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Babies don't need nurseries.
Parents need (want?) nurseries.
That said, we had so much fun putting together the nursery we wanted!
My parameters: Hand made touches: Almost everything in the room was either hand made, hand finished, or given to us, by multiple people in our lives. No theme: I didn't want a "theme" to the nursery, although you could say the theme is "color!" Gender neutral: Since we didn't know baby's gender, the room needed to be gender-neutral. Also, we plan to have more children, and I didn't want to decorate a room completely "boy" or "girl", just to re-decorate it in a couple years. Shared room: My sister who is away in college will be staying here during the summer, Christmas, spring break, etc. The twin bed and tall dresser are for her. Coordinated without being matchy-matchy: I'm not a fan of the bed-in-a-bag looks for nurseries. I wanted the fabrics in the room to coordinate without having everything identical. Vintage / modern / industrial: The room has a really mixed style, which I love. It probably leans most toward vintage, but there are modern/industrial touches, like the curtain knobs, the dresser knobs, and the trash can. I'd love to eventually add a bold, industrial clock, and perhaps some colorful industrial book ends when the book collection outgrows the basket.
WALL PAINT: Home Depot Behr Porpoise (grey) and Home Depot Behr Yellow Brick Road (yellow)
TALL DRESSER: Craigslist, painted faces of drawers white, new knobs
WIDE DRESSER: Craigslist, solid wood dovetail joints, painted faces of drawers white, new knobs
Sanded and painted by a generous friend, a lot of work with 2 coats primer and 2 coats paint, hand sanding took the longest proportionally of the project (10 hours total for dressers)
BED FRAME: Craigslist, antique metal bed, totally rusted out, sandblasted (Benjamin), hand sanded (with vinegar and steel wool, me), primed and painted with Rustoleum spray paint (Benjamin, two coats each of primer and paint), way too much work (12 hours maybe?)
CRIB: Gift from my sister, older drop side style - gasp - that is actually safe compared to the new ones that have been banned (and Jax doesn't sleep in here yet anyway; he - gasp - co-sleeps with us for now).
GLIDER: Loaned from my sister, she got it for free from the side of the road
Wide dresser is also the changing table
RESOURCES:
Changing pad: LA Baby 30" changing pad, Amazon (has straps that screw to the back of the dresser to keep it from falling off) When we put Jax on the changing pad, he cranes his head back to look out the window, so we plan to un-screw and re-attach the pad on the left side of the dresser so he has a better view without straining.
Changing pad cover: Carter's Jersey Bassinet sheet, Amazon (I was apalled at the prices for "real" changing pad covers. As much as we spent on the room, I still could not bring myself to spend $20 to $30 for a changing pad cover that's going to get poop on it several times a day. These bassinet sheets are just slightly small for this pad. A 28" pad would fit them perfectly).
Green basket: Garden Ridge $12, holds cloth wipe warmer, (important because a standard wipe warmer has a tiny hole for the wipes to pop through; this warmer is just a large open rectangle perfect for folded cloth wipes), wipes (cotton flannel hand made by Benjamin's mom, directions here), lotion, hand sanitizer, diaper rash cream
Cloth wipe warmer:
Cloth wipes:
ART above changing table RESOURCES
Frames: Garden Ridge, thrift store, Hobby Lobby, painted the small square ones with 99 cent acrylic paints
Blue framed art: Etsy, fabric, part of the Carolyn Gavin Spring Street collection, Main Street panel
Green framed art: watercolor I painted in junior high, not my best work, but special to us
White framed mirror: gift
Silver framed art: Etsy, Katie Daisy watercolor (print), signed on back by artist
Orange framed art: Etsy, fabric, part of the Carolyn Gavin Spring Street collection, Main Street panel
Red framed art: acrylic hummingbird painting my grandmother made, I printed a saying on the background that was on a piece of art in my own bedroom growing up, and made a little border from yellow lace
"Keep close to me, Lord
In gentle ways, let me know you are near."
Crochet Animals: handmade by my aunt, pattern from Etsy
Books: gifts or collected along the way of my life
Basket: Garden Ridge
Wooden toy box at foot of bed: vintage, gift
Crocheted blanket on top of toy box: hand me down (I think one of my great aunts made it?)
Tree wall art: oil base original, gift from a friend received early in the pregnancy, this was the inspiration for the rest of the room
BEDDING amd FABRIC:
Fabric: Etsy, Carolyn Gavin Spring Street collection, by far the most
expensive (and underestimated) part of the project; I spent about $400 in fabric. My mom sewed anything in this room that is fabric, including the pillows, bed skirts, drapes, crib bumpers, etc. She is amazing.
Rocker fabric: Hancock Fabrics (local)
Bed Quilt: vintage, purchased just the top layer (hand stitched) off Ebay for $35 several years ago. I intended to use it as a photography prop, but never did. After receiving the tree art canvas, and starting to plan the room in my head, I remembered the quilt and knew it would be perfect. After we purchased the batting and backing, my mom quilted it all together (probably took her 15-20 hours to machine quilt all those pinwheel sections).
Crib Quilt: top layer purchased on Etsy already assembled, machine stitched, my mom quilted it to the batting and backing
Crib mattress: gift from sister, some super fancy thing
Crib pad: Carters Keep Me Dry Waterproof Crib Pad, Amazon
Crib
sheets: Craigslist, 4 plain white sheets (because I was really annoyed
with how much they charge for crib sheets, although we could have made
some as well, but I didn't mind plain white sheets since everything else
was so colorful)
Crib bumper: purchased a bumper at the thrift store, then ripped
off the fabric, used the padding, made new cover and ties (much cheaper
than buying the padding at the fabric store, since the thrift store
bumper was only $2)
Framed photo: frame Hobby Lobby, Scripture verses hand selected and hand written by friends
Curtain Knobs: vintage, Etsy
And the other side of the room....
Clock: cheap plastic, gift
Trash can, red metal, Garden Ridge (local)
Shoe rack: canvas, thrifted
Art above door: Benjamin painted it in college, and re-painted a small section to fit inside the frame, plus added his name, my name, and "Beta" very tiny in the grass, frame Hobby Lobby
Laundry hamper: Garden Ridge (local) and Kissa's waterproof pail linerAmazon
In the bathroom (not shown), we use Planet Wise large wet bag for cloth diapers, along with a Bum Genius diaper sprayer
Orange metal shelves: vintage, Etsy
Picture frames: thrifted, painted with cheap acrylic paints
Giraffe photo holders: gift
Maternity photos: Willow Grove Photography(unfortunately, she has moved away, so no longer a local photographer, but still a good friend, and if you live in the Indianapolis area, hire her!)
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Some "before" and "work in progress" images.
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Regarding painting. I had a hard time finding good info on what was safe for me to paint while pregnant. In the end, a construction friend of ours said I shouldn't be around primer or oil base paint of any kind, for any reason, for any length of time. My husband painted the walls, and I painted the trim while wearing a respirator mask. My construction friend wanted me to be sure it was on my face properly. I said, "Well it kind of makes my face ache, it's a bit hard to breathe, and I can't smell any fumes."
"Then you probably have it on correctly," he agreed. He said the main problem with those masks is people don't wear them properly, so they don't do much for you. He also said that in his lifetime in the construction industry (his specialty is flooring installation), he's never met an intelligent painter. He is convinced it is long-term exposure to paint fumes that has affected them.
My husband primed the bedroom walls (kilz latex water base), so I wasn't around primer. He also painted the bed frame (oil base paint). He actually used the respirator mask himself while painting these things, because their fumes are very strong. And a friend painted the faces of the dresser drawers (kilz latex primer and oil base paint). So the only thing I did is a bit of trim work with latex paint, while wearing the respirator mask.
Additionally, I found it recommended for anyone who is pregnant, and also for small children, to stay out of a freshly painted room for 3-4 days. Even though you can't smell the fumes any more, the paint is still leaching chemicals into the air. We kept the windows open in the nursery, and the door closed, for a week or so after it was painted, to help clear the fumes out.
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And that's a wrap! I was amazed that the first time we took Jax in
his room, he just looked and looked around with those wide open newborn
eyes. I think he must enjoy looking at all the color and contrast in
the room.
The room really represents the time and hard work of so many people. We feel so blessed, and it really turned out as the cheery, cozy place I imagined!
