The nursery at the old house was perfect. I loved all of the details and work we put into making it the best baby hangout ever. Except that it was at the opposite end of the house and the baby never slept in it. The Homestead has a bedroom literally 10 steps from the Master, so we knew it would be the nursery.
Another plus: we didn't know the gender before she was born so if we are still into it, we can keep all the details for every kid!
As soon as we moved in, we had Little Tootie sleeping in her own room. Every morning I would go in and play with her on the rug we bought for the old nursery, enjoying the fact that we were actually using her stuff.
But then I would start looking around at the room itself. Here is how they had it marketed:
Here are a few more before we moved all of our stuff in. We had the popcorn ceilings taken down before we moved in, so at least I wasn't staring at that all day too!
This area was specifically bothersome. Once we figured out the furniture layout, all I had time to notice was the hideous paint. I do not like semi-gloss on walls, these are that and blue. They painted the wainscot with some beige color, and the doors and crown molding are yellowed. I hated looking at the yellowed door next to the freshly painted beige wainscot. And the noticing the shiny blue made me feel ill. Literally. (sarcasm)
Let me say that I don't notice these things in other people's houses. I do notice wavy paint lines where edges meet, but I don't analyze the details of an ugly room. Unless I have to sit in it every day.
It also gave me time to think about just how long it would take me to paint all that woodwork twice- prime it and then paint it, plus the gross dirty closet, walls and ceiling. I came to the conclusion that it would be way faster and so worth it to have a professional come in and knock it out in a day. It actually took 2, but that's better than months.
One night of Little Tootie in her pack & play and I was a happy camper!
Here's the room after we got it all put back together. For a room we use so much every day, I'm so happy that it looks the way I want. Also, this is as clean as it gets. The clutter drives me insane but it's manageable.
The crib wall... can I just say that crib skirts are annoying? They never stay straight and I don't understand the point of them, except that they are indeed hiding more toys underneath the bed. If I were really concerned about showing a perfect picture I would have taken out all of the random toys, straightened the crib skirt, and put on the matching sheet that came with the custom ordered bedding set. I would have also fixed the drooping 'D' and the U that's resting on the X.
I do love how we put the letters onto two walls and didn't center the crib, I love how it flows.
Underneath the sign with the words to "You Are My Sunshine", there's a bow holder that I made.
I bought an empty frame from Hobby Lobby and some 1" wide ribbon, then stapled lengths of it along the back. Then just clip the bows on and off- super easy!
Thick curtains and a nursing/book reading area were a must. I painted the bookcase and added the curtains after we moved and knew she was a girl.
The nursing/book reading area are my favorite parts of the whole room. The chair is an antique that my stepmom had refinished, the table is from World Market and it was gold so we spray painted it to look more industrial. I love how full the bookcase is- there are so many favorite books there!
One of the frames has a picture of Bean and I (with little Abigail the size of rice or something), posing with Stoney LaRue who is one of our favorite country artists. We danced to his music for our first dance at our wedding, and after we told a few select family members and friends, we told him about our pregnancy. He was at a grocery store near our old house promoting his new wine. He signed one of his signature bandanas, "Welcome..."
When I was pregnant with Abs, one of his songs would come on and she would always start dancing, so we also included some of the lyrics from that song that have meaning for us.
This print is the entire book of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer written out as an art piece. We bought it from Uncommon Goods, and it was the most gender neutral of the prints available. My favorite was an image of a woman with a long cigarette with The Great Gatsby written out, but that didn't seem very nursery friendly.
The changing area, with a very convenient set up. We used cloth diapers in the beginning, so there was plenty of room to keep those organized. We found the dresser in Canton, and it really does have tons of little narrow drawers. We only store diapers there now (they fit perfectly in about 4 drawers), and after-bath toiletries but in the past we have also used it for PJs.
Here's a closeup of the cloth diaper storage. This piece is from Hobby Lobby and I've seen it all over Pinterest in a coffee station set up. When she used to wear bows every day, I had quite a selection to choose from! The wooden clock is set to the time she was born- 3:56pm. It wouldn't be a real live kids room without some clutter! Ugh.
The closet is a good place for us right now. We've reorganized it twice (including trips to The Container Store for more supplies), and it's working for us now. I have bins at the top for clothes she has outgrown, a couple of empty shelves for her extra stuffed animals, bins for her socks and tights, a rack for her shoes, hanging storage, an easily accessible hamper, and room to store excess diapers.
One final detail: this sharp metal arrow that we found in Canton and fell in love with. It's sitting on this ledge to make it look intentional- we needed that shelf to set the monitor on, and the cord ran down the back of the door and plugged in near the floor. My pickiness almost made me paint that ledge to match the trim and door but Bean convinced me that it wasn't that big of a deal and nobody would notice. Not even me, until I look at this picture! haha
When we were picking things for our baby nursery, I had a real aversion to anything 'Baby', which is why there are so many metal things.
One thing I know for sure: I absolutely love the finished paint! It's simple and clean, and just the way we like it.
The only thing this room needs is new carpet, and/or a way to make the rug stop slipping around (trust me, we've tried everything). It's great for now though!
2 comments:
A loved room and a lived in room is better than a perfect room!
LOL re: your comment about the Great Gatsy written out in a print of a lady with a long cigarette not being nursery friendly .... might, indeed, be difficult to explain that smoking is bad if she had seen a picture of a lady smoking every day of her young life ...
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