Date:  July 22, 2015  |   Story: Tiffany Adams  |   Photography: Rett Peek  |   Styling: Chip Jones  |  

At Home staffer Laura LaRue and her husband welcome their son home to a classic nursery filled with meaningful accents

Laura and Jason LaRue’s lives were forever changed eight months ago with the arrival of their first child, Grant. However, long before he came into the world, the couple planned a perfect nursery that would be welcoming for the new baby, as well as functional and comfortable for them as new parents. “We really wanted a simple, classic room that he can grow into and that we can play in and be ourselves,” Laura says of her approach.

Thinking first about key pieces, she selected a timeless Jenny Lind crib. “I always knew I wanted the Jenny Lind crib, and we got it early on. My brother, sister, and I all had the same style [of crib] when we were growing up,” she says. The mobile hanging over the crib, a whimsical piece by blabla is a favorite of Laura’s along with the acrylic bookshelves, which help to maximize storage space. Another element—a gliding rocker ordered through Little Rock’s Pickles & Ice Cream—was a must-have for the room. “A friend told me to be sure to get a comfortable glider because I would spend so much time in it. I love this one because it’s cozy and the navy fabric is plain enough that we can use it once he grows out of the nursery,” Laura says. The glider is also a special place for mom-and-son reading time. “On the Night You Were Born children’s book is a tear-jerker and such a sweet book. It’s the first one I grab a lot when I sit with Grant to read to him before bed. The very last page says, ‘Heaven blew every trumpet and sounded every horn on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born.’ I love that so much and can’t read it without getting tears in my eyes. Life with him has been absolutely wonderful and every bit of marvelous,” she adds.

Other accents, including a pair of owls (which remind Laura of a father-son duo) that were needlepointed by Jason’s late grandmother and a framed “Why God Made Little Boys” print, which her mother presented to her at a baby shower, add heartfelt flair to the nursery. Reflecting on the space as a whole, Laura adds, “I know these little moments and time with Grant as a baby are so precious. This nursery is just what I envisioned…a sweet, simple space for him to read, play, and grow into a rowdy little boy.”

Design Resources

Framing Backwoods Art & Frame, El Dorado, (870) 863-5254

Furniture Pickles & Ice Cream, Little Rock, (501) 225-7199, picklesandicecreamlr.com; White Goat, Conway, (501) 504-6643, Little Rock, (501) 603-9460, whitegoatstyle.com

Lighting Sydney Murphy Design, El Dorado, (870) 863-6625, sydneymurphydesign.com

Paint Sherwin-Williams, locations statewide, sherwin-williams.com

Window coverings Anthropologie, Little Rock, (501) 821-5228, anthropologie.com