Creating a Neverland Nursery

One of the things I looked forward to most becoming a mom was all the Disney things I could do with my little one. When we found we were going to have a boy, I set my heart on a Neverland inspired nursery. I love Peter Pan and since a semi-nautical theme would fit perfectly in our cape cod style home, it seemed like my best idea ever! I was on a mission for it to feel more Neverland inspired, rather than just be a collection of Disney trinkets. And so I got to work on my idea board...

I started with a plan to refinish my childhood bedroom set, which was my great grandparents prior to that. I went to work with chalk paint, wax and a sandblock with a white and navy color scheme. I was thrilled with the outcome and packed the bed away to start with a coordinating crib until he was older. Here's how it turned out:

My grandmother also gave me a little bookshelf that you can see there in the left corner next to the bed. She had told the story of that shelf every time I'd seen it in her house -- As children, she and her two sisters pitched in 25¢ each to purchase the shelf as a gift for their mom. She loved it and since it meant so much to her, I kept it, figuring I would eventually find a way to repurpose it. Sure enough, it made it's way out of storage as the perfect night stand that doubled as an extra bookshelf for the endless amount of bedtime stories we needed to find a home for!

She also gave me a vintage rocking chair that my grandpa had refinished for her when we were kids that she wanted great grandchildren to enjoy as well. I intended on giving that a facelift too, but picturing my grandpa stripping and staining the wood and then restringing the seat so intricately, I didn't have the heart to change it and decided it was better left as-is to enjoy.

Once the furniture rehabs were all taken care of, my husband and I teamed up to build a bookshelf out of crates that I painted. We used wood glue and clamps to put them together and my husband secured them with an 18 guage finishing nailer. To give it a more industrial look, we added wheels with locks on them.

Finally, I scowered the internet (mostly ebay and Etsy) for some great vintage and one-of-a-kind finds to decorate. I had a blast deciding the parts of Peter Pan I wanted to bring to life!

Here's a list of my treasures...

Ebay --

- Original Peter Pan story book

- Vintage toy blocks to spell his name

- Miniature Big Ben

- Westclox clock (specifically Westclox because my grandpa worked at the Westclox factory for many years and also worked on broken clocks as a hobby. My son is named after him as his middle name and I loved the idea of tying that in for him.

- Crocodile to sit with the clock was a bit of a hunt as I wanted a vintage looking one, not the cartoon version. Found a perfect little Jellycat croc! :)

- Peter Pan tsum-tsums's made the cut because we thought our son may want to collect them as he got older (or maybe we just thought they were annoyingly adorable). Because they were retired, I wasn't able to order from Disney directly, but ebay never disapoints. I found them!

Peter and Wendy - I had come across these vintage Disney Store plush toys in my ebay searching. They were just too adorable to pass up.

Etsy --

- Peter Pan hat

- Pirate Ship that someone had made, totally love the detail!

- Neverland map (frame from Hobby Lobby)

- Embroidered compass pillow cover

- Peg people, totally fell in love with these little hand painted people. So cute!

- Framed Neverland bedside art

- Handpainted Pixie quote blocks

- Think Happy Thoughts banner

Hobby Lobby --

- Pixie Dust and Kiss jars filled with fine craft glitter and thimbles ;)

- Teepee shelf and arrows

Two of my favorite items in his room that really kicked off the creative concepts:

- Neverland banner created with the help of cricut

- Peter Pan quote sign, also created with the help of cricut

My sisters created these adorable items for our baby shower and I loved them so much that we incorporated them into the nursery!

Disney World Finds --

- Never grow up pillow

- Neverland Blanket

- Neverland picture frame

- Profile Silouette. My parents had these done for us when we were kids and they couldn't resist doing the same for our son on his second trip to WDW.

Pier1 --

- Green rug to anchor the room (in the clearance section, woo hoo!)

- Tinkerbell lantern and fairy lights for a night light

World Market --

Arrow lamp and rope shade