A “White Sterile Box” Became the Most Whimsical, Dreamy NYC Nursery

Part of the reason content creator Samantha Braucht and her husband, Drew, fell in love with their two-bedroom TriBeCa apartment is that it was a blank canvas — especially the second bedroom, which would transform into their daughter, Eloise’s, future nursery. 

“[It was] a white sterile box,” Samantha explains. “I wanted the room to feel girly, whimsical, full of fun, but also beautiful. I wanted to use antiques to make it feel different and unique to standard nursery rooms you find.” 

While there wasn’t a set design inspiration for the room, once Samantha landed on Wallpaperie’s Avignon Blush wallpaper, the rest of the choices stemmed from that. Instead of hanging it on the walls, she hung it on the one that you can see when you walk into the room — it looks like a beautiful accent wall. 

“The wall layout is a bit strange since the building is prewar — it’s not a simple square, which makes covering all the walls in wallpaper very time-consuming (and expensive!), so it’s taken a while to bring everything together in a cohesive way,” Samantha writes. “I’m still working on it, honestly.”

In addition to hanging all the wallpaper herself, Samantha also painted a few murals and the moldings around the artwork and the HVAC door (which she also wallpapered over). Most of the furniture in the room — besides the sleeper sofa, crib, and toys —  was thrifted, and she even gave a few pieces a makeover with paint.

Two of Samantha’s favorite items in the room were purchased from brands, and they’re the bunny mobile and the flying swan. She admits that she’ll never give them away, even as her daughter grows up. “I think they both add to that ‘whimsical’ feel,” Samantha says. “I also love that her crib, while new, is made to look like an antique brass crib. It really pulls the look together while being safe.” 

Although Samantha had all of the must-have items organized in Eloise’s room within three months, she admits that the room is always in flux. However, Eloise loves spending time in her space playing with her play kitchen. (Samantha says her daughter has actually become really good at cleaning up after herself.) 

“My daughter’s room may be my favorite as we’ve turned it into a fairy garden-like room, and I love to be in there with her,” Samantha said at the time of the tour. To see more of this incredible apartment, visit the full House Tour on Apartment Therapy.