Mandy Moore’s Nursery and Toddler Room: 7 Ideas to Steal From the Midcentury-Inspired Kid Spaces

Transforming their 1950s midcentury house into a dream home was a blast for design lover Mandy Moore and her husband, musician Taylor Goldsmith. When the actor and singer welcomed her second child, Oscar “Ozzie” Bennett Goldsmith, earlier this October, she knew that the nursery needed to gel with the bedroom of her almost two-year-old, August “Gus” Harrison Goldsmith, as well as with the rest of her abode, designed by Sarah Sherman Samuel. 

“In each room, you’ll see nods to the original bones of the house, but with a fresh modern take,” Moore says. She wanted to take the same approach with her sons’ rooms. “It was important to keep their rooms cohesive with the midcentury design that runs throughout our home,” she points out. “Their rooms are a nice balance of fun and practical—they are kids after all—while staying design-focused.” Bedrooms that could transition into big-kid rooms as her boys grew was also important. 

Moore partnered with Crate & Kids to create a homey nursery for Ozzie and a room refresh for Gus. She worked with the free Crate & Kids Design Desk service, which allows parents to partner with an expert who guides them using mood boards and by styling and marrying their existing furniture with new kid decor and furnishings. “When we refurbished our house, we made it our home, and knew we eventually would love to grow our family here,” Moore says.

With that in mind, she chose items with a transitional element, including the Ever slipcovered daybed by Leanne Ford in Ozzie’s nursery and the Roone hand-tufted wool rug in Gus’s room. Moore sees both items staying in her kids’ rooms for a long time.

To help her through the process, she worked closely with Sebastian Brauer, senior vice president for product design and development at Crate & Kids. “I shared my initial vision with Sebastian and his team of design pros,” Moore says. “They created mood boards, and we got on Zooms and calls to discuss what I loved and what felt the most realistic for our lifestyle, and just continued to refine the design from there.” To achieve this cohesive ensemble, Brauer was cognizant about the aesthetic of the rest of the residence, ensuring it was an extension of the existing midcentury-modern mix. “One way we were able to do that was by pulling out the terra-cotta colors, which are seen in the wood floors that are found throughout the house,” Brauer says.

When it came to finalizing the children’s bedroom options, the duo created spaces that can evolve from baby to toddler to big-kid to teenager spaces. Each room can grow in its own right, so to speak. “I like to think about the longevity of it, or how certain pieces can be modern heirlooms that are passed on to next generations,” Brauer says. “One example of a piece that achieves that goal is the Fields cane back accent chair by Leanne Ford. It’s an adult piece that will be comfortable for Mandy to sit in when reading to Gus, and as Gus grows, he can sit in it himself or use it in other spaces.” Moore echoes the sentiment. “I wanted to incorporate fun areas to promote independent play when he was in his room,” she says. “So the music corner was the perfect addition.”