Tate's Nursery

Ages ago, I gave a sneak peek of the baby's new room, and then last time I posted, I said that I'd share photos of the completed space within a week.  I thought I was giving myself enough time, given that taking care of a newborn takes up ALL of my time these days.  Here I am though, almost two weeks later just  getting the photos up....such is life with the baby, as sweet and wonderful as he is :)

Before I share the "after" shots, I should show you what the space looked like when we moved in:

And again, over a year later when we still hadn't gotten around to making it a pretty room.  Please don't judge the mess:

Other than refinishing the floors and hanging some window shades, we hadn't even painted the walls in this room.  I'm sympathetic toward our poor guests who had to stay in this less-than-pretty space time after time (although I promise the bed looked more inviting than it does in this picture).  So this was our starting point, and after a few weekends of tackling a board and batten wall treatment, months of shopping for baby furniture and accessories, and creating some personalized statement pieces, this is how the room turned out:

I would say it is quite a transformation, and is definitely the bright, fresh space we were going for!  I wanted it to have a classic feel, with a bit of whimsy and an interesting color palate that I could build on.  I chose aqua and orange, and ended up with a nice mix of blues that compliment each other as well as contrast with the bright hits of orange in the space.  Obviously, white is a huge component in the room as well, with a large circular shag rug providing softness and texture, and a white micro-velvet rocker/glider giving me the perfect place to spend (a lot!) of time.

I like this crib for its clean-lined, modern feel.  It has a nice drawer for storage as well.  The map letters I made sit perfectly above the board and batten, and tie in all of the shades of blue in the room.

The bedding collection is "Ben" from Serena & Lily, and I have to mention that I purchased the entire set for 70% off when they had a sale this summer.  It was so exciting to get that kind of a deal!  The art piece at the end of the crib is a letter-pressed "T" I found, and framed in a turquoise frame that I had previously been using in another room.  I added an orange background to make it pop and tie in with the room.

Much of my time these days is spent in this very comfy rocker-glider.  I brought in this Eileen Gray table from my living room for a touch of modern glam.  This is for me, because let's be honest, I care way more about how this room looks than the baby does right now!  I love the pattern on the ottoman pouf, and it's the perfect height and softness as a foot rest for me.  Plus, it will function well as Tate grows and wants things to pull himself up on.  I purchased it from this Etsy shop, and would highly recommend browsing the collection if you're looking for a great selection of patterns and a well made, quality piece.  

This mahogany bow-front dresser was given to us by my parents-in-law, and its been in several rooms before this one.  I was going to paint it, but just couldn't cover up the rich wood that I liked so much.  Turns out it looks great here and is a nice juxtaposition with some of the more modern elements.  The "art" above the dresser is simple framed letter-press greeting cards that are the right color tones for the room.  I wrapped a couple of the frames in a natural linen to make the images stand out.  Also, I kind of have a thing for lamps, and managed to squeak two fantastic ones into this room.  This one, with the great burlap shade, and the one by my rocker (with the pretty fabric patterned shade) are both from HomeGoods.

The completed drapery panels turned out well.  My mom came to the rescue and finished sewing them after the baby was born and I was in no shape to complete the project.  I started them here, and it was her idea to add a narrow piece of orange grosgrain ribbon.  The panels are mostly decorative, but I love the pattern on this fabric and how it ties in with the other elements.

These built ins were original to the house, and are perfect in this room in so many ways.  The countertop is the right height for a changing table, and there's lots of surface area for diapers, supplies and essentials to be within easy reach.  Lots of open shelving is great for storage and display, and I painted the backs of the shelves a soft aqua to offset the brightly colored accessories.  With drawers and more storage below, this unit can evolve as Tate grows, providing space for all of his "stuff", and hopefully giving him some incentive to keep things neat and organized.......yeah, right :)

So here it is again, our little nursery project.  It truly is one of the nicest rooms in the house now, and I love spending time in here with my little guy:

Introducing....

Its been ages since I last posted, and for good reason.  This past month has brought wonderful life change, and an amazing new adventure.  On October 20, 2011, we welcomed our new baby boy into the world.  He was more than ready to be born (I was a week late), and he came to us at a healthy 8lbs, 12oz!  In this post, I revealed two of the letters of his name, and got some great guesses as to what it would actually be.  No one came close to actually guessing it........

Meet Tate.  He's such a joy, and we are blessed as new parents to be entrusted with raising this little guy.

I posted here a sneak peek of his nursery.  Check back again this week for the reveal of his completed little room!

Cozy Whites

With the weather getting cooler, I'm already thinking about warming up the house with some winter decor, and I even have a bit of Christmas on my mind.  I can't wait to pull out all of that sparkly goodness!  I love white, but it can seem more "cool" than "cozy" during the winter months.  Check out these pretty little finds though--white and warm.

1.  Ruffly Felt Wreath - Tutorial via Design*Sponge (I WILL be making one of these this season!)

2.  Sweater Vase

3.  Mongolian Lamb Pillow Cover

4.  Oversized Cable Knit Throw (almost worth learning to knit so I can make one of these!)

5.  Owl Candle

6.  White Birch Bark Wreath

7.  Birch Log Vases

8.  White Pumpkins

9.  Winter Scene--snow covered and cold, but there's something so warm and familiar about a winter frost

I'm not wishing for snow quite yet, but these cozy-cool pieces make me want to string up some white Christmas lights, sip on a cup of warm hot chocolate and curl up with a good design magazine.  How about you?

Still Workin'

Since the baby's due date came and went and the little guy forgot to show up, I'm trying to find ways to keep my mind off of the fact that I'm still pregnant.  The nursery is almost complete, but there are a few finishing touches that I want to try to get done if at all possible.  I mentioned in this post that the nursery bedding was initially a disappointment because it was so blue, compared to the aqua/turquoise colors that I was going for.  In the end, everything is tying together beautifully, and I wanted to continue bringing together the two shades of blue I'm working with.

For drapes, I would have loved to go with full patterned panels, but I needed to keep this economical and use what I had on hand.  I've been hanging on to this aqua geometric for a long time, and I wanted to make it work in this room.

To stay on budget, I bought these inexpensive panels and took the tabs tops out because I plan on using ring clips to hang the side panels.

Since I had limited yardage of the fabric and wanted maximum impact, I decided to sew 12" strips down the outside edge of each panel.  There are 2 windows in the room, so there's nice opportunity for some "hits" of this fabric.

Here's some photos of the fabric after I attached it to the panel--very basic sewing skills folks--nothing but straight lines and uncomplicated patterns.  I added a grosgrain ribbon to trim out the inside edge and bring in the blue tones found in the bedding.

At the end of it all, to my delight, I had just the right amount of fabric to piece together this pillow cover--complete with some fun orange ball fringe--for the room.  I'll have photos of the completed space soon, and hopefully some even more exciting news to share.....:)

Featured!

Today, I'm so honored to be featured over at Jena's blog, Involving Color.  Her blog has such a unique concept in that it features real rooms, offering readers an extensive resource of room galleries and paint galleries.  She's done a great job at compiling a ton of information for her readers, and her own home is stylish and beautiful as well.  Head over here to check it out.

Thanks for the feature Jena!