Be inspired by this cosy teddy bear nursery!

A teddy bear nursery so cosy, it’s as if you’ve stepped straight into a bedtime storybook.

Art direction + Styling Vanessa Nouwens

Photography Mel Jenkins Flash Studios

Expecting a baby is an exciting time in your life, and creating a nursery is often a creative and fun project to work on while waiting for your little one to arrive. A neutral-coloured scheme is a great option, especially if the gender is a surprise. The feature of this room is a painted gingham wall. It’s a great backdrop for all the furniture and décor pieces and it’s quite classic and traditional in style.

The cute teddy bear theme is at play throughout the room making it cohesive and playful.

Like with any room, texture is key and even more so when playing with a very neutral colour palette.

The whitewash tongue and groove floors are layered with a cream-textured checkerboard rug and the throws, cushions and ottoman all have textured elements, giving the space dimension.

The wicker pendant light, baskets, wall shelf, and picture frames are also great for adding texture and a natural element to the space. Of course a teddy bear room would not be complete without a few teddies also, which can be both decor and toys to be enjoyed when baby is older.

A low storage unit like this Mocka one is great for storing toys, extra blankets and shoes. With this one you can also add some storage baskets for easy access to items like nappies and wipes, wraps and bibs.

To create some interest on the walls we’ve used a mix of items from a wicker bear head storage shelf, to some teddy bear framed prints and a cute fabric banner from hellosaturday.com.au, we have also made our own DIY teddy bear face canvas. I know most new parents will be feeling the pinch right now, so a lot of the items here are from inexpensive stores like Kmart and The Warehouse as they have such a wide range of items that have a designer look for less.

TEDDY BEAR FACE CANVAS

We took an inexpensive square canvas from Look Sharp, which is 300 x 300 mm and painted it in Resene Triple Blanc. We then drew the eyes and nose onto the canvas and painted in Resene White and Resene Black. This is such a cute and simple idea!

TEDDY BEAR HEAD COAT RACK

To make our coat rack we took a piece of pine which was 900 x 64 mm long and 20 mm thick, and painted it in Resene Triple Blanc. We drew a simple bear head onto some thin plywood and cut out using a jigsaw. Make sure you give edges a light sand before painting in Resene Sandal. Our bear heads were 140 x 120 mm. We also took some dowel which is 300 mm long and 30 mm thick, and cut it into 80 mm lengths. We then gave these dowel pieces a coat of paint in Resene Sandal. Using some wood glue, we glued the heads to the dowel and then placed on the painted pine. We marked in pencil where we wanted the bear hooks and then drilled a screw through the back of the wood to the front. We then took the bear heads with the dowel and screwed onto the screw.

PAINT DESIGN ON WALL

To create the gingham wall design we painted the wall in Resene Quarter Blanc. Then we masked up some vertical stripes using Resene painters masking tape and painted the stripes in Resene Blanc. To do the final horizontal stripe, mask up so the squares are roughly 30 cm in size and then mix half a tin of Resene Medium Paint effects in with the final colour – Resene Triple Blanc. By adding this to the paint it will make the colour more transparent so the underneath colour comes through. This will give you the gingham look.

Above: Little Cub sweatshirt, $12, Teddy Blanket, $15, from postie.co.nz; Knitted blanket, $19, Shoes, $9, Boucle Storage Cube, $6, from Kmart.co.nz; Mushie Teether Link, $30.50, from littlewhimsy.co.nz

 Above: Gingham wall in Resene Quarter Blanc, Resene Blanc & Resene Triple Blanc. Rattan light shade in Resene Scandal. DIY bear face in Resene Triple Blanc, Resene White and Resene Black.

Above: DIY teddy bear head coat rack in Resene Triple Blanc and Resene Sandal. Drawcards top to bottom in Resene Rodeo Drive, Resene Blanc, Resene Triple Blanc, Resene Quarter Blanc and Resene Sandal. Mini teddy bear, $19, from H&M Home; Mushie Teether Link in natural, $30.50, Sabo Alphabet Blocks, $149.50, from littlewhimsy.co.nz.; Gingham Cot Sheet, $17, Teddy Bear Bodysuits, $14, for set of 3, from kmart.co.nz

Very top image: Gingham wall in Resene Quarter Blanc, Resene Blanc & Resene Triple Blanc. Tongue & groove floor in Resene Colorwood Stain in Whitewash. Change table in Resene Scandal. Cot in Resene Quarter Blanc. Rattan light shade in Resene Scandal. Teddy bear coat rack in Resene Triple Blanc & Resene Sandal. DIY bear face in Resene Triple Blanc, Resene White and Resene Black. Rattan baskets in change table in Resene Rodeo Dust. Aspen Cot, $449.99, Aspen Change Table, $349.99, & Teddy Bear Basket, $49.99, from mocka.co.nz; Checkerboard cream rug, $109, Checkerboard ottoman, $49, Knitted cardigan, $14, Teddy bear baby onesie, $10, Gingham tassel throw, $30, Gingham cushion, $9, Gingham cot sheets (set of 2), $17, Gingham change mat cover, $9, baby shoes,$9 each, folded knit blanket, $19, all from Kmart.co.nz; Teddy bear cotton throw, $15, from postie.co.nz; Round and round the garden like a teddy bear banner, $45, from Hellosaturday.com.au; Minime knitted bear rattle, $8, from thewarehouse.co.nz

Second from top image: Wooden cube on unit in Resene Rodeo Dust. Peg toy in Resene Sandal. Wood storage box in Resene Sandal. Cam cam baby fabric ball, $76.50, Sabo wooden alphabet 26 piece block set (to spell Beau,)$149.50, Wooden stacking toy (in rattan bear shelf) and small wooden toys (on unit), $84 for set, & stacking wooden bear toy, $56.50, all from littlewhimsy.co.nz; baby shoes, $9, each, tufted tassel checkerboard throw, $25, folded knit blanket, $19, collapsible boucle storage baskets, $6 each, Ava Linen Lamp, $37, from kmart.co.nz; Watson 8 cube storage unit in natural ,$299.99 from mocka.co.nz; Rattan teddy bear head wall unit, $29, Boucle knot cushion, $20, from thewarehouse.co.nz; Teddy bear on floor, $29, from H&M Home;  A3 art prints,$39 set of 2 from hellosaturday.com.au; Brown bobble picture frames, $20, thewarehouse.co.nz.