Kensington's Humble Palace

My husband comes from a family of boys. He is the oldest of four boys, his father is one of three boys, his uncle has three boys, you getting the picture? So when we were expecting our children I had it in my head that I was going to be a mom of boys. And after Greyson was born I could not be more thrilled with that fact. Who needs hair-bows, tutus, and sparkly shoes anyway?! So when we found out we were expecting twins again I thought for sure that there were two more boys in there! When the sonographer told me we were expecting a girl, I literally almost fell of the chair; not like how you hear that term thrown around these days, literally caught myself from falling. As if I didn't already have an addiction to Pinterest as it is!

The swarm of research began as to how am I going to decorate this room?! This is how I came across my all time favorite blogger, Mallory and her blog, Style Your Senses. She created the most amazing room for her daughter Landry, and I totally used it as my inspiration for Kensington's room. Since decorating my son Greyson's room, I learned a few tricks in the splurge and save department, so I was determined not to go knee deep into Pottery Barn decor again. The most essential part of the design is clearly the wallpaper, a peony print from Anthroplogie. It was a pricier item but in my opinion there were no other adequate substitutions, and it is only on one accent wall, which is how I justified it to my husband! The other essential pieces that I knew I wanted for the room were the Jenny Lind style white crib, a french provincial style dresser, a chandelier, pink curtains, a neutral rug and a mannequin bodice. The other elements of the room were decorative and not necessarily part of Mallory's original design so I had some room to play.

I was fortunate enough to find a total score on the dresser at a local used estate furniture store. I also found the round mirror at the same store and two of the plaques for the gallery wall. The Jenny Lind crib I got from Craigslist, the woman's son never slept in it! The rug I purchased from RugsUSA.com, which I love because they always have great sales and coupon codes. The curtains from the inspiration room were from Amazon, but were still a little pricey for my liking. A family friend found an amazing pink silk looking curtain from the Simply Shabby Chic collection at Target. The curtains were perfect, but not lined or blackout. Luckily, my mom works with a woman who sews and made them blackouts for me for very cheap. Score! The curtain rods in the room were black, but I really liked them and they are quality hardware from Restoration Hardware, so I just spray painted them gold. The sheets and crib skirt I did get online at Pottery Barn Kids (with a coupon of course). The mirror hanging above the dresser was actually my great-grandmother's. Another exciting vintage piece is the bentwood rocker that was big in the 70s and 80s. I think a lot of us 80's babies' parents had them. I checked out Pinterest and a lot of people are now spraying them, and they look adorable! So I scooped up some ballet slipper pink spray paint at Michael's and got to work. LOVE the final product. Also like the fact that this was the rocker my parents used to read books to my brother and I on, (sentimental teardrop). The Jenny Lind style bookshelf was a Target.com score. And I found a vintage hat box and the same antique shop I purchased the chandelier from. I think the chandelier truly makes the room. I am pretty obsessed with it actually. Its OLD! It was made in Spain, has crystals on it, and best part is I only paid 80 bucks for it. Yeah, I know. I did find this super cute and affordable option on Overstock.com if you'd still like to achieve a similar look and the price is pretty fantastic as well!

All I know is my favorite rooms in the entire house are my kids' rooms. I never thought I would have a daughter, she is fierce and amazing and has already provided me with an experience beyond my wildest dreams. I know someday she'll be asking her Dad to take down that wallpaper because she'll want some crazy colored walls and she'll spill nail polish all over her rug (which I totally did all the time), but I don't care. I'm enjoying her and her sweet room more than I ever imagined. When I pick her up out of her crib and turn around and see my reflection holding her in that mirror, that right there is my favorite thing about her nursery.