Details of the Nursery

I’ve had a few questions asked about sources for the nursery, so I thought I’d share:

PAINT

walls: Rhino by Behr {home depot}

bed & shelves: Raging River by Sherwin Williams

WALLPAPER

Peonies gift wrap by Caskata. I have not seen this line in many stores, but you can look for a retailer in your area here. I used wallpaper paste, rolled it onto the paper {you want to make sure your paper will hold up to the paste} then adhered it to the wall. Super easy and I love the result. Keep in mind that many papers are not a continuous design and do not meet up when you put them next to each other. Mine did not and if you look closely you’ll notice, but it doesn’t bother me.

BEDDING

bumper: made myself {!} using linen curtains from IKEA and white piping made from IKEA curtains as well.

 

crib sheet: 2 yards of fabric folded over the mattress. This material was my first inspiration for the room. Rarely do I find a fabric that I adore, especially one with a pattern. There is just a tiny hint of blue in there and while it doesn’t really go with anything, I sort of like the eclectic feel it gives. And it helps tie in the gold of the wallpaper.

crib skirt: Pottery Barn classic stripe twin bed skirt in porcelain.  I cut it apart and remade a crib size skirt. Then I added tulle and grey grosgrain ribbon to the bottom.  I run into this problem often: I have an idea in my head and the product just doesn’t exist {or, if it does, it is far outside of my price range}. Thus, I end up making my own stuff. And very rarely is it made properly or expertly, as evidenced by this crib skirt. But it is the look that I wanted and cost very little.

coverlet: about 10 years ago I bought two of these on sale from the Martha Stewart line at K-Mart.  Perfect for a little girl’s room {interesting purchase for a 21 year old, but so glad I did!}

pillows: made by me from left-over crib skirt fabric, crib sheet fabric and fabulous velvet given to me by a friend who used to work at the design center and has quite the collection of discontinued fabric samples.

ruffle pillow is from pier1.

MOBILE

created by me {here is the tutorial}

CURTAINS

Again made by yours truly. I bought this satin in the holiday garment section of Joann’s after Christmas last year. It was 70% off and I think I paid $2.50 per yard. They are lined with IKEA white curtains {which makes them thick and dark at night}.  They were originally hanging in our master bedroom, but my vision for our room didn’t really work, so I decided they would be the perfect ‘party dress’ set of curtains for our baby girl. I added the ruffles to the bottom just to make them fancier.

They are hung with shower curtain rings that I find so charming.  They are from the Rachel Ashwell line at Target {sorry, I couldn’t find a link}.

ARTWORK

The gold frames are old – collected from my mom & mother-in-law. I cut foam core to the size of each frame then fabric glued the same linen IKEA curtain fabric to it. Each little item is just pinned to the foam core.

Hope that helps!

shopping

I’m in the market for some new jeans. I love jeans. Wear them everyday. We joke in our family that it is the commodity I most favor {want to buy yourself flight lessons? Sure, but I get a new pair of jeans.}

So I figured I should start searching online to see what is out there.

Good Lord, look what I found:

I don’t really get the skinny jean thing. Very few people can actually pull it off, and even then, I don’t find it very flattering. Sorry if I offend you.

And apparently The Gap wanted to bring back the terrible mom jean. Geesh.

So I flipped over to American Eagle. They have lots of inexpensive jeans and are dressing the teens of the world.

Not much better.

Again, a terrible skinny jean.

And then a bootcut one that looks like leg-warmers.

This one is called the boyfriend jean {yes, the boyfriend who wads up his jeans, throws them on the floor, then rolls out of bed in the morning and puts them on – that is exactly who I’d like to base my fashion on}.

No luck on American Eagle. So off I head to Martin & Osa. A brand I like for their casual sophistication.

Not so much. This is a MODEL and she looks all bumpy. What in heaven’s name would these look like on a girl who just birthed my fourth baby?!

WHAT???!!!!

Seriously, the are selling slouchy pegged leg jeans. In a light wash. With PLEATS.

I think I need to just stick with my tried and true Seven A pocket.

today’s thoughts

1. I am ready for a living room facelift.  We have a built-in next to the fireplace that needs to be finished as well as a fresh coat of paint on the walls. But I’m also wanting some new pillows {which I’ll make}and a change in accessories to freshen up the space. I get this way at the onset of every season … the itch to change things around. My poor husband. I’ll take some before and after photos and post them when we’re finished.

2. My mother-in-law is a thrift store shopper. I am definitely not. She always comes out with the best treasures. I just come out feeling like I need some hand sanitizer. But, I benefit greatly from her thrifting trips as she tires of her collections quickly and I get to take what I want. Tonight, I’m headed over to her house to pick through her give-away pile. Hope I come home with some good stuff!

3. My daughter, while precious in every way, has a major spitting up problem. My goodness we go through a lot of outfits and burp cloths each day.

 
4. Ryan is at work tonight and I’m planning on watching every show that he can’t stand: project runway, shear genius and america’s next top model. So looking forward to my date with the dvr.

It’s a sunny day

My mom taught a song to the boys:

“It’s a sunny day, it’s a sunny day, it’s sunny outside so we can go out a play. All the little children say ‘hip-hip-hooray!’ It’s a sunny, sunny day {boom boom}”

Most days when it is unexpectedly sunny {quite frequently, I’m afraid}, we all break out in song. Today was one of those day.

GORGEOUS.

So we headed outdoors.

 

I realized that since having Audrey, I really haven’t photographed my first three loves. So I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots of our beautiful day.

 

We met up with my mom and her wonderful husband for a lakeside lunch.

Then ventured to another park to meet up with cousins. {Note: it was only 68, which is really a nice spring day, but certainly not warm enough to be shirtless – unless you are 5 and your name is Grant}.

   

My silly six year old found posing for the camera quite entertaining. He had some awesome poses.

 

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. We loved today.

Unfortunately, I think we’ll be singing the “It’s a rainy day” version of the song tomorrow.

the nursery

My heart is happy every time I walk past Audrey’s nursery. The colors, the patterns, the fact that it is the girliest place in our house.  At first, when Ryan saw the color I was asking him to paint, he questioned me. Why blue? It was my one chance to go pink, and I chose blue.  I guess I’m just not as crazy about pink as I am blue. I’ve realized as I’ve spent time in her room, that if I could decorate my home any way I wished {without considering the four males that reside with me} it would look very much like our sweet Audrey’s room.

So let me welcome you to the nursery {beware, there are many photos!}

First, the before.

 

This was previously a boy’s nursery {go figure} and I loved the stripes. I originally wanted to use our guest room as the new nursery and us this room as the guest room so that I wouldn’t have to paint over the stripes, but that didn’t happen. So goodbye stripes.

And here it is now:

 

  

       

         

We’re still missing a few key elements {a chandelier - I just haven’t found the right one; a large sheepskin rug; a canvas painted with her scripture verse on it; a few more pillows}, but it is as good as it will get for today. The rest will happen over time. I’m learning to be okay with that …

Some of my favorite things:

:: the wallpaper {actually flat sheets of gift wrap that I have adored for a long time}

:: the ruffles on the curtains

:: the old gold frames {from my grandparents’ collection. They passed before I really knew them, but I think we would have gotten along beautifully. Both were actors and artists – my grandfather did set designs for theater, my grandma taught acting classes to Judy Garland. My mom mentions often that I would have loved her home growing up – glamorous and eclectic at the same time.}

:: the vintage little dresses {I bought one before I was even married and the other was my mom’s}

:: the pink ruffle pillow {I was not planning on putting pink into the room, but I found the pillow and then my mom gave me the crown artwork and it just came together.}

I really love all of the room. I was concerned that I had a vision that I wasn’t going to be able to translate into real life, but I think I got it pretty close.