niece's nursery

we have been MIA recently! wow. i have really neglected this blog! as of now, i am debating whether or not i want to continue writing on this blog. i am so torn. it does take a lot of time. although it's a great creative outlet, it takes time away from my little one and my hubby. that being said, i just don't know if it's worth it! maybe i can just post every now and then. maybe cut it off cold turkey (after this post, of course). i'll let you know once i make my final decision...

last night, i threw together this mood board for my sister-in-law. she told me she wanted that amazing rug so we built the room around it. check it out!

this little nursery is for two lovely nieces of mine (one here, one on the way). i love that it is not PINK! i also love that it is clean and neutral (white furniture, white bedding, cream curtains, creamy white paint) with pops of color. the pillow really pulls it all together for me.

baby b's nursery.

finally!  the nursery is mostly put together!  there are a few more things i would like to do, but this will have to do until the arrival of baby b. 

i love the pitched roof in this room.  not only that, but the plantation shutters!  our landlord did things right.  she also had these drawers to the right built in.  you can barely see them, but there are six drawers, two high and three long.  what a cozy little place for the baby to rest.  the mirrors above the window were a find i had at a little antique shop in meredith, new hampshire a few years back.  3 for $16.   i have found a place for them in every place i have lived, but these just fit perfectly for me.  all i had to do was change out the ribbon and add this navy grosgrain.  the flokati rug is from IKEA.  it is great, inexpensive, but SHEDS!!!!

here is the crib that i L.O.V.E love!  it truly brings me joy when i see it.  it is the babymod 'olivia' crib from walmart.  a nice knock-off of an OEUF crib found here.  i was able to make the crib skirt.  i went to JoAnne's to find a fabric and came home with this navy cotton percale with small white polka-dots printed on it.  i was hesitant at first, but fell in love with it the more and more i worked with it.  i decided to do a box-pleat in the center of each panel.  that way, i could cover up any of my measuring mistakes.  i really like how it turned out.  i purchase about 2 yds of fabric for this, but ended up using about 1-1/2 yds.  to make your own crib skirt, go here.

for the bumper, i bought a 4-in-1 crib skirt.  i didn't like the idea of that, but i just died over that particular one!  so, one saturday i handstitched the 4 pieces together to make it all 1.  then came the fun part- hand-stitching the navy grosgrain ribbon ties onto it.  i simply snipped off the other ties and stitched these ones on.  make sure to finish the ends of the ribbon with some sort of sealant (i used my clear nail polish) so they don't fray.

we were lucky enough to inherit this rocking chair from my parents.  it is upholstered in a 1980's laura ashley small blue floral print.  we decided to give it a last minute face lift with an ivory fleece blanket we had.  a nice ghetto slipcover job.  i know, i should be ashamed.  for now, it will work.  the pillow was my inspiration for the nursery.  i found the napkin on sale at anthropologie and bought it even before i knew i was pregnant.  i just thought it was perfect for a nursery!  so i made a pillow out of it (simple envelope back).  the frame on the wall was from a fair a few summers ago.  i painted it white and gave it a nice glossy coat with poly-urethane, then threw in some IKEA awning fabric.  there is a pillow elsewhere in this room to match.

here is the back of the sloppily-slipcovered rocker.  i just tucked the blanket, wrapped all extra fabric to the back, and pinned this fun nautical ribbon to each side, tied a bow, and WHA LA!  the rocker is covered for now.

nursery inspiration

Over the past nine months, I have been obsessing over different nurseries. I just can't seem to look at enough pictures! When it comes down to it, these are my three favorite. I could look at the pictures for minutes on end and still find new things that I LOVE about them! If you have any other nursery images that you love, please fill me in. I would love to see them. Also, please share your own nursery images with me. I need to take pictures of my nursery... I will download them ASAP. Pretty much, I fell in love with the first picture and tried to recreate it with what we had (baby blue walls, no stripes on the ceiling, etc.). I will share those soon.

Picture via DOMINO Magazine (RIP)

Don't you just LOVE the navy wall? it is actually chalk paint (GENIUS!) The only worry with the chalk paint is that the kids would LOVE to use it... which is good, but would create a large mess. I just love how different it is. I would love my OWN bedroom to be these colors! And it looks so crisp! The layered rugs add a nice coziness to the room, don't you think?

Unknown Source

I love that this space is TINY, but so well used. The wallpaper on the ceiling is AMAZING! Also, the colorful books and birds are so fun! The white iron headboard is so dainty and fits the space perfectly. It has a nice cottage feel to it. I LOVE it!

Unknown Source

Could it be any cuter? I love so much about this room... the straight lines of the crib and bookshelf, the roman shades made out of butterfly fabric, and once again, the LAYERED RUGS! The best part of this picture? THE STRIPED CHAIR and the wall color! So beautiful! The animal theme is done in such a darling way, too. What a unique lion print over the crib!

Baby Nursery

I really need to finish getting my nursery ready! I am debating on a few things... color of bedskirt? Paint the changing table white? (It is our dining table from last year. A drop leaf round table. Right now, the legs are putty grey and the top is slate blue). Get a twin bed or don't? Oh, the things I need to decide in the next six weeks!

So far, here is what we have.

Our babymod olivia crib from Walmart. LOVE IT!

A Sheepskin wool Flokati Rug from Ikea.

A red rocking moose from Ikea.

and navy and white awning stripe fabric from Ikea

and that's it for now! I need to keep working...

Mason is going out to Utah for a weekend, and so I am planning on getting EVERYTHING done that weekend. Sewing a crib skirt, painting a frame and table (if that's what I decide to do), getting last minute essentials for baby boy, making my pillows, deep cleaning the baby's room before he comes (don't worry, I'll do it again right before he comes... a lot of dust can collect in five weeks!), and reupholstering the rocker. I can't wait to show you all of these things finished! Cross your fingers I will finish them, please!