THE REVEAL: Colorful circus gender-neutral nursery

Modern circus-inspired and very colorful, gender-neutral nursery. Today is the day to finally share the reveal of our “labor of love” nursery! Since we are waiting until our little peanut is here to find out the gender, we wanted to keep it as gender-neutral as possible, while keeping it super minimal and colorful.

I've shared most of the nursery projects I worked on already, so most of you have an idea of the theme I was going for but just in case you are just now reading this post, here a little background:

The inspiration for this nursery came from my personal love for carnivals, circus and animals =] from the beginning we knew we wanted to keep the sex of our little peanut a surprise, we wanted a theme that was gender-neutral, modern and very colorful, so Circus fits perfectly!

We worked on a budget and DIY most of the elements, the room that we started with did not have lights beside a very small one right next to the entry door, so my husband and father-in-law worked on adding can lights, bookshelves, and closet.

I was in charge of the smaller projects and I have to say that my favorite was the elephant lamp. But the most meaningful has to be the bathroom door, I painted a section of North America and South America and added hearts to where Santiago, Chile and California, USA are in the map so we can show our little Peanut where Mom and Dad are from =]

Below you can see him in my favorite onesie smiling at the hot air balloons, I can't believe how fast he is growing!

The very last project I worked on for the room was the cardboard name sign on top of the crib since we didn't know the sex of our baby (we waited until after delivery)

We had already set aside a big box that I was planning on using, but that same week I had planned to start with the sign my Cousin send us the tall giraffe, so I used that box instead, which allowed me to make the sign a lot bigger than my initial plan.

I have to warn you all that this is a very photo-heavy post, it was too hard to pic fewer photos because I felt that they will not make justice to the room, so here you go!

Lots and lots of photos plus the details of the room, elements and organized list of all the resources and tutorials/posts I did for the nursery after the jump!

I loved making all the bedding for our little one, it makes it so much more special and also very customized!

For the bench, I used an Ikea bookshelf added some legs and made a cushion for the top. We also used Ikea bin containers and I painted circus numbers using freezer paper to make my templates.

I wanted to have different color bins with each number but they only carried 2 colors when we bought all of the nursery's Ikea Items, so we just went with the solid green.

My father in law build the custom bookshelves, he painted them on the same wall color so that they could blend and have the books as the main center of attention.

And since we kind of expect Peanut to be a little wild, he permanently attached them to the wall, so they can survive once our baby is big enough to pull and try to climb.

I used my pregnancy update pictures taken for my baby diary-blog and made a little collage, I really wanted to use the pictures someplace in the nursery, that's why I choose to wear very bright color t-shirts for each update.

Ken painted the inside of the closet a very bright orange and he installed a can light on the inside so it's easier to search for stuff.

I have white baskets that I am planning on using in the closet, but I still have to make liners for them, so the plastic shoe boxes do it for now.

Baby Peanut loves the room, I like to turn our K light when it's dark and he loves it! but his favorite item of the room is the hot air balloon mobile, he can stare at it for hours! well actually less than that, he gets tired of the same thing pretty fast =]

We all love the room so much! I feel so relaxed there, even though it's very bright and colorful. The nursery is definitely everyone's  (Including Curly) favorite room in the house.

The DIY nursery projects

(Projects & tutorials I shared to make this room a reality)

• Elephant lamp – DIY from styrofoam and wall mud (drywall compound)
• Hot air balloon mobile – Made with felt, an embroidery hoop, and corks (tutorial)
• Circus ticket pillow – tutorial and template
• “Sleeping Baby” door banner – download it as a print or for you to trace with a cutting machine
• “You are so loved” print – download it for free in different colors
• Ikea Chair and footstool – Recovered with paint and new cushions
• Toy basket with appliqué – Made with an Ikea Fyllen laundry basket
• “K” marquee light – Made from recycled materials
• Typographic wall art name – Baby name, made from cardboard

>>>>>>> EDIT <<<<<<<

Now I also added one of my favorites prints from my shop to the nursery =]

The sources

• Chair and footstool – Ikea Poang (found on Craiglist – $20) – Recovered
• Dresser – Ikea Aspelund – $179
• Toy bench – Ikea: Expedit, Capita legs and Drona bins – $84 using Ikea family discount
• Watercolor animal prints – trafalgarssquare on Etsy – $38 using a 50% discount coupon
• Crib – Craiglist find – $60
• Rug – The home depot – $80
• Dumbo stuffed animal – eBay – $19
• Side table: Hemnes nightstand from Ikea
• Gigant Bear stuffed animal – Costco – $29.99
• Wall paint – Behr Ultra – Quietude (770E-1) and Pewter Mug (770E-3)
• Closet paint – Behr Ultra – Fireglow (200B-7)
• Closet system –Closetmaid system – The home depot – $89
• Closet boxes – Whitmor 6071-1723 Four Storage Cubes, White – leftovers from my sewing room
• Bookshelves – DIY by father-in-law
• Giraffe stuffed animal – Family present
• Rainbow wishes print over the dresser – Now available in my Esty Shop
• crib bedding, changer cover, boxes in the changing table, curtains, and all fabric projects were handmade by yours truly =]

I am so excited to finally share this room with all of you!

After all, it is the only room in the house I can call FINISH! Next up is my office but I am not sure when I would finally finish all the last details, right now I am enjoying this little baby as much as possible =] and I'm trying to catch up on sleep because he definitely likes to party at night and I have a hard time sleeping when he's sleeping.

Let me know if there is anything I am forgetting to a source, and if you'd like me to share any other particular project.
I hope you all have a lovely day!
XOXO