"One thing that’s almost as exciting as welcoming a newborn into your family and home is the anticipation of their arrival. As we prepare our minds, hearts, and homes for our newest addition, we get more and more excited to meet them with every passing day. Maybe one of the most enjoyable aspects of this preparation is getting baby’s room ready for them. Putting together the perfect playful and beautiful nursery is a big (but fun!) task. It’s the room where we’ll share cuddles, laughs, and pivotal moments with our newborn, and it’s only right to make it a place everyone loves to be in.
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As exciting as decorating a nursery is, though, it can be tough to know where to begin. And, as with all things, it doesn’t hurt to have a little inspiration from someone like Nestig Cofounder and Chief Marketing Officer Sara Adam Slywka. Nestig, an Everymom editor-favorite brand, is a one-stop shop for quality cribs and whimsical nursery decor—and we were lucky enough to speak to Sara about just that. Below, Sara takes us on a tour of her son Henry’s playful and beautiful baby boy nursery and shares her best tips for designing a practical space that grows with your little one.
Nursery Tour: Step Inside Nestig Cofounder Sara Adam Slywka’s Playful Yet Beautiful Boy Nursery
Can you tell us a little bit about your home and personal interior design style?
I absolutely love natural light and have always had a bit of an eclectic interior style. I live in a New York City apartment with fairly modern architecture, so I wanted to bring in elements that bring warmth to the space and help it feel like a home. Also, I love an unexpected touch in each room, like a vintage find or large piece of art!
For Henry’s nursery, how would you describe the space’s style or theme, and what inspired the design?
Designing this room is something I’d been looking forward to since the first day of Nestig! My primary goal was to create a space that I would love spending time in with my son. I’ve heard a lot of people say that you don’t need a nursery for a new baby, and you definitely don’t! But I found that being in a beautiful space really helped me savor each moment and overall feel more centered in the chaos of becoming a new mom.
What elements of your home’s interior design did you want to incorporate or distinguish from in the nursery?
Our style overall is pretty simple, so I was really looking forward to having a space where we could be very playful and creative. For example, putting up a fun and intricate wallpaper print! It was honestly so much less intimidating than I thought it would be and has made an incredible impact.
How would you recommend parents incorporate their home’s overall style into a nursery?
As far as style goes, I think your own style comes naturally no matter what room you’re working on, so instead of focusing on style, I like to tell parents to start with something they love. To me, the best part of designing a nursery is getting to be creative and share the things that you’re passionate about with your new baby. Whether it’s a beloved piece of art, a family treasure, or a memory from a favorite place—start there, and it will help you make the space truly your own.
How did your background knowledge of nursery goods help you decorate and design this gorgeous space?
One of my favorite things about developing products for the nursery is that nothing is just a product—it’s all emotional, whether it’s the shelf you’re displaying your family photos on or the rug where you’re spending countless hours in play. Every decision has a bit of nostalgia and a bit of hope, and it really makes the entire process of putting together a nursery so beautiful. Because I think about this kind of impact all day every day, I felt like I was able to tap into those feelings really easily for myself in order to put together a space that really feels like an extension of our family and a perfect place to embrace Henry as he grows. And it also helps that I have ample access to (in my humble opinion!) the most delightful nursery items in the market!
While designing the space, what difficulties did you run into, and how did you overcome those?
The nursery has incredible floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, which allows for beautiful light, but less space for furniture between that and the closet door; I had to play around a little bit to get the layout right. The room also doesn’t have any overhead lighting and I really wanted a pendant light, but as a renter, we couldn’t rewire. What I did instead was DIY a pendant light with a battery-powered lightbulb to get some additional overhead lighting, and I love the way it turned out.
We love the choice of using Nestig’s Daydream wallpaper in the nursery! What made you choose this pattern over any other?
The minute that I saw the design for our Daydream wallpaper, I knew that would be the one for Henry’s nursery. This design is everything I love about our visual world at Nestig. The print is beautiful botanical with little paper planes and kites peppered throughout. The design feels completely timeless but with playful and unexpected details. It was an easy pick!
Tell us a little bit about the artwork and other accessories in the space.
With the art and accessories, I wanted to nod to New York City where we live, so we picked art that showcases elements of the busy city. For his rug, I picked a car that looks kind of like our blue Subaru! And, of course, we love the Pickup toy bin, which has become a recent favorite of his; he loves rearranging his toys and I love watching him pick things out and move them around!
What is your favorite part of the nursery?
It’s a very difficult question! It’s changed over time; in the beginning, it was the mini crib and mobile for sure, but mostly because it made it so easy to bring Henry outside of the nursery around the house. But overall, I would say the wallpaper—every detail is so special, and I love that I can tell Henry about the amazing artists that created this print!
What has been your favorite motherhood memory made in the nursery so far?
It is always tough to choose a favorite, but a recent one was reading a Richard Scarry book to Henry and seeing him start to really engage with it. We launched a partnership with Richard Scarry this past January, so seeing him get immersed in the book and point at the different characters (and snuggling with me, of course).
How do you plan on transitioning the space as Henry grows, and what tips would you have for other parents to design a nursery that can grow with their child?
When my cofounder and I first started Nestig, we kept this exact question at the forefront of our minds. We really wanted to create products that easily grew with children—we know parents are willing to invest in high-quality, ethically-made products, and especially so if they know they’ll be able to last in their homes for more than just a couple of months or a year. So really, my biggest tip is to invest in quality for the products that you know are going to stay around for more than a few months; shelves, a 3-in-1 crib, a dresser, a rug, all of these things will be staples in your kids room for years to come!
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