Let's start from the beginning, shall we? Once upon a time there was an empty room...
{ Tan ceiling, tan walls } |
This room was the first one to get it's floors refinished. Then it became our bedroom for many months while the bees were removed from the master and while we took our time fixing the hole, repainting, and decorating. After we moved into the master, this room became the guest room, but eventually it was settled that this room would be the nursery. This is where we will bring our new baby and watch her grow and play and sleep and dream!
But first there were many preparations and a lot of decorating to do! I know that she won't give a hoot what her room looks like for many years to come, but I was stoked to create a haven for her. My decorating all started with the urge to paint the walls navy blue. No hot pink nursery for us. Nothing too theme-y either. I wanted something that was colorful and fun, but could also grow with her as she becomes her own little person.
{ White ceiling, and Tyler beginning to paint the walls! } |
After the wall color came the curtains... Tyler's worst memory of this pregnancy process will probably be picking out the damn curtain fabric! But eventually it came together! I wanted to find the curtain fabric first so I could build the rest of the color scheme around them. It was not the crowd's favorite, but I chose fabric #2 and eventually found enough material for the curtains.
{ All fabrics are from JoAnn's: Main, Green, Orange, Yellow, Blue } |
I also got some coordinating fabrics thinking I was going to put some stripes in them... but that didn't happen. I kept putting off the sewing project, but finally on Superbowl Sunday I took the plunge and actually sewed them. To make it simple I only used the main fabric for the curtains, and used two of the corresponding ones to make a cutesy pillow instead.
There were so many fun colors in the fabric, the rest of the decorations were pretty easy to match. We have a lot of white to keep the room bright and lots of pretty colors all over!
As I mentioned before, the changing table/dresser was a Craigslist find that started as a natural wood color that we refinished white.
Piece by piece we built the nursery. A crib, a light fixture, a rug, a chair, shelves, decorations, LOVE!
{ Rocker, Pendant Light } |
The glider is so comfy and has a great view of the backyard. And the rug is super soft and Tyler even put padding down beneath it to make it extra cushy.
{ Crib } |
{ Rug from Garden Ridge } |
{ Shark from Ikea } |
I decided it would be fun to make her mobile, and after tossing around a few ideas, this was the finished product. I cut a branch from a dead tree in our yard and brought it in to start. Tyler thought I was crazy.
Norbert was really jealous that I got to bring a giant stick in the house, since he is never allowed to bring his sticks inside.
I wrapped styrofoam balls in yarn and hung them with twine, attached a few sheet metal hearts, a couple birds and a couple bees and viola! Tyler was making fun of me the whole time saying. "You are literally nesting (in the literal sense). This is what birds do... gather sticks and twine and make a nest..." But he really likes the finished product.
{ This will be her view } |
Norbert could also be a little jealous of the new digs that this little lady is getting.
We have a few very minor things to still finish, like putting artwork in the top frame and finding a little lamp to add. I'd still like to eventually add some crazy handles to the dresser, and I'm sure I will rearrange these shelves a hundred times... But this nursery is now fully functional and cute! (If I do say so...)
There is more on the walls of the nursery than there is in the rest of our house combined. No joke. It is definitely the most put together room in the house, now.
It's hard to get a good photo of this side of the room. The butterfly artwork came from a calendar that my friend Jordan gave me, and I've been waiting for the right room to finally frame and hang it since 2010. They are perfect for this room.
{ "No Sniveling" sign from JJ's Cantina } |
We love the "No Sniveling" sign. It's ironically fitting for a nursery don't you think? It's a saying that we each loved on our own. He got the sign from JJ's Cantina in Rocky Point, Mexico, a place filled with memories. And I have it on a hat from Kemosabe, a store in Vail, reminding me of fun Copper Spur memories.
The bookshelves were made by Becky and given to us for our baby shower, and the Illinois/Arizona artwork was made by Tyler's sister, Cara, this year for Christmas.
For those of you who like to see inside closets/organization:
{ Tiny baby clothes hanging! } |
{ This side is not as tidy } |
The elephant mobile will eventually hang above her changing table, I think. The Ranger Rick stickers/tattoos were inherited with the house and there is no way to get them off of the door, but I don't hate them.
I love the way it all came together and I cannot wait to spend a lot of time in here. We already tend to wander in here all the time. We stand or sit and just look at everything that is patiently waiting for her arrival. We're trying to be patient too, but now that we are starting to feel ever more ready, it's going to be harder to do.
We're ready to welcome you home, little girl!
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As a follow-up... I had to take the mobile down because I was finding little piles of wood dust underneath it. I guess something teeny tiny was living in it and gnawing through it. :( I highly recommend sealing your piece of wood with a couple coats polyurethane first. I was just lazy (hello pregnancy!) and tried to get by without.
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