maternity 2021

Minimalist Neutral Nursery by Candice Tay

We are nearing the end of my pregnancy, currently writing this at 37 weeks — EEK! There are so many emotions, but excitement is definitely at the centre. I thought it’d be a good time to finally reveal our minimalist, neutral nursery. If you’re a parent out there, you probably learned early on just how expensive baby things are. My husband and I definitely had some major sticker shock when we initially began purchasing things for our baby. You’ll notice a lot of IKEA, some DIYs, and Facebook Marketplace. We received a lot of things secondhand from friends and family and for higher ticket items, we were able to score some great deals on Marketplace.

Room Updates

We recently moved into this home so this room had been designated storage for a long time. When we found out that we were expecting, it just made sense that this room would be the nursery. Although we love a good DIY, we are not the most experienced, so we juggled between creating a board and batten wall and doing this two-toned paint wall. We eventually settled on this two-toned wall because we thought it would be simpler to execute, yet still give us that clean, modern aesthetic we were hoping for. We just knew we needed to get rid of the creamy builder’s paint. Though not perfect, we’re really pleased with how the walls turned out!

We swapped out the classic cake light for the MOJNA, a cute recycled plastic pendant from IKEA which really adds a nice moodiness to the room. Changing out light fixtures makes the biggest difference in a room! We also put in a standing lamp that was kindly gifted to me by Gantri (“CMTAY20” for $20 off), a company that makes 3D-printed lights out of sustainable materials. I think this will be perfect for those late night feeds.

Large Furniture Pieces

For the larger furniture pieces, like the crib, changing table, and rocking chair, we debated a long time to find the right pieces for this room. In the end, we stuck with the classic wooden IKEA SNIGLAR crib and the TARVA 6-drawer chest which doubles as a changing table. We were stuck in lockdown for the majority of months that we spent putting this room together, so I decided to do a little DIY upgrade on the dresser. I used some leftover paint that my sister had lying around and gave this dresser a nice facelift. I liked the look of the natural wooden tones, so I left the legs and knobs plain. The rocking chair was the last piece that we put into the room because we weren’t sure if we were going to need it. To be honest, we still don’t know as we get a lot of mixed opinions on rocking chairs, but we scored this West Elm rocker for $200 bucks on Facebook Marketplace!

On the Walls

I’ve had these State Goods prints lying around the home for a while, and finally found the perfect place to put them up! I love how muted the colours are and that they don’t outwardly scream “baby nursery”. I think the clear acrylic shelves added the perfect finishing touch to this room for practical storage for books and other cute stuffies.

The finishing touches

On the front of the crib, I sewed this fabric crib caddy with excess material I had at home. The cutest Cuddle + Kind dolls sit inside baby’s crib, along with a neutral-toned cribsheet from Solly Baby, and a Snuggle Me Organic Lounger that my sister and brother-in-law gifted to us.

Let me know your thoughts on this nursery. We tried to keep everything as minimal and neutral as possible! I’m really happy with how everything turned out and now we wait for bub’s arrival! If you'd like to see the raw, behind-the-scenes progress of how we brought this room to life, check out the nursery vlog below.


This post is not sponsored but may contain some gifted items and affiliate links. If you decide to shop through the links above, I may make a small commission that helps support this blog and other social platforms. I only share products and brands I love and support. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for supporting Candice Tay!

Simple Maternity Capsule Wardrobe by Candice Tay

It’s been a while since I’ve been on the blog! Thank you for sticking around.

I’m currently just over 30 weeks pregnant and I wanted to share how my simple maternity capsule wardrobe has been holding up for the past month. I curated this capsule back at the beginning of May. If you haven't watched that video yet, I would love for you to check it out on my YouTube channel. I’ll leave a link below!

This capsule is full of oversized dresses, comfortable jumpsuits, and billowy tops, almost all of which previously existed in my wardrobe. I’ve been really impressed with how versatile this capsule has been in adapting and changing with my growing body. I have grown out of some pieces at this point in my pregnancy, but the majority of this capsule is still going strong. I love all the fun colours and oversized silhouettes of a lot of the pieces.

A few thoughts

what I’m doing with pieces I’ve grown out of

For the pieces that don’t fit at the moment, I’ve passed them onto family and friends to wear for this season and once I can fit into them again, I can enjoy them! I love that the pieces are still getting worn even when it’s not worn by me.

maternity-specific pieces

Investing in a pair of maternity pants has been super key for me this season because although I had a lot of dresses and jumpsuits that fit, I really miss my high-waisted denim and black trousers. Those were key staples that I lived in before pregnancy. Simply having a pair of black joggers has allowed me to feel a lot more like myself even though my body has been going through a lot of changes.

versatility

I’m honestly really impressed with how versatile this small capsule has been so far. I even completed a #5x5ByFriends capsule wardrobe challenge with five of the pieces. It just takes a bit of creativity to get the most out of pieces that you already own, which is what I love the most about capsule wardrobes and shopping from your own closet. Because wearing what you have is always the most sustainable option!

a few of my favourite maternity looks

Jumpsuit by Tradlands Cream Cardigan by Tradlands Sneakers by Veja

Jumpsuit by Tradlands
Cream Cardigan by Tradlands
Sneakers by Veja

Black Dress by ABLE - CANDICE20 for 20% off Wrap Top by Vetta Flats by Everlane

Black Dress by ABLE - CANDICE20 for 20% off
Wrap Top by Vetta
Flats by Everlane

Black Jumpsuit by Boob Design

Black Jumpsuit by Boob Design

Black Linen Top by Power of my People Black Joggers by Storq

Black Linen Top by Power of my People
Black Joggers by Storq

Navy Jumpsuit by Curator SF Grey Tank by FRANC

Navy Jumpsuit by Curator SF
Grey Tank by FRANC

Striped blue top by Laude the Label Black Joggers by Storq Sandals by ABLE - CANDICE20 for 20% off

Striped blue top by Laude the Label
Black Joggers by Storq
Sandals by ABLE - CANDICE20 for 20% off

I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini recap of my maternity capsule, I’ll be in these pieces for about two more months! After that, we’ll see what happens!


This post is not sponsored but may contain some gifted items and affiliate links. If you decide to shop through the links above, I may make a small commission that helps support this blog and other social platforms. I only share products and brands I love and support. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for supporting Candice Tay!