Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/119920
Eschewing colour for texture, Haley Whalen furnished daughter Chloe's nursery in a sensuous palette of fluffy, cuddly, glossy and snuggly … all in white. With her interior design background, Whalen knew that sticking with one neutral would allow her to make use of a collection of sentimental mismatched hand-me-downs. "Almost everything in her room was transformed from a keepsake," she says. A giant pink conch shell inherited from Whalen's Grandma received a lick of white paint, as did two brown wooden chairs with threadbare blue seats – an antique-shop discovery. With new upholstery, fluffy blankets and pillows handsewn by her mother, the white scheme is woolly-warm, rather than winter-cold. 5. create a collection Whalen created a family tree of photos, each snap showing a cousin, aunt, uncle or grandparent in their baby days. "If she was having a bit of a day anywhere else, I could just take her upstairs and lay her on her change table. She totally relaxed. It was the right energy for that room," says Whalen. Picture frames, shelves, Ikea 6. Use removable Art The Whalens were renting their home, so they opted for an inexpensive and removable wall treatment – a lovely, slender tree sticker. Decal, Surface Collective 7. Splurge on photography Most of the nursery's decor was refurbished. Whalen says their biggest expenditure, after the crib and dresser, was Chloe's large canvas portrait: "If you're going to splurge on anything, why not on a picture of your baby?" Canvas portrait, End of the Road Photography 26 | BC HOME & gardEn April 2013 p24-31_Nurseries.indd 26 13-03-14 10:01 AM