Saturday, August 8, 2015

Baby Girl Nursery Tour

I could wait until this room is "fully" finished with everything on the walls, but I decided against it. I did not fill up Vincenza's walls because we want to wait until she arrives before deciding what she has to like.
 
For now, her room is cozy and brightens my world until I can see her on the outside. Of course, she has already become the light of our lives. Last night, she and I spent several hours sitting in that new nursery chair. I tried ceaselessly to rock her to sleep. She decided 2:30-10:30 sounded like a great stretch of time to play...continuously. She already has her daddy's energy. Also, this kid amuses me on a daily basis. The midwife pokes my belly? She pokes back. The midwife straps monitors around me? She tries to kick them off. She needs attention? She sticks her behind up in the air. She has my need for her own space and her daddy's energy. Whew, what a combination.

Anyway, here is a tour of her room and what we did. We accomplished a lot. After all of the pictures, I will tell you what we did to create this little haven for her and where to find almost everything in the room.

 


 




It's not really a changing table; it's sold as a bookshelf. I wanted something that could grow with her, could work in another room of the house later on, and was a color that complemented (instead of clashed with) our gray crib. 


 




Before I tell you what we changed, let's take a look at the "before" picture of this room. Here is how the previous owners "decorated" it.  


What we did:
  • Painted: The walls are "Pink Sea Salt" by Behr (found at Home Depot). We use the Marquee paint, my favorite. I chose this color because it's more subdued and has a peach undertone. I did not want to feel as if we had splattered the walls in bubblegum pink. I did not choose gray for the walls because I knew the crib would be gray; that seemed like way too much gray. Plus, nearly the rest of our walls in the house are gray. She needed a little bit of color on her walls :)
  • Wood Accent Wall:  This wall exists for three reasons. One, we wanted to tie in our reclaimed wood headboard in the master bedroom with this room so that we could create some cohesion. Two, there used to be MDF faux wood paneling covering this wall, but it was in rough shape. When Jeff removed it, he found frightening walllpaper behind it. Rather than spend time removing wall paper and then painting the wall, we went with the wood wall. An accent wall breaks up the pink, which we didn't want to overwhelm the room. 
How's that for creepy wallpaper? Also, please note that Jeff found pages and pages of nudey magazines stuck between the faux wood paneling and the wallpaper. How appropriate for a nursery. HAHA.
  • Fan: Jeff installed a fan in her room because she will eventually need it. He found this one for about $50 at Home Depot.
  • Pot Lights: Jeff hooked up six pot lights in her room, so if she looooves light as much as her Mom and Mom Mom, then she will have plenty to spare in her room. 
  • New Wiring: To install the fan and pot lights, Jeff had to get rid of the aluminum wiring and replace it with copper. God bless that man. 
  • New Closet Light: I didn't want a boob light, but I did not want a chandelier nor did I want to spend an arm and a leg. This closet light was less than $50. It's Hampton Bay brand from Home Depot. 
  • New Windows: Our house was built in 1971, and the windows in her room were original to the house, which means they were single-pane and useless. In fact, we decided this winter that the windows needed to be replaced when we found frost on the inside of the windows. These windows are Andersen windows found at Home Depot. Really awesome windows.
  • Removed closet door: It kept banging into things and really serves no purpose, so we removed it. Maybe we'll put a curtain up later, but there really seems to be no need. 
Furniture/Nursery Details:
  • Curtains: Target (Circo brand--I wish I had gotten a plain color and longer curtains, but I threw away the packaging. It will just have to stay even though it might be too much chevron. WHATEVER.) 
  • Rug: Target
  • Glider: Babies R Us (Little Castle is the brand--find it here)
  • Blanket on glider: Handmade by my friend Carol
  • Ottoman next to glider: Amazon (great deal on it!)
  • Changing Table: Target (Threshold brand)
  • Changing Pad Cover: Babies R Us
  • Gray patterned totes in changing table: Walmart
  • White totes in changing table: Target
  • Sign above changing table: Hobby Lobby
  • Frames above changing table: Kohl's
  • Little Bookshelf: Target (Threshold brand)
  • White Shelf (on wood wall): Ikea (had it lying around not being put to use)
  • Crib: DaVinci via Kohl's (Courtesy of my momma)
  • Crib Bedding: Pottery Barn (Jeff's momma got this stuff.)
  • Personalized Blanket on crib: Pottery Barn (blanket behind that one was crocheted by my momma!)
  • Sign Above Crib: Handmade by my friend Kasey (follow her on Instagram: @sothereisthat)
  • Chair next to crib: Made by one of our sweet neighbors! 
  • Personalized Elephant Rocker: Pottery Barn (bought by my sweet friend Amy!)
  • Elephant Toy Chest: Target
  • Chalkboard: Kohl's
  • Elephant lamps: Gift
  • Nightstand: Refurbished a long time ago
  • Metal crate on nightstand: Target
  • Closet organizers (all of them): Target

Here are some things we plan to add along the way:
  • Growth chart, which we will stain the same color as her wood accent wall and place to the right of her crib
  • Under the white shelf on the wood accent wall, we will hang a "clothes line" of sorts to display pictures that she makes/colors or things that people make for her. 
  • To the right of the closet, we will hang a picture of a heffalump that my mom painted :) 
 Here he is. Isn't he cute?
  • Above the changing table, we will probably hang bows for her or maybe an organizer to accompany the changing table. We haven't decided yet, and I think it'll have to wait until she arrives before we can really decide what works best in that space. Maybe a mirror and a bow organizer?
  • In between the windows, I want the Dr. Seuss quote about reading because that little bookshelf will have all of her books on it. I just didn't want to climb my pregnant self up onto a ladder to get down the other books on the tall white shelf.
  • Above her crib, we will turn it into a gallery wall with pictures of her and pictures of us/family with her. The painting above the crib right now was painted by my talented friend Kasey! 
  • Since she has a walk-in closet, I eventually want to turn part of it into a little nook for her with a tent or drapes or something that makes it feel like a hideaway because what little kid doesn't want a fort in her room!?
I love this little reading nook I saw somewhere (can't remember where or I'd source it). This would be cool against her wood wall or even in another room of the house where she can have a little nook :) 

In the future, I will provide some tips and tricks I learned about creating a registry and saving money on certain items like the nursery chair, diapers, and etc.
























6 comments:

  1. I LOVE it. This is the same color scheme I'm doing for baby girl's nursery. We're gonna do gray walls though and white furniture. I think my favorite thing in the whole room is the handmade blanket on the glider! Oh and the elephant rocker! My best friend works at Pottery Barn and I sent her a picture of yours when you posted it on Instagram. Hopefully she gets the hint. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You guys did such a great job on the nursery! Can you come decorate ours when the time comes? Everything flows so well together. Grey and pink are a lovely combination and I love all the elephants in the room! So cute Danielle!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. All I think of when I see these pictures is how my dogs would have a field day, especially in that reading nook. Hopefully yours are better behaved. The nursery looks great. I love all the little elephants in the room :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are smart to post this now! I was waiting to finish one art item until we decided on a name, and guess what I haven't finished making yet? And now it's been 3 months and I haven't shared a nursery tour! I need to get on it. Anyway, I love this room. It's just perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Vincenza's room is so gorgeous, and I love everything about it. There are so many personalized details in it that give it the best personality. The wood wall is fantastic - I want one in our new house!

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to throw some witticisms my way.