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Love Island star, influencer and new mama Olivia Bowen moved into her dream family home a few years ago and has since documented her renovation journey over on Instagram. Now, following the arrival of her son Abel Jacob Bowen, Olivia shares how she created her dream nursery around the Silver Cross Westport nursery set.
Shop: Silver Cross Westport Nursery Set
You’ve been renovating your own home, which looks amazing! How excited were you about planning the nursery?
Thank you so much! We have been renovating the house for over two years straight now, I am looking forward to when it’s completely finished, but who knows when that will be. When one job stops, another starts! The nursery decorating was welcomed with very open arms! I was super excited mainly because I knew I could be super creative and fun with it. A baby room has all the cutest little bits – toys, colours and tiny clothes! It was also quite daunting because I had so many ideas that I wasn’t really sure which direction to go in. As we didn’t know the gender of the baby it ruled out a few options.
Did you always know which room you would use?
When we first viewed this house nearly three years ago, we knew we wanted children one day but had no idea when. Even so, when we walked upstairs and saw the front bedroom with this big, beautiful window in the middle, looking out to the fields, we both said it would be a perfect nursery! It just has such a lovely, calm, warming feeling about it. A lot of the house does – which is why we fell in love with it. The room was a dressing room for the previous owners and had matching Tiffany blue carpet and walls – safe to say it’s very different now!
Designing a nursery can be daunting – any top tips on where to start?
My top tip would be to get nosey! Have a look on Pinterest and search #nurseryinterior on Instagram – there are so many beautiful ideas. I think for us, as we didn’t know the gender, we knew we had to go for something neutral, so included that in our searches. Also, if you can think how you want the room to feel, it’ll really help. We wanted it to be really cosy and warming but also something a little adventurous.
I love to mood board for a room too. Once you’ve got some ideas together, screenshot them or screenshot any products you like the look of and start piecing them together to see what works and what doesn’t. It’ll give you a good visual of what you’re imagining in your head.
Shop: Silver Cross Westport Cot Bed
Did you have a colour scheme in mind?
My palette for our house is very neutral anyway, so the fact we didn’t know the gender of the baby helped me go for something neutral again! I knew I wanted to stay away from cool greys as that would make the room feel too cold. We wanted to evoke a warm atmosphere, so that’s why we started looking at more nude/brown tones. I think even if we did know the gender, we would still have gone for the brown tones as I absolutely love how cosy it makes the room feel.
What about a theme?
I came across some beautiful wallpaper with giraffes on whilst searching high and low on Pinterest and it immediately sparked the safari theme. I quickly became obsessed with giraffes too – we even have a 5ft giraffe in the room now! I also saw a hotel with a stunning cloud mural ceiling and because our nursery room has a lot of ceiling space, which is a prominent feature, I just knew I wanted to incorporate that somehow. We’ve got little wooden safari cupboard handles, giraffe, elephants and monkeys on the feature wall wallpaper, and little birds, butterflies and clouds on the ceiling. I love animals so it was a no brainer!
How did you bring the design to life?
I started with a mood board, then created a product board with bits I knew I loved and wanted to incorporate. I was then very lucky to have the lovely Laura from The Modern Nursery to help me pull all my ideas together and lay out the room in the best way possible. We worked very closely together to utilise all of the space, as the room is quite long, so we came up with a few ideas and got there eventually. The paint went on first, then the fitted wardrobes and finally the wallpaper on the wall and ceiling. The last thing we did was accessorise and that was the best part – there are so many adorable little bits and bobs!
Shop: Silver Cross Westport Dresser
You have the Silver Cross Westport cot bed and dresser. What do you love about this collection?
This set immediately caught my eye when I was looking, and so many people recommended me the Silver Cross furniture as it’s such great quality and long lasting.
I had strong accents of wood and white in the design process so the Westport design fitted in perfectly. Good storage is a must, so the dresser gives us the chance to keep everything in with the added benefit of the changing top. I love that the bed changes into a toddler bed when needed too.
The best thing to invest in is furniture that’ll last the test of time and will grow with you. I cannot wait to see little baby Bowen in there!
Olivia Bowen won the hearts of the nation back in 2016 on series two of ITV2’s Love Island with her now husband Alex. In the years that have followed, her career has blossomed. Alongside launching her own clothing brand, Exempt Society, she has been at the forefront of numerous collaborations and campaigns with some of the country’s most loved brands and maintained a burgeoning television career. Olivia remains one of the nation’s favourite Love Island success stories, in part down to her authenticity and down-to-earth nature. She has always remained open and honest with her fans and allowed them to be part of her life, which has earnt her a loyal combined social media following.
