Teddy’s Classic Academia Baby Boy Nursery

Before I even got pregnant, my husband and I were daydreaming about the possibilities of a cottage-y, moody, academia styled nursery that would be both soft and classic. Not long after we discovered we were having a boy, we went into total reno mode and jumped to it.

Originally, my plan was to have a plaid wallpaper, but after doing the calculations of the cost I just couldn’t justify the thousands of dollars it would cost versus couple hundred and some elbow grease for exactly the same look. My first inspiration was this Gingham Wallpaper, but as I said, after calculating costs plus the possibility of the colour not showing up how I want with the very limited lighting of Theo’s room, I decided that paint was the way to go.

If you want to see the full process of the paint project to achieve the Buffalo Plaid look, check it out here for the actual steps.

I knew I wanted the room to have some masculine energy with the darker browns, so I actually stained the IKEA Sniglar Crib and the Tarva dresser a custom stain (mix between Early American & Dark Walnut).

As you can see the Tarva dresser also had a facelift of sorts and my loving and very patient husband created my requested trim on each drawer face to give it some dimension. You can check out the full process here for the dresser.

I then went on a hunt for prints that suited my “Scottish, Academia meets Hunting/Fishing vibe”. There wasn’t really a strict theme in place, I just knew I wanted it to look a bit moody, but also soft and light enough to be a nursery. I’ve always adored lithograph styled prints, or vintage nature scapes, so his little collage wall became a combination of all mentioned.

I am stubbornly very frugal, so when it came to finding good deals on things like rugs and lighting, I definitely took my time. I was able to find this adorable light fixture on Amazon, for a whopping $85! The crib was previously Teddy’s sister’s, so we repurposed that with the mattress.

The bookshelves were 36″ Amazon find as well, which I also stained to match the dresser and crib.

Some boujie finds were the Ollie Ella changing basket, which I snagged for $20 on facebook marketplace (originally it’s over $100). The bunting, and banners (Teddy, and Full Name) were all Etsy finds. I love how much personality they add to the room. It gives off a subtle vintage varsity feel.