Have you fallen in love with an art or furniture piece that’s way out of your budget? Same.

Darian Esser, a new mom and brand photographer for Queen of Sparkles, has also experienced that familiar tug of desire and disappointment. Instead of feeling discouraged or impulsively spending a fortune, Esser uses her thrifting and upcycling skills to recreate the piece herself. And all that creative work became a beautiful labor of love for her daughter Isla’s nursery.

“All of this makes her room one of a kind and not cookie cutter of what you would picture for a little girl’s nursery,” she says. To complement the thrifted finds and DIYs, Esser and her husband chose an array of creative primary base colors for the space.

“I wanted it to feel a bit vintage and nostalgic, with pops of color,” Esser explains, noting that the colors within the room were inspired by children’s books like Madeline and Corduroy. “I couldn’t picture a standard, girly room for Isla. I was just drawn to more primary colors as a base and then adding a few feminine touches like the flower curtains.”

The intentional selection and thoughtful placement of each item in the space contribute to its artistry. The process not only enhanced the overall aesthetic but added character, depth and personal expression to the nursery.

“It was more special to spend time thoughtfully curating her room with vintage or secondhand pieces rather than buying something new from big box stores,” Esser says. “I wanted pieces that could stand the test of time and hopefully grow with her as she gets older and wants to redecorate her room.”

When it came to thrifting items for upcycling, Esser spent countless hours scouring the internet and local sources for pieces with potential. “I would have a vision of, let’s say, a green nightstand, so I searched thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace until I found a style I liked that I could just paint,” she explains. She repeated that same hunting and fixing process for both of the lamps, the dresser and more.

“I love shopping secondhand for three reasons: finding unique pieces, giving new life to something so it isn’t thrown away, and probably the biggest reason, saving money.”

– Darian Esser

If you’re looking to try your hand at thrifting, Esser recommends honing in on what you’re looking to find before entering a secondhand shop. “My biggest tip is to make a Pinterest board of things you like and then look at it before you go thrifting,” she says. “It will help get your mind in the headspace of what you want, and you are more likely to be able to pick something out. Thrifting can be overwhelming, so having a piece in mind can help you see things differently.”

 

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A post shared by Darian Kayce Esser (@dariankayce)

See another example of Esser’s DIYing in this video on her Instagram.  And check out more pictures of the nursery below.