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.