Evolution of the Nursery

I'm finally posting pictures of the nursery. I've taken forever, because I'm kind of disappointed in how it comes across in pictures. I think it looks so much better in person. Maybe if I had a better camera or photoshop or an ounce of patience with any of the free photo-editing software out there, I would be happier with these pictures. But I love this room. It makes me happy.

Here's what the room looked like when we first moved in:


And this is what it looked like around Christmas (well, this picture wasn't actually taken around Christmas because I can clearly see some green on the trees outside, but you get the idea...)

And this is what it has evolved to:

It was a family effort. My in-laws bought us the crib, my sister-in-law's parents bought us the crib sheets I wanted, and my mom made the crib skirt.

There is my painted lamp and my DIY giraffe art.

My mom also made the small pillow in the chair. I painted the table beside the chair, and the rocking chair.

I painted the dresser and the shelves on the wall. The "M" is a clue as to her name. It is driving my mother insane that we will not tell her. (Honestly, I'm not sure I'm feeling the black frames here, I may spray paint them silver at a later date. Preferably when I'm not harvesting a human fetus who could be effected by the fumes.)


And because I'm a total sucker for closet organization of any kind, I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the closet.

We found out on Friday that the baby is breech and will most likely be delivered by c-section on March 28th. Maybe not my ideal birth scenario, but I'm just excited to meet out little girl. We are full up on stress in our household (a death in the family, a cat with an injured leg, Jeff finishing up grad school, trying to buy a new car, sticker shock at the price of a c-section [!]), we just want our little bundle of joy to be here, in our arms, so we can count all 10 fingers and toes and take a deep breath.

Small Projects, Continued

Finally finished the rocking chair from this post. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, even if it did take forever to sand and paint all those little spindles, and even if I did spill the better part of a quart of paint on the basement floor. (Comedy is a an 8 months pregnant woman on her hands and knees wearing a dust mask and futilely scraping up a puddle of wet paint with pieces of cardboard.)

6 Years

7 years ago a few days after Valentine's Day I was a college senior working in my studio space on campus. I overheard 2 girls talking about what their boyfriend's did for them for Valentine's Day. (I personally, had had an comically awful Valentine's Day consisting of eating KFC with my roommate after a disastrous double date ended early.) I was listening in on their conversation for lack of anything else to listen to, and also out of curiosity. I didn't know either of the girls other than in passing but found them slightly snobby. I am most curious by that which repels me.

The details are irrelevant, but a few months later I was at a diner with some friends. I saw one of the girls there with what I assumed was her boyfriend. I recalled the conversation from the studio and was curious to put a face to the story. He was apparently unimpressive at the time because when I formally met him several months later I didn't remember him until he told me about his girlfriend.

We met in the kitchen of the house I was living in at the time with 4 guys I barely knew. He came over to study and promptly dumped his girlfriend. I took a little more convincing. But I am so glad he took the time.

4 days before Valentine's Day 6 years ago he kissed me, and we've been inseparable ever since.

If you could have tapped me on the shoulder in that diner 7 years ago and told me how this would all unfold between me and the strange boy in the booth across the room I would have had you committed.

But I am thrilled it did.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011 (okay, it's really 2010, but I don't have any pictures of us together in 2011 yet)

Small Projects

My neat-freakness has compelled me to update if for no other reason than to move the last post down on the page.

In good news (AKA News That I May Be About to Jinx Right Now Simply by Mentioning it) the desk from my last post is set to be delivered today after 7 emails from Target, 2 phone calls TO Target and one strongly worded email to customer service.

In other news, I've been working on some smaller projects for the nursery lately.

I painted an end table and a few wall shelves white we already had around the house white, and I decided to paint a few other found objects some bright colors to liven up the room a bit.

I started with a cheap-o lamp and a little wooden pig that my grandfather made for me when I was a kid (it's supposed to be a bank, but I learned the hard way that there's actually no way to get your money back out).


I was unsure about how the lamp came out at first, but it's grown on me. I thought the color might be too gold before, but now seeing how it fits into the room I think it works.

The little piggy is turquoise, and almost looks like it blends in with the wall color here, but that's not actually the case. The walls are more sage.

Next up I need to repair and then refinish this rocking chair my Granny gave me when I was little. I'm not sure about the color yet. Stay tuned.

The Guest Room: Part 3 (The Ugly Truth)

I am ashamed. Ashamed that our guest room/office currently looks like this:

While the nursery is coming along nicely, this room is the bane of my existence.


We sold our desk on craigslist right before Christmas. We found a smaller desk through Target that cost the exact amount we sold our other desk for. But Target keeps emailing me that there has been a delay in the order with no further information about when we might get it. Will we have it in time for the baby shower my mother is hosting for me at my house? Will we have it before the baby comes? Will we have it before she goes to college? Will we live in limbo for eternity? I am waiting to do any further organizing in this room until we get it, and it's driving me batty.


I am not good with mess and chaos, but for now this room has become a dumping grounds.

There, I have advertised my shame to the universe. May God and Target repay me with my new desk!

The Bathroom Re-Do

We are working on the nursery over here, but for now it's just furniture in an otherwise empty room. Meanwhile our guest room is a disaster area as we sold our computer desk and I'm writing this from a folding table formerly from our laundry room.

I'll take this time to document the bathroom remodel we embarked on in May.

When we first moved into this house I didn't think the bathroom was too bad. I removed the wall paper and thought a fresh coat of paint would be enough for a while. But the more I lived with it, the more I came to abhor it. I hated cleaning it because it never looked clean. I hated the mauve tub and the soft spot in the wall under the shower head which I was sure meant the studs behind the wall were rotted (spoiler: they weren't, thank goodness). I hated that stepping on the tile floor with wet feet meant loose tiles would stick to said feet. I hated that someone had replaced tiles on the shower walls unevenly and that perhaps that same someone had caulked around the tub while under the influence. I hated the vinyl wall covering that had been applied to the ceiling and grew mildew like a champ.

But enough with the complaints, here are the befores:



Jeff's brother (a contractor) came and stayed at our house for about 5 days to help us (or more accurately, Jeff) with the work. I am so grateful to him and his expertise. He worked his ass off for us.

The demolition took only a few hours. The putting back together took 4 and a half days. Luckily we have another bathroom in the basement (one that I will likely never post photos of because it ain't pretty and as much as I'd like to make it over I fear it would still be like putting lipstick on a pig). Albeit has a frightening metal shower that kind of made me gag every time I stepped foot in it, but at least we didn't have to beg the neighbors for baths!



At the time we did the remodel I was working in a kitchen and bath showroom so I was able to get a lot of the big expenses at a deep discount; the vanity, the tile and the countertop mainly.


I painted. That was my main physical contribution.

And now the afters:

I wanted most of the permanent fixtures to be pretty neutral so that the paint color and accessories could be changed out with future owners.

I had considered doing some sort of glass accent tile in the shower, but my cheapness won out. I also have more of a modern aesthetic and was afraid that might alienate future buyers or that I might end up not liking it some day, so I went ultra-neutral with white subway tile, but I decided to stack it instead of stagger it for a bit more modernity.



Source List:
The vanity is Kraftmaid Grandview Cherry in Peppercorn

The countertop is Corian Whisper

The faucet is Vigo from Overstock.com

The floor tile has been discontinued

The wall tile, toilet (American Standard), and tub (Kohler) are all from Home Depot, I believe.

The shower controls are Kohler Corlais from Lowes.

The light fixture is from Bellacor.com

The window shade is a cordless cellular from JC Penney.

The shower curtain is Nautica from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Happy New Year!

DIY Nursery Art

... or How to Forge Some Artwork You Like But Are Too Cheap to Actually Buy

In my last nursery post I linked to some artwork I liked. I contemplated buying it, then considered the fact that it didn't look all that difficult to reproduce (because as stated above, am cheap). Especially since I had all of the supplies on hand to do so.

I copied the image I like, pasted it into word and stretched it to the size I wanted. I printed it out on the lowest quality.

Then I turned the page over and traced over the image with a pencil.

Then turned the page back over and centered it on top of some card stock which will be my final canvas. I made sure you hold the top page still, but it could be taped down if necessary. Then I scribbled over the image to transfer the pencil from the other side to the card stock.

I tried to take a picture of the pencil on card stock, but it was so light it did not photograph well. Then I used some acrylic paint from Michael's to fill in my tracing. I could have probably also used some high quality markers, but I like to get my paint brushes out every once in a while.

And voila:

Then I decided I really wanted an elephant too, so I made the giraffe a friend:

Both took less than a few hours, were totally free to me and customizable in terms of size and color, and I'm excited to see them in place.

Merry Christmas to me!