We FINALLY finished the nursery! As I sat in the rocker the other day as Wade and I looked around the room, we wondered if it looked like this room was completed in a few weekends. Because we knew the truth--that this room was a work of love over the past several months. I still can't believe how far it has come, and I love how eclectic yet cohesive it is.
You may remember what this room looked like
before. Wade had set up camp in this room with his massive collection of video games. It took a little bit of prodding for him to move the games out of this room, and I still can't believe the transformation.
Every little project we did in this room seemed to take an inordinate amount of time, but it was all worth it in the end. I love all the little special touches that add an element of whimsy and fun to this room without making it too baby-ish.
After researching a few different kinds of boards (magnetic and chalkboard), I decided to make this felt board. Felt sticks to felt and flannel, so I hot glued a piece of peach flannel to a foam board and then cut out felt letters. A great time saver here is just to buy the
self stick felt letters and then cut a border to stick them to. This way you can add a bit of color to your letters, but it won't take you a ton of time to cut out. Plus, these felt letters seem more baby friendly. I'll let you know how it holds up over time.
The thing I most love about this room is all the little things that have special meanings. These vintage watercolor Winnie-the-Pooh paintings were given to me by my sister this past Easter. She found them in a resale shop, and I became a blubbering mess when she gave them to me. I love the classic Pooh books and wanted to incorporate them somehow into the room without going overboard. I think this is just perfect.
Meg is very wise (and sweet) and knew we needed a Miss Maisy, too, so she gave us that adorable pink bunny:)
Another special gift was this handmade quilt from my best friend. She lives in Seattle, and I had briefly shared my color scheme for the room, so I couldn't believe how well all the colors matched the room! I guess she knows me pretty well. I can't imagine tackling a project that big, and am still in awe at how beautiful it is. (Thank you, Kate!!)
I couldn't have done all this cute decorating without my mom! She sewed up a storm these past few months, making the window seat cover, recovering the glider, helping paint everything from the room to the dresser, and even making adorable baby leggings and headbands for little Roo. In addition to all of that, she made that beautiful blanket draped across the crib. She's made us all blankets, and I know that little Roo will treasure this one from her Gigi.
Everything except the
crib was bought second hand. My mom found the dresser/changing table at the Salvation Army. It was
painted black, and I had a hard time seeing the diamond in the rough. At least she and Wade did, though, because painting it coral and adding shiny brass handles transformed this piece into such a beautiful addition to the room. We painted the entire dresser using a $5 paint sample. Also, since I couldn't find the perfect paint swatch, I brought in the pillow that is on the window seat and had Ace Hardware scan it. The resulting color is a perfect blend of peach and coral.
I actually bought the bookcase and window seat toy chest before we were even pregnant. I saw them while browsing in a resale shop with my sister and mom and fell in love. Wade and I went back the next day to pick them up. They actually were already painted this blue gray.
The glider we found at a garage sale hosted by a friend. My mom and I scoured all the fabric stores for the perfect fabric to recover it with. We loved the
yellow Nate Berkus fabric we found at Joann, but I wanted something blue/gray with texture to tone it down.
I found the perfect solution as I was strolling Target one day and stumbled upon these
curtain panels (also by Nate Berkus--he did it again:). The material is fairly thick, so I'm hoping it will hold up well.
I love all the detail on the dresser. Perfect for a little girl.
My mom searched high and low for a kangaroo for Roo. I can't believe she found this mama and baby roo:)
I made the mobile using a wooden embroidery hoop and wrapping it with embroidery thread. Adding some pom pom trim and fake flowers brightened it up and added the perfect pop of color to that corner.
Have you heard of
Lucy Darling? If not, then check her out! She has the most adorable
prints and monthly baby stickers in her shop. I got the
first year book and
monthly baby stickers from my aunt and cousins and can't wait to start using them. And Meg gave me a set of fun
closet dividers.
I had a lot of fun personalizing the bookcase. The fake cacti are from a
DIY I posted about earlier. The lovely music box was given to me by my grandpa when I was a little girl, and I'm so thankful that my parents could fix it up and get it working again for Roo to enjoy.
Man, it took what seemed like forever to get this shelf up. Apparently the room is a bit crooked. It looks great, though, and is the perfect place to store all of the headbands and bows that I'm going to force Roo to wear:) I've been busy making all her headbands and flower crowns and can't wait for her to wear them. The little headband tree is actually a
bottle drying accessory that I spray painted gold and stuck in a piece of foam covered in moss. I would have posted a DIY for it, but I wasn't sure how it would turn our and did it late one night. I turned out great and will be a nice storage idea.
The
magnetic cork board was another find from Target. We took out the black foam underside and painted it white. I really like how you can use magnets or push pins to hang things.
I made the flower "E" (hint, hint as to a name) from a cardboard letter from Hobby Lobby by painting it gold and hot gluing fake flowers to it. I'm excited to actually put some real pictures into those frames soon. Definitely one from our
maternity shoot.
After reading about them on Pinterest, I bought drawer organizers from Ikea. I was annoyed when I put them together and found that they were too tall for my drawers. I flubbed when I checked the dimensions of the packaging instead of the actual organizer. All was not lost, though. I simply cut each side of the boxes down a bit and folded them over, securing the sides with hot glue. Worked like a charm and now I have no excused not to stay organized. Right?!
Thank you for letting me walk you around the nursery. It's my favorite space in the house for sure. Just imagine me glued to that rocker in another week or so:)
