Room of the Day: A Nursery for a Little Bookworm

With her first baby on the way, interior designer Elena Del Bucchia looked back to her own childhood as well as her husband Andrew’s for nursery design inspiration. “Both of us grew up loving reading, and both of our parents had already given us a lot of our favorite childhood books for our baby,” she says. “Reading is very important to us.” From the get-go, their daughter loved to pick up books and touch books, and of course she loved being read to. “Then she became a little book flipper, and now she’s starting to pretend to read,” the designer says. “Our nickname for her has been Little Bookworm since right after she was born!”

Photos by Bookstrucker Photography

Room at a Glance
What happens here: Night feedings, playing, reading, flipping through books, changing diapers
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Size: 121 square feet (11 square meters)

Even though she was told that she was expecting a girl, Del Bucchia wanted to keep things gender neutral. “First of all, sometimes they make mistakes and there can be a surprise,” she says with a laugh. “Also, I love color, and I wanted my child to grow up with lots of color around her.”

“I had a light wood crib like this when I was a girl, so this was nostalgic for me,” she says. She brought in some items that were nostalgic for her husband Andrew as well. The teddy bear was his when he was a boy.

Mid-Century Crib in Natural: DwellStudio, Modern Caribou; alphabet print: Olunda, Ikea; mobile: Vancouver Special


The colorful chair is the one piece that really veers from the red, black and white color palette, and it does so with aplomb. It also eased the difficulty of middle-of-the-night feedings. “The chair is comfortable and happy, and made both of us dread our sleepless nights less,” Del Bucchia says.

The cardboard elephant trophy was one of the first items she picked up for the room. It’s from a local shop called Rivas.

Chair: HomeSense, reupholstered in Ikea fabric; rug: Lappljung, Ikea; pendant light: CB2


Early on in the design process, Del Bucchia sought out a vintage dresser with midcentury modern style that could do double duty as a changing table. She painted it matte black. After potty training is over, there will be more room inside for toys as well as clothes.

The picture rails show off some of the prized book covers, which bring color and playful graphics into the room. “The books add color and whimsy and made the room look like a little fairy tale,” she says.

The Fisher-Price camper was her husband’s when he was a boy. The Hans Bølling wooden duck and ducklings are midcentury modern Danish classics. The couple wanted their child to enjoy the quality and longevity of classic wooden toys.





The designer was born in Russia, and one of these dolls was hers when she was a girl. “These are really popular in Russia. They rock and make noise,” she says. Her parents picked up the other two dolls on more recent trips back to Russia. The couple really loves the idea of collecting toys from travels, the kind that will be treasured and perhaps handed down to their grandchildren someday.


The Eames Hang-It-All is a great spot for hanging up dress-up clothes and works well with the other midcentury modern touches.


Under the bed you can catch a glimpse of boots that were precursors to Uggs. They are Russian wool boots called valenki that were Del Bucchia’s when she was a girl.

As the Little Bookworm enters her toddler years and grows into those valenki, the room will easily transition with her. For example, Del Bucchia painted the black wall with chalkboard paint. Now that her daughter has become handy with the chalk, it’s become her drawing wall, where she can add more color and design to her room herself.


Photo by Henry Del Bucchia

This tepee can also move into her room when she’s ready for it, but for now it’s her own little annex in the family room. “The tepee really contains the mess well!” Del Bucchia says.

Tepee: Land of Nod

More:
8 Tips for Creating a Safe and Cozy Nursery
Kids’ Rooms: 10 Gender-Neutral Nursery Ideas

URL: Room of the Day: A Nursery for a Little Bookworm http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-26197.html