Getting to decorate a nursery is one of the best parts about the Big Fat Positive. Its the perfect outlet for that pesky pregnancy nesting that makes you dig out your sewing machine and glue gun from the back of your crafting closet.

I struggled with settling on a nursery theme for our first little one – there are so many to choose from!

First, I was sure I wanted Disney’s The Lion King. Babies R Us has a full line of baby Lion King themed stuff. Everything you could ever need, and some of it in cheetah print! Mobiles and blankies and  sheets and Boppy covers and stuff animals and oh goodness. I was in love. The Lion King was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater.

Then I got distracted. I visited a Babies R Us while killing time before a doctor’s appointment and ended up coming home with a fox hat and bibs. Foxes pretty much won out after that, and I ditched The Lion King entirely.

Unfortunately for me, owls are in vogue right now, not foxes.

Luckily for me, I craft!

Our nursery theme is going to be a classy, subtle gray with bright orange accents, using foxes and forest critters.

I made myself a mood board, pulling some inspiration from different nurseries on the web to help keep me focused and ensure that I gather all of the elements that I love and don’t want to forget. Here’s my design board:

As we will be sharing a room with baby for the first few months, I won’t be able to make everything happen right away. With husbeast joining the USAF, we’re going to move in with my folks until he graduates technical school and receives his duty station – but there’s no reason I can’t have as much as possible ready for baby’s own room.

So here are my essentials:

1. Bookshelves with critters
If I could, I would totally paint a tree mural and attach shelves to the branches, but I know I won’t be able to do that at my mom and dad’s. I will, however, get some shelves ready and put together with photos, orange painted photo frames, and a few small creature decorations, most likely an owl and a fox.

2. Chevron rug
I have seen a ton of tutorials for painting rugs on Pinterest, so I’m really excited to finally get to do it. I’m looking at an Erslev rug from IKEA (or similar) as my base, and I’ll paint it with a medium gray chevron.

3. Stuffed fox
Every kid needs a favorite stuffed animal, and a fox is (obviously) going to be baby’s first stuffed animal from mom and dad.

4. Deer silhouette wall art
I definitely want a deer silhouette on the wall. I don’t think I’ll be able to do a wooden one, but a fabric or foam core one is definitely in store. This will likely be orange.

5. Grey knit pouf
This one is also for later, but I do love that giant pouf and need to have one in baby’s room. Now to find one…

6. Peony wall art and square canvases
I absolutely love the way four square canvases look hung up on a wall. I’m going to paint two of them with gray, one striped, one chevron. Two of them are still yet to be determined, but I do love the way the giant felt peony looks, so I’ll probably make one of those.

Fabric Patterns: I’m going to stick heavily to stripes, solids, and chevrons. I was lucky enough to find gray chevron crib sheets at Target this weekend, so I snatched those right up.

Furniture: Our nursery furniture is maple right now, but we will be staining it to a nice, dark espresso soon, in an effort to cover up the pen marks embedded in the wood.

As I gather together all of my pieces, I’ll be posting tutorials for the different elements. I can’t wait until my orange and gray nursery comes fully together and I can do a big unveil!

How did you decorate your first’s nursery? Share in the comments, I can’t wait to hear what you all came up with!