Nursery: Final Reveal

It's been 5 months since Pace arrived and I JUST realized that I never showed you final photos of the nursery.....EEK!  I was doing some cleaning and organizing in his room this afternoon (he is growing out of clothes so fast that I can barely keep up with retiring the old and bringing out the new), and realized that the last nursery posts (here, here and here) left out a few details.

So, without further ado, here is Pace's completed nursery:

 

 

No big changes or additions, just a few finishing touches to the walls and the bookcase.  He received sa ton of wonderful books and learning toys from friends and family (which is amazing) as well as a few different personalized banks (pig, noah's ark, elephant and a british mail slot)....I guess people were trying to send him a not-so-subtle message.....SAVE, PACE, SAVE (and don't put it in that crazy market...haha)!!  The bookcase is coming along really nicely.  It's even a little crowded at the moment.  I need to weed out some stuff that he can use now and put away a few things (books & toys for older kid, etc.).  We use a large majority of the books though, so I might just need to stack them differently!  Pace loves when we read to him.  I had heard that babies love when you read to them even before they can understand what you are saying, but I was always skeptical.  But, Pace has proven me wrong....he will sit in my lap and just stare at (or grab at) the book while I read it to him for quite a long time.  We always do a book before bedtime, but I'm finding that he likes to sit down and relax with a book before his naps too.  Hopefully he will grow up to be a book-lover like his parents!  :)

But enough about that, moving on to the other additions to the room:

I made this little piece of artwork just a few days before Pace arrived.  I had planned on blogging on it the day that my water broke....oops!  I had pieces of yellow and white craft paper in the house from an older project and an IKEA Ribba Frame (8x10).  It took me two tries and a lot of patience, but I finally got all the letters to fit in the frame.  All I did was draw out an 8x10 border and measure out equal horizontal lines on the white paper.  I had to sketch and re-sketch the letters a few times to makes sure they would fit in the space, but when it finally came together, it only took about 15 minutes to cut out the letters with an exacto-knife.  I then traced the 8x10 shape onto the yellow paper and glued the individual letters on with rubber cement.  All in all, it took me about an hour (since I also did a second one that finishes the little song, "you make me happy when skies are gray", but decided that I liked the one by itself.   I still have the other one lying around in case I change my mind though (which isn't likely since I had to squeeze those letters a little more and I don't think it looks as neat as the other one).  Only cost about $20 for the whole project because I had most of the supplies at home (and the frames were $9.99/ea). 

We had these letters from Michaels since the second trimester, but since we were keeping the name a secret, we didn't put them up on the wall until after he arrived.  We just eye-balled the spacing when we put them up.  The "E" looks like its a little too high in this picture, but maybe its just the angle of the photo.  Hm.....that's going to bug me!!  Hahah!!

So, that's it folks.  The final nursery reveal.  I am really happy with it and it seems like Pace likes it as well (although all he really does in the room is sleep, so I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing).  I'm sure it will grow and evolve with his little personality over the years, but for now, I think its a great little space for him.


And just for a little perspective, here is a quick before and after:

Before

After

Before

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And speaking of growing....he is just getting so big so fast.  I can't take it!!!

These were taken a month ago, so he is even bigger now!!  I have to take some 5 months shots, so I will update you with new pictures of him soon!  :)

And I apologize for the lack of posts during the holiday season.  People warned me that it is crazy when you have kids and everyone wants to see him.  I didn't believe it, but I do now.  It was a blast but I am a little glad that it's over and we can get back into a normal routine!  YAY!  Happy New Year everyone!!

Pregnancy: 38 Weeks

B caught me hanging out in the nursery last night.  It's really no surprise though.  I tend to do that a lot lately (sorry about the short shorts....it is just so hot out that I tend to wear the least amount possible while still trying to cover my growing self.....not easy, folks!!).  We could literally go any day now (god-willing), so I have been scrambling to get things done before he arrives.  Most recently I washed all of his newborn and 0-3 clothes and put them away (p.s. maybe it's a crazy hormonal thing, but I think that Dreft is the best smelling stuff EVER....I have actually considered washing ALL of our things in it, but then I realized that it might not be something that B aspires to smell like....at work or otherwise.  Eh, can't win them all).  We also bit the bullet and finally packed our "go bags" last night.  I'm not sure why I was putting it off, or what really scared me into doing it last night, but we just finally came to the realization that we don't want to be hanging out in the hospital wearing hospital gowns (and I use that in the plural sense, since B hates to wear his work clothes when he's not working, so I imagine that he would opt for the backless gown in lieu of a button-down shirt and dress pants...haha), staring at each other and waiting for things to happen.  Now, I do realize that I'm probably not going to want to play hop skotch in the hallway, but I also don't want to be waiting to dilate a few centimeters in the early stages when the contractions are RELATIVELY bearable and not have anything to do.  So we decided to pack Travel Scrabble, a deck of cards, an iPod dock station (since we have our own room), snacks and a camera (with the charger too).  We threw some clothes and toiletries in there too, but the important stuff was really the entertainment-related things.  If nothing else, it will keep B occupied in case I decide that I can't stand the look of him for putting me through this and kick him out of the room during a bad contraction.  You never know?  I used to be a girl scout....so we always try to be prepared.  Hehe.

Other than that though, we are just waiting for him to make his debut.  I wouldn't say we are waiting patiently, but we are hanging in there.  I'm sure that the longer he stays in there, the better for him, so by all means little one, keep on cookin'!!!  I won't lie and tell you that I'm still feeling wonderful, but I am really not feeling that bad.  I can still get around pretty well (walking back and forth to work - 1.5 miles each way, and doing the elliptical or bike at lunch).  Some people probably think I'm crazy, but I feel SOOOO much better when I'm moving.  He dropped pretty low in the last few weeks, so if I sit down too long, he manages to nestle right in my hip joint and take a little snooze.....NOT my favorite position.  I have found if I move around though, he will tend to shift over a few centimeters to give me some temporary relief.  I am definitely not moving fast by any means during these "sessions" but the act of moving at all seems to put me back in touch with my old self and provides a little bit of normalcy to this whole process.  But again, I can't complain at all.  This has been a great pregnancy and I'm still feeling pretty good.  A little more hot, a little more uncomfortable and a little more tired than I have been in the past few weeks, but I must say that it is all very tolerable.  Maybe I won't be so lucky with my next, but I'm trying to relish it for now!!

 

In addition to packing our own "go bags" last night, we also packed one for the baby.  He needs to be comfy on his first ride home too, right??  Even though its summer and has been quite warm in New England the last few weeks, we decided on a long sleeve kimono-style outfit from Gap to take him home in.  It probably seems like it will be too much for him, but we will be going from one air-conditioned place to another, so I'd rather have him be nice and cozy than too cold. 

We also packed him a sleeveless onesie just in case we change our minds though!!  Honestly, I might have packed him more outfits than I did for myself!!  You can never be too prepared. 

If you look closely in the picture above, you can sort of see the crib skirt fabric peeking out from under the mattress.  It's the Serena and Lily Slate Goldenrod Mosaic print that I ordered last week. 



The first swatch in the photo above.....



It finally came in and I can't tell you how much I love it in the room.  It is very subtle, but it really ties all of the colors in the room together.  Like I said in an earlier post, it was a little more expensive than I normally like to pay for fabric ($40/yd) but I really loved it and couldn't seem to find anything comparable for a cheaper price.  We saved quite a bit on other things for the nursery, so I decided that one splurge in the room was acceptable.  Ahhh....the things we do to justify our purchases!! 

I still haven't hemmed and sewn the crib skirt though, all I did was place it under the mattress to see how they matched.  The fact that you can't really tell that I didn't sew it yet is going to make it very hard to get motivated to do the project though.  I know it won't take me long, but when something looks nice already, why change it??? 

And finally, we managed to hang up something on the wall last night as well.  The mirror above the crib (which I found at Home Goods a few months back for $19.99) was a super simple and super affordable way to break up the wall space a little.  We have a few more things to hang in the room as well, but we need to buy some more picture-hanging hooks before we can do that.  Everything is ready to go though, so I will be back soon with updates on some more artwork that we did for the room. 

Only two weeks to go, so I better get my act together.....

Nursery Update: Curtains

The nursery is really starting to come together now.....and it's about time!!  My due date is fast approaching (2.5 weeks left), so the urgency is really starting to kick in!  The most current change to the room is the addition of some curtains.  I am a creature of habit, so I went with the same IKEA Ritva curtains that I've used in all my other rooms.  1) They are SOOOO affordable (at $19.99 per window, although I've seen them advertised anywhere from $14.99 to $24.99, so check online before heading to the store to see if they are running a sale); 2) Being a not-so-savvy sewer, they are SUPER-EASY to hem with included hem tape, and 3) They have a linen-like feel and touch, but are oddly sheer enough to still let some light into the room (although I'm planning to put some blackout shades on the windows as well, since light + sleeping infants = BAD NEWS.....or so I'm told).  I would highly recommend these curtains to ANYONE that is in the market for something simple and affordable.  And since I may not keep the curtains in his room forever (since I can just envision our little one tugging on them as soon as he is able), it is a totally affordable short-term solution.  And who knows, maybe he will steer clear of them and they will last up through his toddler years.....here's hoping!

So here is what they look like at the moment: 



This room gets a lot of light in the morning (when I'm always trying to take pictures for the blog, coincidentally), so I apologize for the washed out photos.  Despite the grainy-ness, you can still totally see what I mean about the light seeping through the curtains. This is lovely in all my other rooms, where I wanted a light and bright feel, but I think it will be troubling when I am trying to bribe convince my little bean that he should be napping.

So all in all, it was a super easy project for the nursery....which is probably why I kept putting it off.  I'm really glad they are done though, so that I can move on to some more DIY artwork projects.  Next on my agenda is to create two frames with the lyrics to "You are my sunshine."  I saw this idea on etsy the other day (check it out here) and was totally inspired.  I already have two frames from IKEA, that I talked about here, so I think I'm going to cut out white letters with an exacto knife and paste them onto yellow paper.  I tried designing and printing them on my computer, but I couldn't seem to get the right yellow to print out with my printer.  So, I picked up a piece of yellow and white cardstock from Michaels and will hopefully be making progress tonight after work (although, I have to admit that it has become harder and harder in the last few weeks to be productive after working and then commuting back home....all I want to do is lay on the couch and pass out).  But since baby could arrive any day now, I suppose I need to get my act together!   I'll keep you updated on my progress....

Oh, and before I forget, I received a comment the other day asking about the crib bedding.  I ended up just using yellow crib sheets (Koala brand from Babies R' Us) and will be making a crib skirt out of Serena and Lily's Slate Goldenrod Mosaic fabric.  It was a little price-y at $40/yd, but I loved it so much that I thought it would be worth it in the long run.  I will probably only need 1 yd when all is said and done, but you can only buy it in 2 yd increments, so I plan to make a cute pillow or something else for the room with it.  I'm also planning on doing some bunting above the crib (instead of a mobile) so I will be able to use some of the leftover fabric for that as well.  And I also purchased a striped blue crib bumper a few months back (before I even had the crib in my possession) and later learned that it doesn't fit properly in there.  My one requirement for using a crib bumper at all was that it would be perfectly snug all around to avoid potential suffocation.  So, in the end, I'm not going to use it (and since the crib is so chunky, I really don't need to either).  I have posted it up on craigslist and am crossing my fingers that it will work for someone else's crib!!  Wish  me luck!

And again, I'll definitely keep you guys posted on those projects as well. 

Have any of you done DIY-artwork projects lately???  Any nursery ones?  I would love

to see and hear all about them!!  Any extra ideas or inspiration would be great!! 

Nursery Update: Rug

Here's a quick sneak peek at the nursery progress:

Sorry for the grainy photo.  My old iphone takes terrible photos and I was too lazy to look for the camera this morning to capture the room at this stage.  I promise that when I do the final reveal, I will have some good pictures to show you though!!

So we are still a long way from being "done" with the room, but it is definitely coming along.  We finally found a rug for the room last week (YAY)!!  I can't tell you how many hours I spent agonizing over colors and patterns and reviews for different styles of rugs.  I even bought one from the Home Decorators Collection (through Home Depot) and returned it to the store (they have a really great return policy) because it was both WAAAAY too rough and scratchy for my liking, and it wasn't the right color yellow for the room.  Here she is in my car on the way back to HD....

I liked the rug generally, but it just didn't feel right in the room (LITERALLY)!!  It is more of an indoor/outdoor rug, so its not very soft and cushy underfoot.  I should have known that based on the description (key words: wool, flatweave, durable construction) and the reviews, but I loved the pattern, so I blindly purchased it.  I always get so anxious about online purchases, but I knew that I could return it if I needed to, so that helped me push the button.  The price was also right at $200 for a 5x8, but at the end of the day, savings and style just didn't outweigh comfort.  Especially for my little boys' knees once he starts crawling around.  And until that time, I still have to walk back and forth across it 5 million times a day, so it best be comfortable for my tired, aching feet!!! 

So....long story short, it didn't work out and I went back to obsessively online shopping for another few weeks.  By the beginning of July, I was absolutely spent with this whole project, so I decided that I would put it off for a while, and we would just find a rug down the road when we really needed it.............. 

Until one day last week, I was browsing around Target and...ALAS...I found the perfect rug!!  I wasn't even shopping for a nursery rug, I was just browsing around for a bigger entryway mat to put our shoes on when we come in the door.  Don't you always find what you are looking for once you stop looking for it???  It's some cruel universe trick.  But back to the story.  I had been searching and searching for the perfect yellow rug (and even a white one for a fleeting moment....then I thought about poop and the moment slipped away), when all along I should have been looking for navy blue.  I passed by this beauty in the rug aisle and fell in love.....

Kind of anti-climactic huh?  It is definitely not show-stopping, but it turned out to be the "one".  It was exactly what I was looking for to tie the room together.....I just didn't know it.  I thought that the only way to ground the space was to highlight the accent color in the room and draw your attention down, but in reality, the rest of the colors in the room stand out MORE because of the grounded color on the floor.  It definitely doesn't match the walls perfectly, but it provides a really nice accent to it.  I am not big on everything matching perfect anyway, so it is nice to have different shades of blue and yellow in the room.  And at $69.99 for a 5x7, I couldn't resist.  I thought the HD rug was a steal, but this was 10 times better.  Plus, it is super soft to stand on.  I won't go as far as to say that it is going to last forever, but it will do its job for a while and we can just replace it in a few years when we switch the room from a nursery to a toddler room.  And who knows, we could be totally surprised by it and it will stand the test of time.  I will definitely keep you updated on that as we spend more and more time in the room. 

Here's some shots of the rug with everything else in the room.  What do you think??

It looks a little bit darker in these pictures than it is in person, but I still like the contrast.  It actually matches the quilt on the edge of the crib (which we will move once the baby comes, so don't worry) and the lamp shade perfectly!! I love the subtle stripes in the rug as well.  It gives it a little depth and makes it feel more masculine.  Maybe that's not always a good thing when you are looking for a nursery rug, but I think that the bright colors elsewhere in the room help to balance it all out.

And I'm not sure if you noticed in the picture above, but I started to do the curtains in the room.  They are the same white RITVA ones that I've used in the rest of the house.  I only had the time/energy to hem one window of curtains yesterday, but I will hopefully tackle the other one tonight.  But instead of finishing the curtains, I managed to put some contact paper down inside his dresser drawers (since the bottom of the drawers is wood and a little scratchy in places) and then wash all of his clothes and blankets and fold them away in their respective drawers (at least the drawers that I think make sense at the moment....I'm sure I will rearrrange it 300 times).

Finally, B and I worked on a little artwork project for our little man last night.  B actually did most of the work, so I can only take credit for the idea and the design.  We bought a frame from IKEA a few months  back:

It is the VIRSERUM Frame for $16.99.  We actually bought it for the nursery before we knew what we would do with it.  Then, I scrounged up some yellow and white polka-dotted wrapping paper left over from a shower gift and a piece of navy blue cardstock.   So, with all those items, and a little imagination, we created this:

It is totally simple, but I really love it.  B did such a great job with the sailboat.  He has always been really good at sketching and was super excited to be a part of this project (but don't tell him I told you that!!).   And the best part is, we can change it out whenever we feel like it and not feel guilty about it....since it was FREE artwork!!!  My favorite kind.  So the total for this project was $16.99.  Not too bad, right? 

I have a few other DIY artwork projects in the works that I can't wait to show you and I plan to get moving on the DIY crib skirt in the next week as well.  So there is certainly lots to share with you on the nursery front in the coming weeks!! Hopefully he holds out in there so that I can finish everything though.  I have had some braxton hicks contractions here and there for the last week or so and his head is very, very low, but I am still crossing my fingers that he waits a little longer before his big debut!!

IKEA finds

As I mentioned in my last post, I was planning on taking a little trip to IKEA last week.  Well, I finally made it there and found some really great things.  Mostly stuff for the nursery, but also a little something for the recently painted guest bedroom (which I can't wait to show you)!!  In the course of setting up the nursery, we have used the guest bedroom as our landing pad for everything that doesn't have a "place" yet in the nursery.  The car seat, high chair, pack & play, etc., etc. are all just hanging out on the floor in there, so it doesn't look all pretty and blog-worthy just yet.  Maybe once we weed through the piles and piles of presents from the shower this past weekend (which was FABULOUS by the way - thanks Mom, Chris and Mom-in-law and the rest of my friends and family for their generosity.....you guys are TOO MUCH!), we will get more organized with all the baby stuff.  My goal is to have the guest bedroom all set up and ready to go by next week so that we can just focus on the nursery from here on out.  So I will keep you updated on that progress as soon as I get to it!!

But back to IKEA.

After years of shopping here, I have obtained a few rules that keep me sane and relatively focused while I'm in there; (1) do NOT walk through the showroom unless I am looking for furniture (if I even start going through it, I get sucked in by all of the cute room set-ups and get distracted from my ultimate shopping goal), (2) only go there on weeknights, otherwise you will be forever lost in a sea of people and carriages trying to navigate their way through the two-story warehouse maze, and (3) have a list (if I go in there un-armed, I always end up getting things that I don't really need (which is fun sometimes, but costly as well)). 

So, based on my rules, I went in last Thursday night with my list:

(1) silver towel rods for the nursery book slings
(2) two frames for DIY nursery artwork
(3) curtains for the guest bedroom

I stuck to my list pretty well, but I also found these as I was heading towards the checkout line:

Aren't they the cutest little trash bins?  Or even toy bins?  I picked up 1 white, 1 yellow and 1 navy one (since those are the nursery colors).  I will probably only keep 1 or 2 in the nursery, but I couldn't decide which color looked best at the time.  After bringing them home, I'm leaning towards the white and the navy.  The yellow is just a little too bright for me....and if we ever decide to change the accent color in the room, I would like this little trash can to be versatile.  They were $14.99 each (check them out here - Knodd Bin w/ Lid), so I also don't want to spend $45 on little bins until I know that I will use them for something in the room.  I can definitely see myself using one of them next to the changing table/dresser as a diaper pail (since we didn't register for the diaper genie or anything like that), but I'm not sure what I would use the 2nd one for...or where we would put it.  The room is a decent size, but there definitely isn't a lot of unused space left over.  I will have to see them in the room (and maybe post some pictures for your opinion) so that I can decide what to keep and what to return.  And if you can think of a use for the second one, I'm all ears!!

As far as the rest of the shopping trip goes, these guys ended up in my car as well:

Grundtal Towel Rail - $14.99 (I bought two of them,

but I might only do one book sling considering the space issue in the room....TBD)

Ribba Frames - $9.99 (I bought two of these as well for some

fun DIY artwork in the nursery....more on that later) 

Ritva Curtains - $29.99 (I bought two of these too - man, it's like Noah's Ark around here....

for the guest  bedroom).  I have the white ones in most of my other rooms,

but I went with beige this time around since it goes better with the

color scheme in the room (can't wait to show you)!!

So that's it for my shopping adventure.  I managed to make it out of there unharmed and unscathed, but since I have a few returns to make (and potentially more purchases....*ahem* meatballs), I will definitely be back there soon, so I'll update you with that trip as well.  Have any of you guys been to IKEA lately?  Did you find WAAAY to many cute things to walk away from?  Any fun DIY ideas in store for your purchases?  I would love to hear all about it.  And of course, I will be back with updates for you on the guest bedroom, the nursery progress (including my own DIY projects), and some shower details. 

Nursery Update: Furniture

It is with GREAT pleasure that I introduce to you our new nursery furniture.....

Dresser:

This is the piece that started it all.  One day when I was browsing scouring craigslist for a dresser that I could refinish myself (I was a little more ambitious back then), I came across an ad stating that the seller would paint-to-suit any dresser to your liking.  There was a picture of the dresser below included and I was instantly smitten.  I loved the scalloped bottom and the slight curve of the legs.  It had just the right amount of character and personality.....AND it was the perfect height and width for our space (and could even double as a "changing table" when necessary).  Needless to say, I was drooling on my keyboard.  I had to have it.  I emailed her immediately and she got right back to me.  It was $200 for everything (the piece itself as well as the work to refinish it....sanding, priming, painting and poly-ing....and even distressing if you wished).  I thought it was a great deal so I said, "I'll take it!" 

We picked out a color together based on the Pottery Barn glider that I already purchased on craigslist a while back (read more about that here).  After much deliberation, we ultimately decided on Pure White by Sherwin Williams.  It is white with a little yellow in it, which looks the most like pottery barn furniture.  She had it color-matched to Benjamin Moore's Natura line.  She will use any type of paint that you want, though, I just requested that she use a no-VOC option since it was going to be on nursery furniture.  I'm sure people use regular paint all the time in nurseries, but I wanted to be extra careful just in case.  She also used, at my request, SafeCoat Acrylaq (a low-VOC non-toxic alternative to polyurethane) as the top coat on the furniture so that if he gets hungry and starts to chew on the furniture (I know it sounds crazy, but I've definitely heard of kids chewing on the wood of their crib), that it would at least be non-toxic.

Enough of my rambling though, here is the transformation:

Not only did she do an AMAZING job refinishing the piece (since you probably don't notice in the before picture, but it had a lot of scratches and dings and wear and tear on the top), but her husband also replaced the bottom of all the drawers so they are sturdy and changed out the old knobs for new silver ones.  I am BEYOND thrilled with her work.  

My initial plan was to have her refinish the dresser and then I would tackle the crib and maybe even a bookcase in my "spare time."  Haha.  After thinking about it more, though, I realized that it probably wouldn't be feasible for me to do all the work myself, nor would it really be safe to use chemical strippers and things like that.  So I went out on a limb and asked her if she had ever done a crib before.  She said she hadn't, but that she would be willing to take it on....so I dropped that off too and had her work her magic.    

So without further ado, here's a little before and after action.

The before picture is not the same exact crib (the Legacy convertible crib models changed in the last 5 years since my brother and sister-in-law bought them for their twins), but its the same color and a similar style so you get the idea of the finish.  And as you can see, it was already an absolutely GORGEOUS piece of furniture when they generously gave it to us a few months ago.  We just thought that it would be easier to have all the furniture finished the same way rather than try to match the wood from a few different pieces as we were shopping around.  I am not a huge fan of everything being too matchy-matchy in my house (since I haven't done that in any other rooms) but for some reason I thought it would be nice to have a unified color (in this case, white) to complement the blue walls.  If you are reading this, John and Chris, thank you SOOOOOOO much again for giving us this crib. We are so lucky!!

And she did a phenomenal job on it too.  I can only imagine how painstaking it was to go over each and every spindle/rung with coat after coat of primer, paint and then poly.  OH MY!!  I'm just glad it wasn't me.  Haha.  She actually said to us when we picked it up that she would never do another crib again, but that she was happy to have been able to do it for us.  And for only $200, I think we ended up with a pretty amazing deal!
So, then all we need at this point was the bookcase.

During one of our many conversations, I mentioned to her that I was looking for a bookcase to refinish for the room as well.  I didn't think anything of it again until I got an email from her the next day saying that she found one on craigslist that was solid wood (which, believe it or not, is really rare for bookcases these days....unless you want to pay a fortune).  I took a look at the photo and checked the dimensions in our room and said "yes, please!"  And just like a fairy godmother, she went out to pick it up and brought it back to her shop for refinishing!  She even suggested/offered to paint the back of the bookcase a different color so that it would add some dimension to the piece.  GENIOUS!!  I had thought about maybe wallpaper or some fun contact paper for it in the future, but I probably wouldn't have gotten around to it for a while....so this was perfect.  I sent her the color (Wildflower Honey by Behr) that I wanted and she went to town.   

Here is the before and after:

And for only $200 (including finding it on craigslist, going out to get it and all the work she did to refinish it), it was also an amazing deal!  If you ever need a piece of furniture or would like to have an existing piece refinished and you are in the MA/NH area, you should absolutely contact her.  Here is her information:

TRANSFORMATIONS

Owner: Lynn Kennedy

Email: jlkennedy6[at]verizon[dot]net

Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/people/Transformations2

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002088753862

I would highly recommend her to ANYONE!  And not just because she does amazing work, she is also a wonderful person to work with.  She helped me with my color choices along the way and made some great suggestions, plus she is just a sweetheart.  If I ever need any other work commissioned in the future, I will absolutely go to her!

Overall, I am totally in love with the furniture and really happy with the way the nursery is turning out.  Obviously I am biased because it is my son's nursery furniture, but it came out exactly as I had dreamed it would.  And as a little reminder, here are some of the inspiration photos that I had in mind when I was deciding on colors for the walls and furniture a few months back.  

And here is the Serena and Lily fabric that I'm thinking about using for the crib skirt.  It isn't cheap, at $40/yd, but hopefully I won't need more than 2 yards total for the project.  I had also originally planned to include a chambray-striped bumper (similar to the striped fabric in the Serena and Lily Graham collection below) but after trying it in the crib, we realized that it didn't fit very well.  All of the ties wouldn't fit around the rails (since the four corners are quite chunky), so it didn't fit snugly against all sides.  At the end of the day, I would feel really uncomfortable having the extra fabric all bunched up in his crib.  A few people have already warned us about the dangers of bumpers (although I have done further research on the subject and felt comfortable using one anyway), but I'd rather not compound an already potentially dangerous situation by putting something into the crib that doesn't fit properly.  So, no crib bumper for us....at least for now.   

But we are still planning to do a yellow crib sheet and the mosaic print crib skirt (from the fabric collection above).  I just need to bite the bullet and order the fabric.  I think my hesitation has been that the price is so high that I've been hoping to stumble across a similar fabric at a local store or somewhere else online.  I found these two options from Spoonflower.com,  Blue Diamonds and Bohemian Mod.  I like them both, but they just aren't the same as the Serena and Lily one.  Ugh....I don't know what to do.  What do you think?  Should I suck it up and pay the $80 for the fabric I want, or continue searching for an OK alternative?

I finally feel like the nursery is starting to come together.  We have a lot of accesorizing left to do and some fun projects up our sleeves (think DIY artwork, book slings and fabric bunting), but at least the shell is in place.  I'm really happy with the way it is headed!

What are your thoughts?  Should I go for the expensive fabric or no?  Have you done any projects where you tried to cut corners and wish you hadn't?  Or do you have any cheap alternative options to share? 

Next up: rug search.  Stay tuned for that!

And a very happy father's day to all of you dads out there (even though I'm pretty sure I have a female-dominated audience..haha)!  Have a great weekend everyone.