Silas' Nursery Tour

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."
-Leo J. Burke

I have been collecting nursery ideas for years (most recently on Baby B's Room Pinterest board). Although I considered several different options, I decided to go in the direction of bold and graphic, rather than a traditional baby theme. I fell in love with the feather fabric for the window valance first and built the room around that color scheme (dark teal, coral, citron, and gray) with a loose adventure vibe (feathers, arrows, mountains, etc.).

Rob took on the big projects like replacing the carpet with wooden laminate flooring and painting the walls dark gray. In the meantime, I focused on creating custom artwork for the walls, and my mom helped us with many of the sewing projects. We love the result and couldn’t wait to bring Baby B home to his new room!!

See other posts about the progress of the nursery: choosing a paint color, curtains and other early sewing projects, choosing fabrics, and nursery inspiration board.

 

 

Source List:

• Laminate flooring: Style Selections SwiftLock in Chestnut Hickory from Lowes
• Paint color: Valspar Pewter
• Crib: Gulliver from IKEA
• Dresser: Malm 6-drawer dresser from IKEA
• Bookshelves/window seat: Kallax shelving units with Skubb boxes, both from IKEA
• Window valance: handmade by my mom; Michael Miller’s Birds of a Feather fabric
• Windowseat cushion and pillows: handmade by my mom
• Rocking chair: hand-me-down from Momo and Poppy
• Side table: Big Lots (top surface painted white, bottom shelf is actually a spray-painted cakestand from Bake and Party Design)
• Soft ottoman: handmade by my mom, inspired by "Land of Nod-inspired floor cushion" from Living with Punks
• Rug: Hulsig from IKEA
• Sheepskin rug: Rens from IKEA
• Lamp base: Threshold Metal Linear Table Lamp from Target / Lampshade: IKEA (can't find on website)
• White basket under side table: Hobby Lobby
• "Greatest Adventure" banner: handmade by me with freezer paper stencils
• Bicycle gear art: engineer print from Staples mounted on canvas and framed with black washi tape
• Dream catcher: handmade with feathers from ForCRAFT
• Mirror: Stave from IKEA
• String art: handmade (inspired by the DIY Geometric Photo Display at The Caldwell Project)
• Name art: printed by me, Ribba frames from IKEA
• Crib sheets/crib skirt/changing pad cover: handmade by my mom
• Mobile: mechanics from Cocalo, fabric canopy and felt shapes handmade by my mom
• Arrow quilt: handmade by my mom
• Balsa wood art on door: Hobby Lobby

 

All photos by Erin Drago Photography or Linda Perkins.

Nursery paint colors

"I love you beyond paint, beyond melodies, beyond words. And I hope you will always feel that, even when I'm not around to tell you so.”
-Kiera Cass

Most of the rooms in our house are still painted the oh-so-love shade of "builder khaki"... including the nursery. But as we fix up Baby B's room, a fresh coat of paint is top of the to-do list.

I'm leaning towards a gray, hoping that the teal, coral and citron will really pop! I mocked up a few of my favorite colors... to see how dark we can go!

What do you think?

Wall color is Olympic Secret Passage

Wall color is Valspar Gray Plank

Wall color is Valspar Pewter

Knowing that Rob is training for his annual bicycle ride to the beach (this Friday!!), I didn't expect that we would start any of this big project until after that. However, he got a wild hair this weekend. We were able to clear out the room and put some sample paint up on the walls to consider.

Now we just have to decide...

Nursery progress... part 1

"Every baby needs a lap."
-Henry Robin

When we left off in the nursery, I was debating what fabric choices and color scheme to move forward with. Would it be the modern woodland theme or the graphic feather theme?

After exploring and brainstorming about each option, I just went with my gut and the choice that seemed to best match the decorating style that I had in mind. A quick look at my pins on Pinterest, and I knew that bold and graphic was the way to go.

So... feathers it is!!

Click here to see fabric sources

Ever since we moved into this house, we knew that the small bedroom in the corner of the second floor would be the nursery, if and when we needed it. In fact, while babies were still far on the horizon, Rob and I compromised on calling this room, "The B.R." ... which stood for both "bonus room" and "baby room."

I've also joked that this is the room where furniture goes to die. As we phased out furniture from our college and apartment days, we moved it in here, hoping we would find someone who could revive it. Futons, chairs, entertainment centers, side tables, rugs... it was all stacked up in here. We knew we had a bit of decluttering to do before we could fit a baby in here as well.

When Mama came to visit at Labor Day, I knew this would might be only chance to have her sewing expertise on location before Baby B was born. We made the most of our four days together, making multiple trips to multiple fabric stores, squeezing in a dash around IKEA, and sewing up a storm. She also posted about our adventures over at Mommy's Treasures.

 

During our time together, we were able to make amazing progress on the window-side of the nursery (the other half is still piled high with furniture!) Here's what we accomplished:

• Sewed and hung a window valance
• Assembled three Kallax cube shelves
• Rearranged furniture and moved my grandmother's rocking chair from the guest room
• Upcycled a cushion that we had made a couple of years ago into a window seat cushion
• Made throw pillows galore
• Sewed several fitted crib sheets in coordinating fabrics
• Planned to make fitted covers for the changing table pad (once I can measure it)
• Failed at making a Boppy pillow cover... decided it's worth it just to buy that!
• Made and stuffed (with a lot of effort) an ottoman

I'm so excited by the progress we made! This is now my favorite room in the house! Now if I can just motivate Rob to help me clean up the rest of the room, order a crib, and paint the walls, then we'll be in business. I'll keep you posted...

Nursery Fabrics

"To be pregnant is to be vitally alive, thoroughly woman, and undoubtedly inhabited."
-Anne Buchanan

My mom planned to visit for Labor Day weekend. And, knowing that this might be the only time she's at my house before Baby B is here, I really wanted to take advantage of her sewing expertise and get started on the nursery.

A new sewing project means one thing... a trip to Mary Jo's Cloth Store. I headed up to Gastonia (only an hour and a half from my house) one Saturday afternoon with the goal of gathering fabric swatches in a couple of color schemes.

Mary Jo's Cloth Store... the fabric mecca of the Southeast

We wouldn't know Baby B's gender for a few more weeks, so I wanted to start with a gender-neutral base. (Even if we did know, I don't think we'd go over-the-top girly or boyish anyway!)

Two and a half hours later, I had collected three sets of fabrics. However, before I even got home, I had already narrowed it down to the top two contenders. Take a look!

Would it be Option A? The modern woodland theme?

[clockwise: Riley Blake Boy Stripes Orange | Riley Blake Scenic Critters Blue | Riley Blake Boy Swirls Aqua | Michael Miller Tile Pile Dirt | Michael Miller Garden Pindot Clem]

Or would it be Option B? The graphic feather theme?

[clockwise: Michael Miller Birds of a Feather Quill | Micheal Miller Clown Stripe Limeade | Michael Miller Garden Pindot Clem | Michael Miller Dino Roars Stitch | Michael Miller Diddly Dot Sky]

I gave myself two weeks to decide before my mom came to town and we could go back to purchase the full yardage. Although I (and everyone else that I asked) was originally leaning towards Color Scheme A, halfway through I started to second-guess myself.

Any guesses as to which direction I chose?

Nursery Dreams

"Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be."
-Carrie Fisher

Baby = A nursery to decorate... surely I'm not the only one to do this math immediately after finding out they're pregnant?!?

I've been saving ideas for Baby B's room since before Baby B was even a realistic idea. They were once stored on my Someday Pinterest board, but I've since moved them to a secret Baby B's Room board. I'll probably make them public again in a few months, but until then, here are a few of the ideas that have sparked my creativity.

1. My Bella Bug |  2. Playtype Concept Store by leuchtend grau | 3. The Alison Show | 4. The Little Umbrella

5. Going Home to Roost | 6. enJOY it by Elise Cripe | 7. A Beautiful Mess | 8. Minted: Julep | 9. Children Inspire Design

10. Elements of Style | 11. Poppytalk | 12. Life in Bridgetown | 13. 100 Layer Cakelet | 14. Little Lovely

15. 100 Layer Cakelet | 16. Project Nursery | 17. Statshem via My Ideal Home | 18. Little Green Notebook

I'm inspired by a color scheme here and a piece of furniture there, a graphic print here and a room layout there.

Can't wait to show you the direction we choose!!