Vintage Classroom Decor Nursery with a Modern Twist
This nursery design was inspired by vintage classroom decor and is complete with a green chalkboard wall, vintage wood rocking chair, vintage toys and books, and new wood ledge bookshelves.
This vintage classroom inspired nursery started 6 weeks ago when I joined the One Room Challenge design challenge. This room is for my third daughter who was born earlier this year. She’s destined for a life of hand-me-downs from her two older sisters, so I thought she deserved a little something special. Plus, I’ve been dreaming up this nursery for close to four years and kept dragging my feet on getting it started. Since having deadlines is one of the only ways I finish anything, the One Room Challenge was the perfect excuse to kick my butt into gear and finally start (and finish) this nursery.
Here’s how the room has looked for the last five years. Yellow. Boring. Dirty carpet. Blah.
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I’ve been sitting in that yellow rocking chair for years planning out my vintage classroom inspired nursery. Years.
And now, I’m excited to say, it’s done!
It’s finished! Yes, I finally finished a space from top to bottom. I’ve never accomplished this task in any of the other One Room Challenges; there were always projects I still needed to finish.
But I think this room is DONE. And I am in love with it. Take a look around. I promise I won’t talk too much.
The gallery wall was so much fun to put together. I’ve been collecting little vintage odds and ends for this room for awhile, so it was fun to finally display them all. I painted this dresser changing table gray with General Finishes Milk Paint. Here’s the full tutorial: gray dresser changing table
Isn’t the world map from Minted just adorable? My oldest daughter really loves maps, so I had her in mind when I picked it out, but I also thought it was the perfect modern touch on a vintage classroom accessory. I’ll be sharing all the details on how I made the frame from some old pieces of wood to mimic the look of a school map.
Another fun DIY project were the dictionary page art pieces. Picking out the vintage sketches was by far my favorite part.
More details on this easy, large scale DIY art soon!
We’ve nicknamed our little one PJ Funny Bunny. I’m not sure where my husband came up with that one, but when I saw this page in a vintage cloth book, I knew it needed to become artwork in her room.
Plus another big fat hen page made the cut as well.
These book ledges finally make use of this previously unused space.
My other daughters were thrilled to learn that the entire wall was a chalkboard. Thrilled. Rustoleum’s green chalkboard paint gave the perfect vintage green color to the wall.
I made the curtains from a white sheet, and updated a vintage rocking chair with this Branch Toss fabric from Minted.
I painted the old dresser and added some brass ring knobs from D. Lawless Hardware. More details soon about that project as well!
All in all, I can only hope it will be a place where learning and fun go hand in hand- just like what should happen in a classroom.
Post by Jenny Leads
Jenny is the voice behind Refresh Living. She has a passion for helping people to create a home they love without spending a lot of money.
that chalk wall and all that vintage goodness makes this space so unique. Good job!
Aw thanks Jessica! Those are two of my favorite parts of the room too.
what a great space! i love that green wall and the gray dresser!
gorgeous! love the color scheme … what a fun nursery!!
Thanks Lauren! I love fun, and I know my kids do too!
Love the chalkboard wall! And that rug is so beautiful
So stinkin’ cute! I absolutely love the green chalkboard wall behind the crib!
Thanks Jessica! I love it too. 🙂
YAY! I am so proud of you for finishing! I cannot believe you even got the new floors in with three kids! You hustled and it looks awesome!!
I can’t believe we did either! On Sunday I had my doubts that we’d ever be able to finish it time. Thanks so much!
All the vintage touches are just perfect! Those framed book pages with the graphics are my fave! I’d love to do something similar on a nook wall in our living room! Well done!!
Thanks, Erin! I loved putting those book pages together and choosing all the fun graphics for them. It turned out to be such an easy project!
I love this room — the chalkboard, the rocker, the dresser, the letter “C” filled with felt balls. Sooo cute!
Thanks so much, Lora!
I love it! I love that green wall and the colorful rug. So pretty!
Thanks Jessica! I would say it’s more color than I’m used to, but I still love it.
What a cute, refreshed room! How fun. You did a great job!
Thanks, Pat. It was so much fun to work on!
It turned out so cute! I love the chalkboard wall and that bunny picture is too cute!!
Thanks so much Emy!
This room is absolutely beautiful!
The reference to “PJ Funny Bunny” brought back great memories – that was my youngest daughter’s favorite book (30 years ago) and
I believe I still have it somewhere ????
Oh, that’s so adorable, Lori. Thanks so much for sharing; I’m glad it sparked a special memory!
BEAUTIFUL! That is definitely a special nursery for your third little girl 🙂 I absolutely love it!
Oh, thanks so much, Kelly. I hope she loves it as she grows up!
Such a sweet space – that chalkboard wall is so cool!
Thanks Casey! My girls definitely love it.
It looks beautiful! Everything turned out great, and the chalkboard wall in that color was such a good idea!
Thanks, Katy! It was so much fun to put together.
What a sweet room, Jenny! I love the chalkboard wall and the decor is all so pretty! That funny bunny frame is my favourite! xo
I love that funny bunny too! Thanks, Kendra!
I love the rainbow rug, the green wall (and it’s a chalkboard so that’s even cooler!) and the gray dresser the most; everything came together so well for this space 🙂
THanks so much Nicole!
Well done! Love the wall! The color looks so good and it is even functional. Also a big fan of how you showcase all the books 🙂
Thanks, Simone! I love the wall too, and so do the kids!
What a great project. I love that chalkboard wall and the painted dresser- nice color.
Thanks for sharing at Waste Not Wednesday.
It looks fantastic! I love all the vintage details and that green chalkboard wall.
what color did you paint the dresser?
It’s Driftwood by General Finishes.
I love this!! I was considering doing a black chalkboard wall in my nursery but I think I’m definitely going to go with green instead. Thanks for the inspiration! I’m wondering, where is your crib from?
Hi Rachel. I’m sorry for the delayed response. I still love our green chalkboard wall; I’m glad I went with it! The crib is actually 7 years old because we purchased it for our first, so they don’t make it anymore. It used to be a dark cherry color, but I painted it white and then painted that faux wood treatment on the top rails.
I love this nursery! I’m using it as inspiration for my first little girls room and I can’t wait to get to work! I’m wondering, did you make the book ledges or did you purchase them somewhere?
I’m sorry for the late reply. I’m glad you like it! We’re having our fourth in a couple of weeks and I love it so much I’m not changing a thing (which is very unlike me!) I did build the book shelves (here’s the link to that post), but I have seen ones on Etsy that people build with your custom measurements. Might be something to look into if you didn’t have the time/tools to make your own. Have fun putting your nursery together!
Thanks for your response! One more question, what shade of white did you go with on the walls to compliment the green chalkboard wall?