knew it would be a lot of work and we just didn’t have the time. I also felt that wallpaper would be more washable. I am generally not a fan of wallpaper, but I was really happy with the end result. The wallpaper I used was by Norwall, from their “Stripes and Damasks” book. I found the book at Lowes, but ordered the paper online because I found a cheaper price. Hope that helps!

  3. I love your nursery! It is just the kind of inspiration I needed. I had already planned on doing a Beatrix Potter themed nursery and wanted to paint a mural. I was on the prowl for some ideas and came across your blog. I don’t have that much painting experience, but I thought this size of painting is more manageable than figuring out a whole wall. I did purchase the same mural and was wondering if you could help me with the color choices.I want it to be fairly close to the colors of the original art work like you have. I’m planning on buying acrylic paints, but that’s about as far as I’ve figured out. Thanks, I can’t wait to start, 19 weeks until baby is here. Hope I get everything finished in time!!!

    Reply
    • Thanks so much! It is a really cute theme for a nursery and my son still loves it. Since I have a lot of experience mixing paint colors, I just bought large bottles of some basic acrylic colors. I had a cream color, brown, black, red, blue, yellow and white. I also bought a smaller bottle of sage green. I believe the original artwork is watercolor. I achieved a watercolor look for the background by thinning the paint with water. What I would suggest is just getting a copy of the original artwork, whether in a book or online, and using that as a reference when you go shopping and then when you mix colors. Hope that helps somewhat, and good luck with your project!

  4. Absolutely love the way you designed the Beatrix Potter inspired nursery! We were looking for a gender neutral Peter Rabbit nursery design that would endure through the years. Well done!

    Reply
  5. I am obsessed! I am doing a Beatrix Potter theme for my nursery, so I was overjoyed to find such wonderful ideas! How did you achieve the typed look of the text in your mural? Is it stenciled or freehand?

    Reply
    • Thanks, Lindsay! For the text, I typed it up on my computer and then printed it out. I used the leftover carbon paper from my mural kit to trace the outlines of the letters onto the mural, then I painted them in. If you don’t have carbon paper, you can rub pencil on the back of the paper and trace over it on the other side, which will transfer the letters onto another surface (a little trick I learned in architecture school). Good luck! 🙂

  6. Hi, I saw the flopsy bunnies lamp photo above. That’s what I want for my baby’s room. But how can I find like that one? Thank you

    Reply
    • These lamps have been discontinued and they’re highly collectible, so they can be difficult to find. Your best bet is to keep an eye on eBay and use search terms like “bunny lamp”, “beatrix potter lamp” or even “peter rabbit lamp”. Good luck–I hope you’re able to find one!

  7. I found beatrix potter flopsy bunnies lamp without shade on ebay finally. Now, how do you make green mint petals on shade with glue? what kind of fabric petals are safety for put on all over shade for avoid light burn hot on shade? Thanks

    Reply
    • Hi JeeUn,

      I’m glad you were able to find a lamp! You can usually find boxes of silk rose petals in the wedding department of a craft store. I used a hot glue gun to glue them onto a store bought lampshade. Since the lampshade is already designed to withstand heat, adding the rose petals did not pose a fire hazard. Just make sure your light bulb is at or below the maximum wattage allowed by the lamp. We used our lamp for years without a problem. Hope that helps!

  8. Thanks for hints about how to make green mint petals on shade. Last time I spoke to you about this for been long time maybe a year or more. Because of this flopsy bunnies lamp is very hard to find til several days ago I spot on ebay and bought immediately before others will grab this. It’s very rarely for this flopsy bunnies lamp! Thanks for hints helpful:)

    Reply
    • I believe it was a 10-inch shade or about that size. At stores they are usually called “accent lamp shades”. I hope that helps. I don’t have it anymore, so I can’t measure.

  9. I love your room. Thank you for ideas and projects that are affordable! Not all young families have thousands to spend on a nursery. We are going to design a nursery around Beatrix Potter decor because I was born in England and I love the colors and stories. Your nursery is a lovely inspiration.

    Reply
    • Thanks so much, Kate — I’m pleased you like it! There is really so much you can do without spending a lot of money, as long as you think creatively and prioritize. I’m sure your nursery will be lovely. Feel free to send along pictures when you’re finished — I’d love to feature them on the blog.

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