ElementAire was hired to design a nursery for the first child of a Brooklyn based family. The parents, who own a 2 bedroom apartment, wished a space that could easily be adapted to meet, over time, the changing needs of their firstborn. In addition, the space would have to accommodate the occasional visit of the child’s grandfather or grandmother.

All furniture and fixed elements were placed at the perimeter of the room, leaving the center free for circulation and movement to adapt to the limited square footage.

A twin bed to host the occasional visit of one of the grandparents was incorporated as a wall-mounted murphy bed. This strategy was implemented to optimize the space.

Wall-mounted murphy bed closed

As babies are constantly absorbing information around them through visual stimuli, an environment with picture frames, toys and furniture of different colors, shapes, sizes, and textures stimulate newborns to get used to different sensations.

Newborns are also very sensitive to the toxic materials found in the majority of the paints available in the market. For this reason, we carefully selected Benjamin Moore Eco Spec, a product that is free of toxic air contaminants and hazardous air pollutants. In addition to the paint with zero VOC and zero emissions, all the other elements in this design were hand-picked based on their affects on one’s health.

To avoid waste of materials, the crib and the rug were ordered from NESTIG. The company doesn’t have inventory (on-demand production only), and all products are handmade in Brazil, with non-toxic, lead and phthalate safe materials.

With the intention to create a connection with the mother’s roots, who is originally from India, we have decided to incorporate wicker elements into the design. Wicker is commonly used in India, and it can be found in this design’s lighting fixture and baskets.