Ocean Themed Nursery Reveal – Ideas For Under The Sea

There is just something about creating a nursery that is extra special. Maybe it’s knowing just how special it will be to bring your baby from the womb to the walls of the room. Knowing just how much thought, prayer, hope and care went into putting this space together. All the emotions bundled up, woven within all the pregnancy and then postpartum hormones. Followed by all the time spent dreaming up and creating this safe space, a haven. Putting together our son’s nursery brought so much joy to my heart, especially amidst an anxious pregnancy. And I am so excited to share all the details of our ocean themed nursery reveal. 

Ocean Themed Nursery Reveal

For majority of our pregnancy, baby’s room remained a project that still needed to be done. What started out as a guest bedroom, quickly turned into a dumping ground for all the many tasks and projects I hoped to accomplish while also working during pregnancy. In fact, it wasn’t until the third trimester when we started to turn our attention to baby’s nursery. During which, my husband was in the midst of his busy season in the corporate finance and accounting world. Therefore, many hours were spent on the weeknights and weekends with myself and my three-and-a-half year old son, working to put together what would become little brother’s room. 

At the time it seemed so stressful. So many things that this third trimester body needed to put together. So many things that needed to be hung on the walls. Now, reflecting on it all four months postpartum, as my four month old is taking a nap in his crib, in the nursery. Now, it truly warms my heart. So many memories made. Moments that my first born son and I will always have together, as us! So much heart went into every single detail of baby brother’s nursery. And I am so excited to share with you the final reveal. 

Design Inspiration: Choosing Our Ocean Theme

My gut instinct early on in our pregnancy was that it was a boy. In fact, I referred to the baby as he long before I saw the results of the blood test in the portal. Just as I knew he was a little brother, I also knew I wanted to create an ocean-themed nursery for him to grow up in. There was just something about the hues of light blues, natural wood, and overall coastal vibes that I wanted to curate for my baby boy. A room that was calming and peaceful. A room that cultivated an inspiration and appreciation for all the world around us, both above ground, and under it. Specifically a world under the sea. 

Of course, for inspiration, I spent hours and hours browsing Pinterest. Especially during the late hours of the night when pregnancy insomnia would win. In fact, browsing Pinterest is one of my favorite things to do when I want to feel productive, but don’t actually have the energy to get specific things done. And so I spent quite the number of hours scrolling through Pinterest and curated a little ocean-themed nursery vision board to go off of for our nursery decor and inspiration. 

Ocean-Themed Nursery Vision Board

Color Palette & Wallpaper Accent Wall

The color scheme for our ocean themed room focused around neutral tones of light blues and beige, hues of green and natural wood. My goal was to create a nursery that felt peaceful and serene. I wanted the whole room to create the feeling that you get when you arrive at the beach on your annual family beach vacation and everything just feels right in the world. A true happy place that could be enjoyed and appreciated every single day! For our walls, we painted the previous white walls a beautiful Sherwin Williams Waterscape. A playful, light blue-green color that truly creates a calming and natural atmosphere. 

The focal point for our ocean themed baby room was the wallpaper accent wall. I knew I wanted a beautiful mural to display on the main wall in our nursery to show off our ocean theme. There were so many different wall murals to choose from. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming. I knew I wanted a wallpaper with light blues, pops of bright colors and sea creatures to create a whimsical, yet serene under the sea nursery look. I had it narrowed down to the following three under the sea wallpaper designs: 

Choosing Our Wallpaper for the Accent Wall

For our wallpaper accent wall we chose the Aqua Adventure Mint premium wallpaper. I ordered through Wallism as they were running the best deal at the time and couldn’t be more pleased with the product. The wallpaper I purchased was the premium classic wallpaper option. Additionally, I had a local wallpaper installer do the install. I could not be happier with the results. I truly believe, no matter the nursery theme, a wallpaper accent wall is a must-have. 

Ocean Themed Nursery Furniture & Layout

For the layout of our baby boy’s room, I wanted to create open space to play. With the major pieces of furniture positioned against the walls of the nursery, I wanted amble amounts of space for play and gathering. Whether it was the whole family reading a bedtime story, or us all on the floor engaging with little brother’s tummy time. My goal was for our baby’s room to feel open. With our farmhouse white crib positioned in the center of room, right in the middle of the under the sea wallpaper accent wall. Near the window sits a rocking chair, beautiful woven floor lamp and small wooden side table. 

Arched Open Shelf Bookcase

On the window wall, I found a beautiful open shelf bookcase from none other than Walmart. I saw this bookshelf on Pinterest and instantly fell in love with the overall arch design, cozy coastal aesthetic. Additionally, you cannot beat the Walmart price point. Plus, the quality is incredible. I had so much fun styling the bookshelf as well. With wicker baskets to provide amble amounts of storage for all the baby things. Glass storage canisters for pacifiers and pacifier clips. Finally, on the top of the arched bookshelf, a small stack of books and a wooden sailboat. In fact, the wooden sailboat was the very first thing I bought for the nursery pretty early on in our pregnancy. A nursery artifact you could say, something to keep me holding on through the l long weeks ahead. 

On the other main wall in the nursery, I positioned the dresser. Now, I will admit, I spent the longest amount of time searching for a dresser for baby’s room. I don’t know what about the dresser had me searching every online store and nearby furniture shop, but it did. In the end, I decided to go with this beautiful dresser from Wayfair. I wanted something that was big enough to last throughout childhood, as well as something that was wide enough to support a changing pad on top. 

Cozy Details and Coastal Textiles

Throughout our baby boy’s ocean themed nursery I placed intentional details that were both cozy and coastal. I wanted to really create a feeling that felt like the wonder of the ocean. From the natural wood wavy mirror in the center of our ocean art gallery wall, to the wooden peg shelf styled with ocean books, “You, Me & the Sea” sign, and coastal little boy outfits. 

One of my favorite details of our entire ocean themed nursery are the intentional details of the dresser knobs. I saw this idea while dreaming of the nursery on Pinterest and instantly fell in love with the idea of wooden ocean animals for the use of dresser drawer knobs. I ordered 12 of the dresser knobs, including the whale, dolphin, starfish, shark, sea turtle, crab, seahorse, & fish! To be honest, they were a little tricky to install. I ended up having to use our original knob screws instead of the screws that the ocean animal knobs came with. However, once installed, I have had zero issue and absolutely LOVE the way this intentional detail makes the entire nursery feel. 

Another cozy, coastal detail that I am obsessed with in our ocean themed nursery is this adorable blue and white striped pouf floor cushion. I wanted something to add comfort to our nursery. A way to create dimension within the main space to allow for play. Of course, my four year old loves this little floor cushion poof as he uses it to jump on and play all over. While for me, it is an excellent foot rest when I am rocking and nursing our littlest love from our rocker!

Ocean-Themed Book Wall

Another personal favorite in our nursery is our book wall. Another idea I saw from Pinterest (thank you!) was to create a bookshelf using open wooden shelves centered along an arched backdrop. By adding an arched backdrop to our wall it created more dimension, as well as added to the overall cozy feel. I ordered the arched backdrop from Etsy and it was relatively easy to install. I also ordered the 3-set wooden shelves from Etsy as well and was very pleased with the quality.

Install was also easy and I had so much fun creating the perfect ocean theme nursery. Seriously, I spent quite a bit of time looking for children’s books that fit my ocean-themed nursery aesthetic. And sitting in my baby boy’s room looking up at the intentional details of his bookshelf wall truly brings so much joy to my heart! 

Another small detail that I used for my oldest son’s outdoor-adventure themed nursery, was hanging a wooden peg shelf. This is such a great way to display intimate details and personalized baby clothes. My oldest just turned four and his wooden peg shelf is still on the wall of his room, decorated just as it was when we first created his nursery. (The only thing that has changed is we added a Braves hat) So, I love how the wooden peg shelf can grow with your little one and work to continue to display the very details that make your little one, uniquely them! Plus, the simple wooden features are also gender neutral and perfect for anyone’s little nursery! 

Shop Details of The Ocean Themed Book Wall

Ocean Inspired Decor Accents

Have I mentioned just how much fun I have had creating this ocean inspired nursery? Truly, it was so much fun to create and put together. One of the things that I knew I absolutely wanted in our under the sea nursery was a gallery wall of ocean-themed art work. Now if you thought I had fun searching for wallpaper and ocean-themed books, you can absolutely bet that I had a blast looking for and determining the art pieces (and their matching frames) that would be included in this gallery wall.

I used different sizes picture frames and wall art prints to create an ocean-themed gallery wall. This was such a fun way to showcase our ocean themed nursery and looking at the wall art daily brings a smile to my face. Most of the prints were ordered from Etsy and printed at Walgreens (you can almost always find a really good coupon code to save on prints). And the frames came from both Target and Amazon.

Shop The Ocean Themed Gallery Art Wall

A few more ocean-inspired details that just make this room extra special and sweet include the seahorse felt garland that drapes over the lowest bookshelf, the sweet you, me & the sea print, and a fun combination of ocean themed stuffed animals, including this giant large whale pillow. True story, I didn’t like how the top of the toy/stuffed animal storage box revealed the outlet (and my subpar professional paint job) therefore the large whale pillow was the last addition to the nursery with the purpose of hiding those spots. However, I absolutely love how it looks and the fun it provides.

Practical Nursery Essentials

A nursery would not be complete without the practical nursery essentials. Think how can I make our lives as simple and easy as possible during those early months with a baby. Therefore, creating a nursery it is essential to plan for space to hold your most used items. Think diapers, burp clothes, wipes, dirty clothes. Everything needs a space. I love this sweet diaper caddy to store and organize our diapers, wipes, and diaper cream. It sits on top of the dresser, right next to our changing pad (which is also a favorite!) Turning our dresser top into a sweet and simple changing space for our little one. (Even though, most of all his diaper changes happen on the floor in his room, let’s be real!)

Wicker Baskets for Storage

Another detail that I love are the collection of wicker baskets for storage on the arched bookshelf. I found these matching sets of wicker baskets from Target, a big favorite of the scalloped designs. The shorter wicker baskets are used for burp clothes and blankets. While, the bottom two wicker baskets are used for storing smaller toys. Another great thing about using wicker baskets for storage in a nursery is that you can easily swap out what they are used for as your little one grows. More recently, we consolidated the toys into one of the larger wicker baskets, moved the blankets to the scalloped basket and have bibs and bandanas in the shorter basket as little one is teething and drooling like crazy!

Other practical nursery essentials include our humidifier, diaper pail, and hamper. I splurged on the Canopy humidifier, mainly because I loved the aesthetic and the quality of the design. I love how simple it looks sitting on our wooden side table, next to our rocker. Additionally, our diaper pail is the same diaper pail we used for our oldest son’s nursery and it sits next to the dresser, kind of tucked away and out of plain sight. Finally, in the corner of the nursery, in between the dresser and the crib sits two large Pillowfort storage basket in cream! One is used as a hamper, and the other is used to store his play mats! I love the texture of the baskets and the simple design, that fits perfectly into our ocean-themed room.

Creating a Calm & Peaceful Space

The overall feeling I feel when sitting in our littlest boy’s nursery is calm. The room is calming and peaceful and that is so refreshing to my heart. And maybe I hold tightly to the feelings of calm and peace the most because of our week-long NICU stay when little baby was born (full birth story here) However, it’s those two feelings that fill the largest parts of my heart when we are snuggling in his room, or giggling under the play mat on his floor.

When creating our ocean-themed nursery, creating a calm and peaceful space was a top priority. In order to do so I added elements of faux greenery, including a large faux olive tree, and small green planter. Additionally, the added touch of the deep breath canvas sign hanging on the wooden peg shelf is a constant affirmation and reminder to slow down and breathe! Additionally, the cozy details of our House of Noa play mat create a peaceful foundation for the entire room.

I absolutely LOVE House of Noa. If you are looking for a rug or play mat to use in a little kid’s room, nursery or playroom, I highly recommend the House of Noa play mats! This is the play mat that we have in our oldest son’s room, our playroom, and now our littlest boy’s nursery. They are that good! Super easy to clean, made of non-toxic materials, and calming colors and designs. The House of Noa play mats are the epitome of a calming and peaceful environment.  

Final Reveal: Ocean Themed Nursery Full of Love Under the Sea

Creating our ocean-themed nursery was a true art of love. I will always believe in and stand for creating spaces full of intention and purpose. For me, when that is combined with creating a room for my little boy, that is going to be met with over-the-top details and sincerity with all the design and decor choices. I could not be happier with how our ocean-themed nursery looks. When our family photographer came over to shoot our newborn photos, she told me our nursery belonged in a magazine (which was the greatest compliment!)

I hoped you enjoyed this reveal of our ocean-themed nursery. From the under-the-sea wallpaper, to our ocean print wall art gallery wall, the bookshelf wall, sea animal dresser knobs and all the other details in between, I hope this can serve as inspiration for you when you go to plan your nursery for your little one! And at the end of the day, the most important thing, regardless of nursery theme, is the love and care that you have in your heart! So love big and care furiously friend! Because the life you live has incredible purpose and meaning!