This post has been a long time coming. I shot these photos when my son was five months old. But #momlife happened and I never got around to editing them. Better late than never, right? So without further ado, come peek inside my neutral safari nursery.

Neutral Safari Nursery Reveal

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love animals. I was hoping my son did too (he does!). So a safari theme seemed like the perfect place to start for nursery decor. The vibe of my new home in San Diego is warm California casual neutrals. I kept the nursery in line with rest of the home by sticking to a neutral color palette with subtle yellow accents.

Shop the Nursery

• Crib: Evolur
• Dresser: Evolur
• Chair: Evolur
• Ottoman: Evolur
• Giraffe: Pottery Barn Kids
• Rug: Loloi
• Mobile: Pehr
• Plush rocker: Pottery Barn Kids
• Shelves: Amazon
• Mini Lamp: Amazon
• Sheets: Wilet
• Quilts: Wilet & Pehr
• Mirror: Target
• Wooden Name Sign: Etsy
• Wallpaper: EazyWallz
• Monitor: Nanit
• Baskets: Home Goods & Pehr
• Side Table: Home Goods
• Stool: Mark & Graham
• Changing Pad: Keekaroo

Shop more of my baby & kid recommendations in my Amazon shop!

I love how it turned out. It’s calm, soothing yet still playful. And my son loves it, too! Now that he’s 13 months old (seriously where does time go?!) here are some tips of what I learned after using everything in my nursery:

What worked and didn’t work for Baby Room Decor & Nursery Essentials

CRIB

I’m super happy with my crib choice. It was easy to lower once it was time. And since I got the conversion kit, I’ll be able to turn it into a toddler bed and then a daybed or full size bed when my son’s ready. Talk about cost effective!

DRESSER

I love mixing and matching pieces. But considering I moved twice in my pregnancy and I’m a single mom, I was all about ease when it came to decor this time around. I ended up getting all the big nursery pieces from Evolur. I really like how the dresser matches the crib. And the Stilnovo collection looks clean and modern.

As for what goes on the dresser? I got the changing tray, which I plan on using with the Keekaroo Peanut Changer until my son graduates from diapers. But everything else I’ve mostly changed since these photos were taken.  

I had a plant at first, which immediately went bye-bye once my son started squirming. Right now I only keep a humidifier, lotion and some hand sanitizer out. Everything else I use (diapers, wipes, etc) is in the top drawers, away from my son’s very strong kicks.

p.s. if you’re building your registry, here are the baby supplies I actually used and the toddler supplies I’m currently using.

Chair

I feel like the chair in a nursery is such a personal choice. So I’m not going to get too into it. But I will say: get an ottoman! It was majorly helpful to be able to put my feet up during night feeds. And it’s now super useful for my son to practice standing and walking when we’re in his room.

MOBILE

I can’t tell you how long I went back and forth on where to hang the mobile. I read countless articles and way too many phone conversations about it with my mom and mom friends. Ultimately I decided to hang it above the changing table. Best decision ever! Here’s why:

• If you you hang it above the crib, you only get to have it while your baby is a newborn. After that it’s too dangerous.
• My son still fixated on it when I’m changing him. It’s so helpful to keep babes occupied during diaper changes if you hang it above the dresser.

Baby Monitor

I loved the Nanit, especially when my son was a newborn. Some people don’t like that you use your phone as the monitor. I personally loved it (one less thing for me to carry around!). It was also super helpful to be able to my doula, mom and best friends so they could use the monitor when helping out. I ended up loving it so much that I got a second one for my son’s bassinet downstairs. I now use that one as my travel monitor.

Night Light

Here is where I made a mistake. I didn’t have a floor lamp so I bought this mini lamp. I love it… just not for the nursery. Now I use it for the patio. I learned that normal light is a big no in the middle of the night, whether you’re doing feedings or simply comforting baby. The Nanit light actually doubles as sound machine and clock. It lets you use all different color lights and sounds. For night, I did a red light, which actually promotes sleep. I love it so much that I honestly want one for my room. But I’ll just take my son’s when he’s over it.

Hangers

I’ve been using velvet hangers for myself for years. They save so much space. These kids ones are a definite yes. I also bought these velvet clothes pins to hang bottoms.

Side Table

Thank goodness I got mine and Home Goods and didn’t spend too much. Once my son started crawling I had to take it out of the nursery ASAP. But it definitely served its purpose.

Add-ons:

Since I kept the decor pretty minimal, there is honestly nothing I didn’t use aside from what I mentioned above. I highly recommend going with a less is more approach when decorating the nursery. It’s so nice to have a serene place to sit in with your baby. And once he grows, the amount of stuff that accumulates can be overwhelming. Thank goodness for roomy baskets!

Since I took these photos, I did move the wooden name sign into my son’s nursery. It just felt too busy with the wallpaper. I added the sound & light machine, a hanging wood growth chart, a humidifier and blackout shades. I’m renting so I ended up doing stick-on ones. They look decent and have certainly served their purpose.

I highly recommend this humidifier. I have had one for my own bedroom for years. It looks chic, works well, you can add aromatherapy and you don’t have to remember to change the filter because they auto ship you a new one every 45 days. Plus, their customer service has been amazing. Most importantly, I think it really helps my son, especially during dryer months.

Speaking of what helps, I still need to do a post on that. So stay tuned! In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this peek into the neutral safari nursery I designed. Feel free to ask any questions below or DM me over on Instagram: @sydnesummer.

I keep Preston’s special books on the floating bookshelves. One of them is my favorite from when I was a kid! We love to read together so I’m constantly adding new books. You can find the books we love to read in my Baby & Kids Books Amazon list.

This personalized Goodnight Moon book was such a beautiful baby gift. I keep it on the special bookcase as well and read him the board book every night.

My son hated to be swaddled as a newborn. So I tried Love to Dream sleep sack swaddles instead. They were amazing! We used them through each stage up until he became a toddler. They kept him snug as a bug but still allowed some movement (he’s been a major kicker since my babymoom). I especially loved the stage 2 version, since you could unzip the sleeves as needed. You can find them, plus more baby and kids clothing I’ve bought in my Baby & Kids Clothing Amazon list.

I’m so happy with this Loloi rug. I read that wool is the best material for a nursery rug. And since the dogs spend a lot of time in the nursery as well, I needed something that wasn’t just kid friendly but pet friendly! The pattern on this rug hides so many stains (there have been quite a few). And I love the warmth it adds to the room. We usually put this double-sided Pehr quilt down when we’re playing or reading for some extra cushioning. But the rug is also really comfy as is.

If you want to see more of my neutral safari nursery, I have some videos over on Instagram:

• Watch the stick on neutral safari nursery wallpaper get installed over on Reels
• Peek at the neutral safari nursery set up, as well as more spaces in my home, in my Home Highlights

Photos by Reuben Luke