Our Baby Boy Nursery – Navy and Gray with Animals

How we decorated our baby boy nursery with a classic navy and gray theme and a few fun animal accents!

Now that Thomas is here, I’m excited to share how we are decorating his nursery. Of course, he isn’t sleeping there quite yet (he’s in our room in a bassinet), but we’re getting it ready. We didn’t use an interior decorator or nursery designer service, but we like how it’s turning out as we’ve slowly pieced it together.

Both Tommy and I have a pretty similar style, and while we tend to favor bold colors and fabrics (case in point: we have a magenta velvet sofa and tiger print dining room chairs), we knew we wanted Thomas’ room to be more neutral and calming. And we both liked the idea of classic navy and gray. I also found lots of really cute animal prints when I was looking through Pottery Barn Kids and Crate and Barrel, so tied in animal nursery themed pieces as well.

When picking out the main pieces (e.g. the chair, rug, dresser and curtains), we wanted things that could be used for years to come as he grew. We also tried to choose things that could work in other rooms too since we often rearrange furniture.

The paint color is linked here. We love it!

I think this design could also easily be used for a little girl room by changing the navy for a light pink. Decorating girls’ nurseries would be so fun too! Maybe someday. 😉 It will also transition into a big kid’s room easily. Be sure to add any of this to your registry for your baby showers.

Baby Boy Nursery Navy and Gray with Animals

Taylor Wooden Crib

This wooden crib is the first thing we bought, and I LOVE it. It’s a really pretty dark wood, and looks great with any crib sheet. We have an abstract navy fitted sheet and a couple of animal print sheets, including these dinosaur sheets and these elephant sheets.

We also got this waterproof mattress pad cover. We also got our crib mattress here (use that link for $30 off a crib mattress!). But we passed on a crib skirt. When Thomas starts sleeping in the crib, we’ll move his baby monitor from our room to his nursery. In the meantime, a boxer stuffed animal keeps his crib warm!

Be sure to reference the sleep tips at the bottom of the post.

Glider + Ottoman

Tommy and I already LOVE this glider. It’s so comfortable and a great size. It comes in lots of colors, but we love the classic navy. It ties the room together perfectly. There’s an ottoman that matches, but we opted for a different one, in faux leather, for more contrast (it’s also a lot cheaper!). The classic shape of the glider will transition well to a sitting room or office once we don’t need it in the nursery.

We also have a second chair in there so we can hang out together if one of us is rocking Thomas. We repurposed this chair from another room and the saddle leather looks great with the ottoman.

Stuffed elephants sit in each chair, both gifted to us.

7-Drawer Dresser 

Another great find was this dresser. It’s seriously GORGEOUS. Not only does it tie in with the crib, but it’s so well made and Thomas will be able to use this for years and years when he’s older. Or, it’d look great in any bedroom really!

We also currently use this as Thomas’ changing table. We have this changing table topper on the top of the dresser, and we put the changing pad in that. And we have more animals here too – an elephant changing pad cover! Like his crib, it’s from Crate and Barrel – we love the quality of their furniture.

Fox Lamp & Light Fixture

We saw this fox lamp (currently unavailable) when we were picking things out for our registry and immediately loved it. It ties in the animal theme, and the white makes it really simple and neutral. For our ceiling light, we got this. I love the gold finish.

Animal Map Print 

I absolutely love this print. You can customize it with your baby’s name and pick the color. I’m really excited to hang this one in his room. I’m not big into the “dream big” theme that I saw when googling for little boy bedrooms and baby boy nursery themes, but I did love the cute little woodland nursery and elephant nursery ideas. The animal map print ties them together with a basic animal theme.

I think the map print is the perfect detail. And we just added this cute wall decal above his crib.

Spotted Rug

I wanted to get a rug that was patterned but not too busy. We went with a white and grey spotted rug from FLOR tiles and I LOVE it. If FLOR tiles isn’t your thing, this rug is nearly identical and a lot cheaper. I kind of want to steal the rug for my office, ha!

Stuffed Animals 

You know we had to get Thomas a little Maizey. We were gifted two stuffed boxers, so those cute stuffed animals lives in the crib. We also have  baby elephant stuffed animals that lives in the chairs.

Navy Curtains + Gold Rods

We’ve been meaning to buy some navy curtains to go with the gold rods we have. Those will really pull the room together! We also got blackout shades so those have helped keep the room dark when we’re rocking him for naps.

Sleep Tips

We hired a sleep consultant around 6 weeks because Thomas was a MAJOR struggle and I was falling apart. While that’s too soon to official “sleep train”, we learned some key mistakes we were making and we saw improvements within a week! So, whether you want to get your newborn, infant, toddler or school-age child sleeping an extra hour or to sleep through the night (YES PLEASE), seriously look into a sleep consultant. We used Molly from Sleep Shore. If you want to reach out, use promo code Teri10 for 10% off. Her Instagram is linked here.

The cutest nursery in the world is great, but it’s even greater if your child actually SLEEPS, ha! Keep these tips from Molly, a sleep coach from Sleep Shore, in mind when designing your nursery. More about Molly below, along with a promo code to work with her.

The basic elements your nursery needs for good sleep!

The room in which your child sleeps should be dark, cool, and quiet for all sleep, both naps
and night.

Dark

Circadian rhythms are largely determined by exposure to light, and even a small amount of
light can disrupt sleep, so it’s important that the room in which she sleeps remain dark.
Think blackout shades and avoid the nightlight outside of feeding times. My favorite blackout shades are the Blackout EZ shades.

Cool

The room in which your child sleeps should remain between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Babies are safest and sleep best in cooler environments.

Quiet

I highly recommend the use of continuous white noise for both naps and nighttime. White
noise helps to mask outside noises that can be disruptive (especially as most babie’s sleep
cycles are ending and sleep tends to be lighter!). My favorite white noise machine is the Yogasleep Dohm sound machine.

If you want to work with Molly, be sure to use promo code Teri10 for 10% off. Check out Molly’s Instagram here.

Still in progress

We’re still working on Thomas’s room, and for now he sleeps in ours. Whenever we do move him over, I know I’ll love spending more time in there!

If you’re on the hunt for inspiration for a baby boys nursery, I recommend scrolling through the Pottery Barn Kids website. Search “nursery crib bedding” and you’ll see themes already appearing. Or, start with a crib that you love and work around that. Ours is dark wood, and that set the tone for darker colors in the room.

Right now, his room is acting as a catch all for lots of moving pieces for all the things from his baby registry, but once he’s ready, we’ll get it all the way set up. And I’ll be sure to share more pictures then!

While you’re working on the nursery, don’t forget to take care of yourself. My pregnancy must-haves and post-partum must-haves should help!

Here’s what the room looked like before Thomas. It was me Peloton room!

Shop The Post