Create a gender neutral nursery that is a fun Safari. Use bold prints and decor to create a modern styled room. Perfect for those that love adventure!

Hunter’s room is a fun Safari Adventure. It’s general neutral colors allowed us to create a room for him while we awaited his surprise arrival.

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For both of my pregnancies, we didn’t want to know if we were having a boy or girl- we were looking forward to the surprise. But that meant we had to create something that could work for a boy or a girl. Create a neutral pallet

When having our first, we planned a travel themed room with bold, playful colors, planes, city themed prints, globes, and suitcases. It ended up being just right for Autumn, as she is always up for an adventure and the colors were perfect for her personality.

When it came to planning our second nursery, we were undecided on the look for a while. But when we decided on it, it all clicked.

The Protectors

Ultimately, browsing Pinterest and Etsy for hours on end worked out because I found the prints that I would center the whole room around.

As soon as I saw the prints, I knew I needed to a safari themed room and it would be centered around these captivating prints. I immediately fell in love with the lion, zebra, and giraffe (similar).

Note: Other great prints could be this trio wearing cute flower crowns or this watercolor set.

While some might think that safari is pretty masculine, I was always thinking that I could easily incorporate some fun feminine accents with some pink accents and stuffed animals. Garlands, plants, and toys could have also been ways to give the room a bit of a girly touch.

As you approach Hunter’s Room you can see the yellow H that was a piece of decor from my surprise baby sprinkle.

You can also see the rug, crib, and those bold prints. I love that those are the first things you can see.

The Rug

The next big element that I purchased was this rug. I loved that it has a zebra print but that it was brown vs black. It’s coloring makes it less extreme feeling, compared to it being black and white.

I think it perfectly ties the room together. And it is really soft, which is great when playing on the floor. But, to be honest, Price doesn’t like this rug because so much of the fiber comes out in tumbleweeds.

Note: That specific rug has been discontinued but, this one from Wayfair is a great option.

Our Giraffe Friends

The large animals prints were on the wall above the crib, but we needed to have a focal point on the opposite wall, where the dresser is located.

We ended up these adorable vinyl giraffes that we put on the wall. They are from Etsy and you can pick from various colors. We picked brown, yellow, and green because they are neutral colors and went well with the colors already in the room, like the brown from the rug.

Everything in its Place

The West Elm dresser was a carry over from when we lived in Boston. It went really well with the minimalism look as it’s simple. We just put the changing pad and a woven basket (Ikea)

Next to the dresser is a rocker

White I love white white white, I wanted to add in some wood in the room. I felt it would look nice to have it added in the room so it didn’t seem so sterile.

My dad made these 2 bookcases for the room. They are are a great size so that they hold plenty of books and toys.

The baskets on the bookshelf hold puzzles, matchbox cars, and other toys and puppets. The baskets are from target’s Dollar Spot and the kids area.

Toys and Decor

Toys are also kept up on a pair of shelves that are above the rocker and on a shelf above the closet door. This allows elements of decor to be throughout the room. Plus, it helps keeps fragile things, like the ceramic elephant piggy bank, out of reach.

Also on the shelves are pictures, including Hunter’s birthday announcement. We also have a beautiful hand sketched elephant that we got at a art festival while on our babymoon.

We also wanted decor to be functional, so we looked for things that would be helpful for a growing kid. The simplest thing would be to add hooks at a height that would be in reach. We found some cute elephant ones.

Hunter often hangs his hats and his backpack on the hooks.

Note: The metal hook on the left is no longer sold, but this plywood hook is cute. This trio of hooks (elephant, giraffe, and rhino) also is really adorable.

Also functional, is a large storage basket we have for stuffed animals.

Baskets and woven bags are must for storage. You can get them in a variety of sizes and styles from places like Target, Home Goods, Kirlands, Way Fair, and Amazon. They can be small for some items on a bookcase or large ones that hold stuffed animals, blankets, or bigger toys. The possibilities are endless.

Hanging next to the window is the belly cast that we made right before my scheduled C-section.

Price painted it with a hippo on it. It goes with the safari theme and it keeps up the H things around the room.

I have loved Hunter’s room from the start. It was so much fun to design, shop for, and live in as he has grown from a newborn to a wonderful toddler.

As Hunter grew, we changed the crib to be a toddler bed with the lower rail. The next step is to change up his room to have a twin sized bed in there. It’s a great room for him to grow with.