It's done!! Well... it's nearly done. There are a few small details to take care of, but for the most part, the baby's room is ready for him to move in.
You may remember when his room looked like this just several weeks ago:
Well, a little over a week ago I took Cora to a birthday party, and when I came home, I was surprised/delighted to find Jim and our friend
John painting the nursery. (Thanks again for pushing Jim, John!)
After that, it was just a matter of putting everything up, including the awesome paper lanterns I found for a steal
online.
The black and white toile glider has been in each of my kids' nurseries since Brennan was born. It was a gift from my in-laws, and I absolutely love it, but it was a challenge to incorporate in a brand-new way without feeling like I was repeating the other kids' rooms. I had considered an orange and blue nursery, but I knew I couldn't pull it off with the black and white chair, so I went to another favorite combo: yellow and gray.
The bedding is the Harper elephant collection from Pottery Barn Kids. I sold some things on Craigslist to buy the bumper and sheet, and my sister surprised me with a second sheet and the crib skirt as a baby gift. It was the first time I haven't made my own baby bedding for the crib, and I was a little sad at first, but I simply didn't have time, and in the end it was very freeing.
Even though I didn't make the bedding, I did break out the sewing machine for a few projects. I made the throw pillow for the chair and the curtain panels (lined with blackout fabric so the room is a perfect cave when the baby needs to sleep). When he is awake or resting in my arms, this is what I see from his window (keep in mind it is dreary and raining today):
There is a stunning view of the sunset over the trees and hills every night. It's the best view in the house.
Across the room from the chair, I have this fun wall to look at:
I just put different swatches of fabric into embroidery hoops and mixed in an inexpensive Target clock because I always like to know how long I've been nursing or sleeping in the chair. ;-) I still want to get yellow baskets or storage containers for board books to go on the bottom shelf of the bench, but yellow ones are hard to come by. I'm hoping to make a trip to the Container Store soon, because I'm pretty sure they have exactly what I need.
This is the view from the hallway into the room. It's what you see when you get to the top of the stairs.
The
art that Hope gave me is a perfect fit above that table, don't you think?! And the table will definitely look better with a picture of the baby in the frame. :-)
This corner of the room still needs a little help:
The dresser needs a few pops of yellow, I think. I also need a new lampshade for the floor lamp, as the one that was on there was black and pink to go with Cora's nursery. Finally, I need to write something cute on the chalkboard elephant my friend Jen gave me. (There are itty bitty, super subtle elephants on the crib sheet, making the elephant a perfect addition to the room.)
I am still thinking about adding a wall decal someplace that says, "You are my sunshine... You make me happy when skies are gray." I had planned to do that
before I saw
the decal in Pottery Barn Kids simply because my mom used to sing that song to me as a child. When I saw it in their catalog, I nearly wet my pants! (I should start working for PB!)
I had thought about putting those words in the frames above the bed, but now I'm second-guessing that decision. I'm still a little up in the air about the frames, but I went ahead and put some fabric in there to keep from looking at the ugly brown background inside the frames. (Now I need to straighten them out because the imperfection is driving me nuts.) Maybe I'll do the decal above and below the frames?
I feel SO much calmer, and now I can start focusing on all of the little things. It's time to start organizing random closets, washing bottles and pacifiers, and totally driving my family nuts. Bring on the nesting!
