The nursery is done!

This shot is taken from the doorway...



These are the sheers I got at Pottery Barn Kids. If you enlarge the photo you can see the detail much better...








I guess I need to stop clothes shopping now! ;)



Now that the room is done, I find myself wandering in there a lot to look around or just sit in the rocker. I also find myself going through the closet and picturing Lauren is all those cute outfits. I'm really glad we waited to get the room set up because I don't think I could have handled endless months and years of having it done. As it is now, we still have months ahead of us...but hopefully not too many!

Fun finds...

Over my vacation last week I did a little shopping for the nursery and bathroom we are decorating for Lauren.

Check out these adorable bathroom accessories I found at Target. They go perfectly with the towels that I've had for a long time from the clearance table at Pottery Barn Kids (PBK).

The frog with the butterfly on his nose is a toothbrush holder...

Isn't this tissue box cover adorable? I think Lauren will get a kick out of it.



They say when you're not really looking you find just what you're looking for. That was the truth with this rocker I just happened to find at Pier 1. I needed a small, compact chair for the small space in the room and this is perfect.

I'm going to make a cushion that matches the room. I was so excited to find this!


I also picked up these brushed nickel lamps and lampshades at Target. The shade with the flowers I've had for almost two years now! The green and white shade with the rickrack I just picked up. It reminded me of shades I've seen at PBK.

Nusery decor...

I'm finally getting motivated to get the nursery decorated. In celebration of the bigger referral batch, I did a little splurging over the weekend.

The nursery window already has faux wood blinds, but I wanted to dress it up with some sheer panels to soften it up a bit. I got some great sheers with embroidered butterflies. Here's a couple of close-up shots...

















and I got the brushed nickel curtain rod with pink toned, crystal- like finials and the matching pull back rods and finials.












I also found these butterflies that hang from the ceiling. I loved them in the store display...they looked so pretty and totally match our colors and wall paper border.












Last, but not least, I got a few of these cast iron butterfly hooks for hanging a set of pictures I have with ribbons on top. Or if I decide to do Lauren's initials I can use them for that.

Nursery project...

I really wanted to have a pretty chandelier in Lauren's room but with our Arizona heat, practicality won out and we decided to install a ceiling fan.


At least we found this Hunter fan with a cute lampshade light fixture instead of those big glass shades with the light bulbs hanging out of them...


the butterfly detail is pretty cute too...


Well, that's another item checked off our list for the nursery. Slowly, but surely, we're getting it done. God know, we still have plenty of time!

The crib is assembled!

After work today Joe started in on the crib assembly...


Lucy has to help with every project...


Here it is...



I guess we won't be able to use our bumper pad since there is nothing to tie it on to along the back of the crib. I'm sure that must be some kind of suffocation hazard. Any ideas on this, or is it best just not to use it?

I know, the pillows can't go in there either, right? I have SO much to learn.


I have to say that having the crib up makes this all the more real and it brought a flood of emotions when I stepped back and looked at it. Unlike a pregnancy, us waiting mommas have nothing real to hang onto. It's the little things like painting a room and putting up a crib that I can hang onto. I just wish Lauren was in OUR crib instead of the one she's in right now. Hang on, baby, it will be soon...I promise.

Border is up!

Yesterday we put the border up. Once we marked the placement on the walls, it went up in a snap.

These photos probably are the most true to the actual color. You can see that the bottom is a darker paint shade a little better in the top photo, but it doesn't show as well in the bottom one. In the room, it's very soft and subtle...just what we hoped for.



The next item on the agenda is to assemble the crib. It's been sitting in there boxed up for 2 years now...sad, but true.

We have some leftover border, so I'm thinking about doing something with a cornice board for above the window. Hmmm...once the crib is done and the furniture's in place the REAL fun starts! DECORATING...YEAH!

Growth chart....

I picked up this adorable growth chart at Home Goods over the weekend.

I've been waiting to find one that I really like and this is it. It's a print stretched out over a canvas and I love the tree and little girls playing.

I'm planning on hanging it in the nursery or the playroom. Lately, we have been thinking about making our spare room (currently our ironing/junk room) into a playroom. It's across the hall from the nursery and I'm thinking it would be a great place for toy storage, the bookcase, and a little table and chairs for Lauren. Also, I'm thinking we could lay down that cushiony floor stuff that goes together like puzzle pieces.

I would love to hear from those of you who have kids at home and have a separate playroom. I'm wondering how it works out for you.

Alpha Blocks...

I found these in a cute little craft/gift shop today and knew I had to get them for Lauren's room. We haven't painted the room or started any decorating yet, but I think these will look adorable on a shelf or on top of her book shelf.


I can't wait to start putting her room together. Joe and I decided to wait until the CCAA gets into 2006...to celebrate that MAJOR milestone we are going to paint her room and start decorating! Now, if they happen to speed up and start getting through two weeks at a time, we probably won't wait that long!

Closet system installed!

Joe installed a shelving system in Lauren's closet this past weekend. He actually said it was really easy. I think the hardest and most frustrating part was getting our sliding closet doors off the sliders and out of the way. Once they were off, the rest was just measuring, leveling and drilling.

We used the Closetmaid ShelfTrack system.


First you install the top rail, then the down rods are evenly spaced attached to the top rail and drilled in place.


Then you can install the shelving anywhere along the downrails, which makes the system super flexible.


Now I have my original hanging rod all the way across, plus a new hang rod half way across. I stopped into Target and got the organizing bins. Between the back to college stuff and the baby stuff, they had some really great items that fit perfectly.


The purple bins on the bottom are actually two stacked rolling bins. I figured they would be perfect for small toy storage. We can just roll them in and out.


Inspired by these size dividers from One Step Ahead....


I made my own using foam door knob hangers I got at Michael's craft store.


They're not the same thing, but definitely serve the same purpose and seem to work really well. It sure makes it easier to see what you have when everything is grouped by size.

Bookcase assembled!

Joe put together Lauren's bookcase yesterday and it turned out great. It's just plain and simple to match our white furniture.

It's shown in this photo against our current wall color of green, but we'll be painting the nursery colors in there soon.

I actually thought we had a lot of books until I put them in the bookcase. Now, I have plenty of room to keep shopping for books. Darn, more shopping...a girl's work is never done! ;)

Knobs....

Check out these cute knobs we found at Target today. They came in a pack of eight for only $16.99, so for $34 we got all the knobs we need for our white nursery furniture. That's only $2.15 per knob, which is pretty darn good. The colors will go perfectly with the new rug and the paint.



I'm really starting to get excited about putting the nursery together!

Paint Samples

Here's what our paint chips look like up on the wall. The top left color isn't the same as the bottom color, although in kinda looks that way in the photos.

If we use the bottom color as shown in the photos, which top color do you like better?

Paint samples...

Lowe's now carries little tiny sample sizes of paint for only $2.95 each.

This is perfect for people like me who have a hard time making a decision on color. Once I decide though, I'm full speed ahead.

We got samples of the three shades in the middle of the paint chip card. One will be for above the border and one for below, just not sure which color is going where yet. I think this coming weekend, we'll try the colors out on the wall!

New rug and paint chips...

Joe and I were in Target last weekend and weren't even shopping for the nursery, but I spotted this rug. It's 8' x 10', has all the right colors and is super plush and comfy to sit on.

I'm planning on placing the wallpaper border at chair rail height and was originally thinking of painting pink on top and violet on the bottom. A while back, my waiting momma friend, Heather, suggested using one color for the walls (lighter on top and darker on the bottom) using my 2nd color as an accent with accessories in the room.

I think with all the pink in the rug, I'm going to take Heather's advice and use violet on the walls...light on top and darker on the bottom.

What do you all think of these paint chips? The colors directly on top and on bottom of the border are what I'm considering. I think they coordinate very nicely with the rug.


Here's everything together. I'm starting to get motivated to finally start painting and putting together the room.

I'm so glad I found this rug, because it helped me start to pull everything together.

New Rocker...

Anyone who knows me knows that I couldn't go on my Salt Lake Trip without making a purchase for Lauren's nursery. Lisa W. took us to a totally adorable consignment shop near her house called Home Again that was jam packed full of the coolest furniture pieces and accessories. Julie and I wished we could pack up the whole store and bring it home with us.

The owner's dog was serving as greeter that day and was following us around while we shopped...he was a basset hound with the sweetest and saddest looking face and big droopy ears. If you ask me, he has a pretty good gig getting petted all day by dog lovers like me.

I spotted this cute little periwinkle shaker style rocking chair. I didn't buy it that morning, but thought about it all day. After some coaxing from Lisa S. and Julie (my bad influences) we went back that afternoon and I picked it up, with no worries about how I was getting it on the plane.

We tried packing it at Lisa's house so I could check it as baggage on my flight, but we ended up at the local UPS store having it shipped instead.

The box just came yesterday and now that I see it again, I'm really glad I got it. It will make a really cute addition to Lauren's room...don't you think?

More furniture...

This past weekend, Joe assembled Lauren's armoire. It's very sturdy and looks great. I think once we get the room together, I may change out the knobs to something cute. Next project is putting together the crib.

Cute lanterns...

My latest purchase for Lauren's room are these adorable lanterns from Urban Outfitters (they have a really funky housewares section). They are made out of rice paper, but look like eyelet. I bought two of the rounds ones and one of the other shape. I thought we could hang them in a corner of the room in a cluster of varying heights. I also bought the light kits for them, but decided to return those. I didn't want the cords running down the wall and was a little nervous about the idea of a light bulb on for any length of time in a paper lantern. I think we'll just use them as decoration. I'm not sure yet if we'll leave them white or spray them a color, but with the color on the walls I'm thinking white would be a nice contrast.

Thank you!

Thank you all for giving me your best decorating advise on the paint colors. I'm going to take your advice and pick up pints of paint to do a sample wall and see what I like during different time of the day. I don't think I'll know until I see it on the wall, whether the lighter colors will be too light for me or the deep colors just too intense. Also, thanks for suggesting that I maybe use one lighter color and one deeper color...for some reason I had a mental block about mixing the light and deep until you all brought it up.

When I get the samples up on the wall, I'll post a photo. :)

Which colors to use...

Ok, the wall border is going halfway down on the wall, like a chair rail, and we're using pink on top and purple/violet on the bottom. What I can't decide for sure is whether to go with the lighter or deeper version of the colors.

Here's the lighter version...the colors are Sweety Pie and Purplicious.


And the deeper version is Nana's Rose and Violet Twist. The rose is exactly the same color as the pink stripe in the top of the border and the violet is pretty much exactly the color of the crayon-like outline of the daisies.


Typically, I go with the richer, deeper colors, but I'm questioning myself on this since it's a nursery and I wonder if it should be lighter. The furniture will be white and you can see some of the other items I have in my previous posts.

I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on this...for some reason, I'm a little stuck.

First piece of furniture...

When I saw the armoire that Jacquie, of Welcome Home Lily, got I knew it would also be perfect for Lauren's room. I love the paneled doors, detail around the bottom and the feet.

When we went to check the armoire out, we also saw the matching changing table and crib that converts to a really cute toddler, day bed. We weren't planning on buying our furniture this early, but the price was more than right so we went for it. Since the pieces come unassembled in boxes, we decided we need to put them together now so that if there's a problem with something we can get it replaced before the set is discontinued.

Here's Joe putting together the changing table with some help from Lucy.



And here's the finished table. Pretty cute, huh? When we're done using it as a changing table, the front piece on the top comes off so it looks more like a dresser.



Next we'll put together the armoire, then the crib. I'll post photos when we get them done.

Pillows!

Earlier this month I had a shopping day with a friend of mine. She showed up that day with a bag from Pottery Barn Kids. Look at the beautiful, satin embroidered pillows she gave me for Lauren's room. They will go perfectly with my colors!




Thank you, Miyoung, I love these pillows!

More Room Decor...

I was at Target the other day and they had just put out all new stuff in the framed prints aisle, so my cart started gravitating in that direction. Sure enough, they had new nursery decor so I picked up these two canvas prints.


I got off work at 12noon today and Kohl's was having a huge sale, so of course I had to stop on in and see what kind of trouble I could get into. I found these two cute little prints for 50% off. They have ribbons attached on top for hanging that you can't see in the photo.

Weekend Shopping Spree...

We went shopping this weekend and found bedding that we like with our wallpaper border and paint colors. It's an Osh Kosh pattern called Apple Hill. We got the crib bedding set (comforter, bumper, dust ruffle, and sheet set), cute pillows, and crib mobile.

We found the adorable lampshade that matches perfectly at my favorite store, Target. The alphabet print wall hanging is also from Target, but it's so cute it looks like it's from an expensive baby store. The letter "L" shows a ladybug!

Shopping Day...

We headed out to IKEA on Saturday to check out our options for some inexpensive furniture. We decided not to buy an expensive, convertible crib with matching nursery furniture. Instead we are going to get a simple, white crib and a couple of pieces of white furniture from IKEA. We'll dress it up with cute drawer pulls. Later on, after Lauren outgrows the crib, we'll get the twin bedframe that matches the IKEA pieces. We figure we have years yet to buy her a "real" furniture set that she can grow into.

I found some paint colors that go really well with the wallpaper border. Both the lighter version and deeper version of the colors look nice, but it depends what we can find for the bedding before we make a final decision on the colors.

I think we're heading out to Burlington Coat Factory this coming weekend....they have the Baby Depot section there and a pretty big selection of bedding.

The Border has Arrived...

We got the wallpaper border in the mail yesterday. I ordered three rolls and the packing slip says three rolls shipped, but there were only two in the box. I called USA Wallpaper today and they are shipping out a 3rd roll of the same dye lot.

Now that we have the border, I can head to Lowe's and Home Depot to look at paint colors. I want to do one color on top and a different color on the bottom. Pink, yellow, lavender, and moss green will all go with the border, so it just depends which colors make the border pop.

I love choosing paints and decorating, so this is going to be a lot of fun. I'm also lucky because Joe doesn't really get into the decorating scene, so I can just show him what I've picked out and we're good to go. :)

I ordered the wallpaper border on the internet last night from USA Wallpaper and saved some money. Each roll was $31.99 at the wallpaper store, but I got it for $17.50 a roll. We only need 3 rolls, so it came to less than $65 total with shipping and handling.

As soon as I get the delivery, I'm off to Lowe's or Home Depot to look at paint colors to match. I'd like to do two different colors for above and below the border.

I love decorating, so this is going to be fun!

Wallpaper Border Shopping...

We thought about doing a chair-rail, but knew it would probably be a disaster. Sure, we could have someone come in and do a beautiful chair-rail and crown molding, but we really want to decorate the room ourselves. Since we've put up many wallpaper borders, we decided to go with a border instead and put the border at chair-rail height.

Today, Mom and I went over to Wallpapers to Go. They have tons of books and a really big selection. From my experience I've learned to use the wallpaper store to select a border, then go to USA Wallpaper to get the exact same borders at 45% off retail price. (I'm sure the stores love this!)

We spent a good hour and a half going through all the baby and kids books and finally narrowed it down to about 5 borders, then 3, then 2, then the final choice. I wanted something I could use for a 12mo old, but would grow with her into pre-teen years. Here's my favorite. The bottom of the flowers are cut out and we're not using the wallpaper that shows behind the border in the photos.

Which Room to Use...

We have three spare bedrooms and currently one is my craft/sewing room, one is our computer room and one was a guest bedroom, but now has a treadmill in it instead of the bed. After some thought of which room would be Lauren's, we decided that it would be my craft room. It's the largest of the bedrooms at 10'x14', instead of the standard 10'x10' of the other two rooms. Plus, my craft room isn't square, it has some nice angles to it. Here it is in it's current state.