Nursery Update #1

I'm not sure I've mentioned it before on this blog, but I LOVE craigslist.  It is the best online marketplace that I've ever seen.  Granted I've only bought and sold a handful of things over the years, but it has never failed me.  In fact, I am known to stalk it at least once a day to check out what's new in the area.  I treat it almost like Home Goods.  I rarely ever NEED to go there, but I always love browsing.  And its usually when I'm not looking for something specific that I run into an awesome accessory or piece of furniture (good for the home, not for the wallet).  So, when I'm browsing craigslist on a daily basis, its usually for things that I think I might WANT for the house someday, rather than things that I NEED.  This past weekend, however, I actually stumbled across something that I need.....or at least will need in a few months.......a glider/rocker for the nursery!  I've been eyeing them at Babies R' Us and Pottery Barn for the last few weeks and just couldn't bite the bullet and pay full price for one.  But, as usual, Craiglist came to the rescue!!!  A woman a few towns over from me was getting rid of hers to make more space in her daughters' toddler room and it was BARELY used.  Honestly, when I first checked it out in person, I could have sworn that she had never sat on it before!  It is this Pottery Barn Glider:

Same colors too: white on white (or rather ivory on ivory since PB's white is a little creamier than most).  And if you noticed on the PBK website linked above, these bad boys sell for $850 including glider, ottoman and cushions for both).  And that is if you just go with the basic fabric (which they rank as Grade A).  My new craigslist friend was asking $450 for the chair, but I offered $400 and she accepted!!!  YAY!!  Such a good deal.  I mean, I know that its still expensive for a chair, but I would totally put this in my bedroom when we no longer need it in the nursery (or any future nurseries).  It is a pretty versatile piece since its all white.  I don't like spending that much money on craigslist finds, but I made an exception for this baby (pun TOTALLY intended).  After looking at so many options (BuyBuyBaby, Overstock, Babies R' Us, etc) I found that most decent upholstered glider/rockers run upwards of $600 (and that is WITHOUT the ottoman most of the time).  So I went into this transaction knowing that although its a steep price to pay for a hand-me-down, it is a great deal for a brand-new-looking sturdy piece of furniture that will last us for years and years to come.  I had to think of it as an investment.  And also pitch it to B as that....haha.  He was actually REALLY happy that it was under $500.  I guess he heard a few of his friends talking about the ones they bought for their wives as push-presents (which is a topic for another day, I promise) and they were upwards of $1000.  So....needless to say, he was relieved when I told him about the deal!

Well, enough babbling about this deal and my love for craigslist.  Onto more important issues of the day.....nursery decor!  So, I've gone back and forth a few times with color schemes over the last few months but I think I've finally honed in on "the one".  My inspiration comes from the Graham Bedding Collection from Serena & Lily:

If you haven't checked out the website before, I highly suggest it.  The prices are high for most items, but everything is beautiful, and if nothing else, you can walk away with some great ideas.  I see it as a place that I can go to pick up one or two things and then build around it from cheaper items.  And that is exactly what I plan to do for this nursery.  So, as you can see, I've decided on navy blue (a little darker than chambray), light blue and yellow for the color scheme.  The Graham bedding collection is amazing, but its also $400 and that just isn't in the budget for our little one at the moment.  So, here's the plan:

(1) Buy the mosaic fabric that you see in the photo (yes, it is $40 a yard, but I only need 1...maybe 2 yards of it, so its not too bad) to make the crib skirt and maybe a pillow and some artwork.....my mom has agreed to help me do the crib skirt so I'm really excited to work on this project together!!!
(2) Purchase a bumper from here in the chambray stripe fabric (which matches the Graham fabric pretty well) - $25
(3) Find some white and yellow crib sheets to alternate based on my mood and to add a little pop of color here and there.
(4) And the final project involves making some pillows and bunting (to hang over the crib from one wall to the other in lieu of a mobile) out of scraps from each of these fabrics. 

What do you guys think??  Anyone made a crib skirt before or even a regular bed skirt??  If so, please share any thoughts or wisdom.  I would GREATLY appreciate it!!!

And here are some of the fabrics I picked up from IKEA that I will probably use for floor pillows and maybe even a band of fabric on the white curtains (Oh, and those are from IKEA too....the Ritva ones.....I have them all over my house and I LOVE them!!).  And you can get a peak of the chair in the crazy messy nursery that is going on right now! 

Oh, and I forgot the most important part:  I am having the nursery furniture professionally painted by this lovely woman that I found on......wait for it.......craigslist!  She is TOTALLY affordable and can do it in just a couple of weeks.  She is going to do a dresser (which I found on craigslist as well) and the crib (a convertible one that my brother and sister-in-law are GRACIOUSLY giving to us for free) in a white color that is TBD.  Speaking of white, I should do a whole post on how hard it is to choose white paint.  It is CRAZY how many options there are....but I digress.

Although I would love to tackle a project like this normally, I just don't think its a good idea to get into stripping, painting and applying poly at this point in my pregnancy.  We are using a no-VOC paint anyway (for both the walls and the furniture), so its really just the stripping stuff that makes me nervous.  And even if I were comfortable doing it myself (which some woman are, and I'm sure it is totally fine), I don't think my husband or parents would let me.  They have gotten to the point lately that they won't even let me bring the mail in for fear that I'll pull a muscle!  It's really sweet, but for someone that is used to tackling projects on her own, its a little debilitating.  I guess I should just sit back and relish the relaxation while it lasts though.....because it won't be like this much longer!! 

Baby News: Announcement

I am in my 19th week now, just three more days until the halfway point.  If you had asked me a few weeks back, I would have told you that this was taking forever, but I can honestly say right now that I feel like it has flown by!!!  I turned a corner on the morning sickness this week as well, so I am feeling great and really starting to show now.  I know this is a DIY/decor/home-related blog, but I might start posting some weekly bump photos to keep my family in the loop on my progress.  Sorry for those of you that strictly read this for the trials and tribulations of homeownership.  I promise that we will get back into action with some projects very soon (in fact, we are planning on working on the yard this upcoming weekend, so I'll be blogging about that early next week).  In the meantime though, I have some important news to share.  Yesterday at our ultrasound appointment we found out that some exciting news about the pregnancy.............



photo credit: Pottery Barn Kids



And if you haven't already guessed by the inspiration photo above.......well........

It's a BOY!!!!

We would have been completely overjoyed either way, but we are really thrilled to be expecting a boy in August.  I have two older brothers and my husband is an older brother, so I suppose we both like the idea of our future kids having an older brother as well.  I must admit that I'm a little sad not to be able to buy beautiful dresses and hair accessories and such, but hopefully we will be blessed with a baby girl at some point in the future and I will get it out of my system them.  Until that time though, I am all fired up to start working on the nursery!!!

We are still going to try and keep it relatively gender neutral, but I have changed my mind a little on the wall color.  Instead of going with the silver sage color and adding in soft, calming accent colors, I am leaning more towards a light beige/grey color on the walls with navy, yellow, lime or teal green and some punches of orange.  I love the bedding in the photo above, but I'm not sure its exactly what I'm looking for.  I would really like to have one piece of fabric with a few bold colors in it and then work around that with beiges and whites to tone it down.  I think it will complement the cherry wood furniture nicely! 

But then again, who knows.  I could change my mind tomorrow and go a different route.  I think I will have a better handle on my plan once I can get some swatches and start piecing together a mood board for the room.  That always helps me put things into perspective.  For the moment, I am just going to continue walking on air and dreaming about what our baby boy is going to be like......

Can't wait to meet him!!

And of course, if any of you have had boys or are expecting boys in the near future, I would love to hear about your nursery designs or ideas (and about your experiences with them).  I am all ears people!!  I will take a photo of the room tomorrow morning if the light is good and show you what type of space we are dealing with.  Thanks guys!  Can't wait to hear about all of your ideas.

Nursery Inspiration

Thanks for all of the congratulations, guys!  You are all so sweet.  We are super excited about our new addition and can't wait to share all of the projects and progress with you along the way. 

To be completely honest, the first thing that came to my mind after taking the 5th home pregnancy test (yes, I'm crazy, but I had to be sure....don't judge) was not how big my belly was going to get or the crazy cravings I would have, or even what sex the child might be.....it wasn't even close.  The first thing that came to my mind was NURSERY!  I ran upstairs to our now-office and just brainstormed.  I love projects, especially house projects (obviously - why else would I be blogging about it) and I can't tell you how excited I am to have a new room to make over. 

When we moved in and unpacked we always knew that the "office" would eventually be a nursery, but we didn't want to jinx it and start preparing for that too early, so we decorated it as an office.  Simple, basic, nothing too fancy, but it worked for us.  Now that it's real though, I can't wait to get the desk and chair out of there and start whipping the room into shape.  My gut instinct was to go with a light beige color on the walls with lots of white and cream fabrics and a few splashes of soft orange to break it up.  I still like that idea, but then I was browsing around HomeGoods (as I often do) and noticed a giclee print with sage greens and taupes and greys in it.  My inspiration instantly shifted gears.  I bought the print and its sitting in the future nursery, but I am just not 100% sure its exactly the look I am going for.  I definitely have some time, but any thoughts or suggestions or insights would be GREATLY appreciated.

In the meantime, though, and while I sit on the floor in the nursery day-dreaming, here are some inspiration photos that caught my eye as I browsed the internet over the last few months:




from Bower Power





from Restoration Hardware - Baby



from Restoration Hardware - Baby

from Serena and Lily



from Serena and Lily



from Becoming Mom

I love the calm, soothing, relaxing colors.  White furniture always draws me in during the inspiration phase, but since we are getting an AWESOME mahogany sleigh crib from my brother and sister-in-law (for FREE!!), I will have to dig up some more inspiration files like the first two (which are actually my favorite anyway).  I love what Katie did with her son's nursery over at Bower Power.  The wood slats make it look very rustic but still calming and gentle at the same time.  And the second one from Restoration Hardware is quite possibly my dream nursery room.  I love the upholstered chair and all the light streaming in from the windows.  The basket liner even matches everything else in the room.  The only thing I would change about it is to add in a pop of color somehow.  I may even consider throwing in a patterned rug or a striped bumper or crib skirt.  Who knows?  The options are endless....which is both a good and a bad thing.  I need to start narrowing it all down and really think about what I want this nursery to look like.  And more importantly, how I can make it gender-neutral enough (even though we are finding out the sex) so that it can accomodate a second child down the road. 

That's all I have in the folder for now, but I will keep you posted on any and all future inspiration that I find.  Until then though, I would love to hear about your thoughts on nursery design and decor. 

Have a great day!!