As you saw yesterday, the room began as a guest room with yellow-ish brown walls (most of the walls in our house were painted in this color when we moved in, I'm working on changing that!), lots of nice moulding & trim (unfortunately painted cream instead of white, ugh!), a white ceiling, neutral light brown carpet, and a ridiculously small ceiling-mounted light as the only source of light in the room. Our house had never been lived in before we moved in, and I like to think of most of the finishes as "builder's specials". Not because they're special, but because the builder likely got them at a good discount! Ugh. Not the worst finishes, by any means, which sometimes makes it hard to justify changing them out after less than 3 years of wear. But that's another post!
So we left the room as-is for about a year & a half, with the exception of adding some chocolate brown velvet curtains we'd used in a previous home. When we found out we were having a baby girl, it didn't take me long to decide I wanted to use one of my favorite color combos of chocolate brown, pink & orange to decorate her nursery. The chocolate brown curtains would stay, but I wanted to make the window treatments a little more special. That's where I decided to start because I find fabrics to be such an inspiring beginning for a project! As I mentioned in this post, I went fabric shopping and came away with those three fabrics that I just loved!! The fabric store had an amazing crib display with a custom sewn canopy over the crib, and I instantly fell in love. It used 3 coordinating fabrics, so my initial plan in picking out 3 fabric samples was to use them to sew the canopy, as well as valances and pillows etc. The canopy never quite happened, but that's okay, something better did!
We got started by painting the walls in a beautiful neutral taupe shade, and the ceiling in a raspberry pink. Since I was pregnant the hubs was mostly on his own, and he was NOT happy. Especially with the ceiling. But he knocked it out, and it looks awesome! I made valances for both windows with one of my inspiration fabrics, and was very pleased with how they came out. Next we installed a new ceiling light** and a closet organizer, both from Ikea. The ceiling light was easy, the closet organizer almost caused a divorce. LOL. But we got through it! We also picked up a dresser/changing table from Ikea. I was pretty adamant that I didn't want a changing table because I hate furniture with only one specific and short-lived function. So far this has been a great decision!! The last big purchase for the room was a glider & ottoman, and we actually found it on Craigslist. I was also adamant that I didn't want one of those cheesy gliders you always see in nurseries, again, I don't like single-function furniture! You never see those cheesy gliders move from the nursery into the family room, because they aren't stylish!! But I digress... (and apologies if you have one of those gliders and love it, just not my style!). I also knew that since I planned to breastfeed I'd be spending lots of time in that chair. I kept an eye on Craigslist daily, and ended up finding an amazing deal on a barely used glider in chocolate brown- Score! The best part is the ottoman is a storage ottoman! It's our stash spot for blankets, but it can always be used for toys or other items in the future.
The rest of the furniture and many of the accessories were re-purposed from other rooms. The daybed & pillows used to be in my office, I just added a cute little elephant. Eventually I'd like to change out the linen & pillowcovers on the daybed, but for now they work just fine. The bookcase had been in the room when it was a guestroom. When we first brought babygirl home I had wire baskets on each shelf full of all her essentials. But once she began pulling up, her favorite thing to do was to pull those baskets down! So I found the 2 chevron stripe bins at Target for her books, and moved the large woven basket out of her closet & filled it with toys. Now she can pull them down to her heart's content!
The wire baskets were moved into her closet and fit perfectly on a sweater organizer which just attaches to the closet bar. They hold miscellaneous baby care items, burp cloths, bibs, hats, socks & shoes. I left one basket on the bookshelf for diapers. The colorful striped box in the top part of her closet is an empty diaper box I covered in pretty wrapping paper. It's wonderful for storage that also looks nice! (As you could see in the previous picture there is another empty diaper box on the floor that I intend to cover as well. Ooops, forgot to move it out of the shot!) The baskets in her closet hold diapers & wipes, the black & white box is her "baby box" with various mementos, and the clear containers on the bottom shelf hold clothes we've been given that are too big for her just yet. To the left there is a small bit of storage that holds her pack & play, play tent and a few various other items.
The uppermost shelf of the bookshelf is out of her reach and holds a couple special items- an angel souvenir brought back from Ireland from my parents, and a beautiful angel sculpture my mom purchased from an artist while I was pregnant. The top of the shelf holds her headband organizer, a pink pot that still needs a plant, and a cute modern rocking horse. On the wall I hung little pink buckets I found at Target which hold q-tips, cotton balls & diaper rash cream. I picked up the abstract art at Homegoods, and the shadow boxes were recycled from another room in our home. They contain a few special items- a first tea-cup brought back from Ireland from my sister, a treasured photo of my gran & grandad, another (empty!) pink pot, a wooden R, an adorable sock monkey, and a soccer ball! The autographed soccer ball was won by the hubs at a community event the day after we brought babygirl home from the hospital. When he got home from the event I was nursing babygirl in the glider and he showed it to me, then popped it in the, then empty, shadowbox, and it's just kind of stuck!
The crib was a gift from my parents, and we didn't bring it in the room until babygirl was almost 6 months old! Prior to that she slept in a bassinet and then her pack & play. The crib is just a simple, modern one from Ikea, and I love it! The curtain hanging behind it was recycled from our previous home where I used it to hide our washer & dryer. It's a Jonathan Adler print, and was originally a king-sized duvet cover!! I just took out the seams to create one long panel, and then hemmed up the sides and created a pocket at the top. I have it hanging on a curtain rod, and think it's a super-fun & dramatic detail! I made a simple crib-skirt from the same fabric to tie it all together. The mobile over the crib was made by me.
Rounding out the room is this little corner with one of my favorite pieces of furniture- an old cigar humidor owned by my great-grandparents! When I was growing up it was always in my gran & grandad's kitchen and was full of sweets & cookies- probably why I have such fond memories of it!! It has a hole in the top where an ashtray once was, so I just covered it with a simple marble tile. Atop it sits another piece from my gran & grandad's home- a vintage orange mushroom lamp. On this table (though difficult to see) also sit the baby monitor base station, and the white noise sound machine which is a must for babygirl to sleep soundly!
The blanket on the back of the glider was handmade by my sister just for the nursery- such talent! And behind the glider is the gallery wall, with details in this post. On the back wall is a cute modern clock I picked up at Big Lots, of all places. I also have a mirror propped against the day bed so babygirl can watch herself- she loves it! In the middle of the room is one of the best gifts we received- a wooden activity toy. It keeps babygirl occupied for ages. I also popped a couple cute straw hats on the curtain tie-backs just for fun.
So that's the nursery tour! Below are links for the items I could find links for.
Wall Paint: Natural Twine MSL217, Martha Stewart for Home Depot
Ceiling Paint: Eros Pink SW6880, Sherwin Williams
Valance Fabric: unsure of name, Forsyth Fabrics
Daybed, Crib, Dresser, Ceiling light,: Ikea
I'd love to do tours of all the rooms in our home, that could be lots of fun!!
*The hubs gives me grief about the room, but I can justify it because we actually won a Most Colorful Nursery contest sponsored by the What to Expect When You're Expecting website. So when he gives me grief, I have to remind him the room is "Award Winning". Ah, that certainly feels good!!
**Funny note about that ceiling light, I wasn't so crazy about it when Ikea first came out with it. Then, last summer when we were getting started on the nursery I spotted it in the As-Is section at Ikea for a good bit off the original price. I thought it could be whimsical & sweet in the nursery, so we got it. Once installed, the hubs had reservations because it cast pretty cool shadows that he thought would scare babygirl since they looked like spiders. I had to remind him she wouldn't know what spiders are!! It's turned out to be a wonderful choice for the nursery because of those shadows, and the light fixture itself- she is captivated by it!!
Great job! I wanted to do my baby girl Penelope's room in red, pink, and orange (like my baby shower theme) but so far she is just living in her bassinet =)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Those colors sound really pretty together! I used to think when I was a kid that pink & red didn't "go"- how silly, they are awesome together! And don't worry, this room was months in the making. Riley wasn't even sleeping in her own room until she was 4 months old!! Lol.
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