Violet's Nursery

The crib bumper and window seat cushion finally arrived this week, and my father-in-law finished the window seat bench top! There are a few little details that still need to be taken care of, like painting the top of the window seat white, getting a new wall sconce and making a couple more pillows, etc. but the important things are finished and I couldn't wait to post pictures.

Here's where we started when we moved in:

Oh and picture a sports border in between the orange and 'dinge' colored paint. In our zest to remove it, we forgot to take a true before photo.

The first thing I did is come up with an idea board for the space:

We (AKA the Hubster) did a lot of painting and construction, including new hardwood floors from Lumber Liquidators, adding beadboard, and all new trim:

To get the nursery to this point:

So there's a little bit of history for you. Without further ado, here is the (mostly) completed nursery:

I debated about getting a bumper, but Violet will be sleeping in the bassinet in our bedroom for a while, and when she moves to the nursery we will remove the bumper until it is age appropriate. I just love how they look, and it was one of my few splurges for the nursery! Silly I know. :)

We went with a custom bumper from etsy seller Jayna at RockyTop Designs. She did a fantastic job! Her prices have gone up a bit since we ordered because she is so busy she had to hire extra help. Plus you now receive your bedding more quickly (7 weeks vs. the 13 that we waited). I think that's a great deal. The rest of the bedding is just plain white. In such a small space we didn't want anything too busy.

Our owl was a gift from a coworker and his wife. They follow the blog and picked out a perfect gift for little Violet's nursery! The 'V' wall letter is from Anthropologie.

We got our crib on Cyber Monday for $103 from Babies R Us! It's sturdy and was pretty easy to put together. We love the Jenny Lind style - so classic.

We scored the glider at a neighbor's yard sale a while back. It was only $5! She keeps her stuff in great condition, but was downsizing to a smaller place, so the glider had to go. We got really lucky - it's practically brand new and is so comfortable. The beautiful crocheted baby blanket was a gift - handmade is the best!

The curtains are from Urban Outfitters - only $35 for a pack of two! I love our adjustable lamp from IKEA - perfect for reading bedtime stories (And of course your can't beat the price - $39.99)

I am sooo in love with our new window seat bench and cushion. It opens up for storage and is a comfy cozy place to sit and survey the neighborhood or read a book. I made the pillows myself (and I'm pretty proud of it too - I'm NOT a sewer by any stretch of the imagination) I think I'll make a few more, but sewing is tough when you're 39.5 weeks pregnant. The window seat cushion is also a custom piece from Jayna @ RockyTop Designs on etsy.

The baby gym is LEKA from IKEA. The simple clean lines are great, it's not plastic, and the toys can be changed out easily. The rug is super soft and fluffy and adds some great texture to the room. I think Violet's going to love sitting on it to play. We got the last one for $80 on Overstock.

I've been wanting this 'Love' print from Jennifer over at madebygirl FOR EVER. I'm so happy it's finally in Violet's room! The cute little crocheted monster is from etsy seller kdericks - what would I do without etsy? (Probably spend a lot less money haha!) The shelving unit was a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law, but I'm guessing it was from IKEA.

I love the crocheted flower garland that my Grandma (Violet's Great-Grammy) made for our shower. It makes a perfect nursery decoration! The organic Boppy cover is from Babies R Us. We also got the waterproof slipcover to go underneath it. I can't wait to try it out! Please excuse the wall sconce - we still haven't found the perfect thing, and this one is functional for now.

I painted the tree and the hand-me-down dresser for the nursery and added fabric leaves to the wall for a little added texture. We also replaced the wooden knobs on the dresser with white and metal ones (we couldn't decide between white or metal, so we did both). It's amazing what you can do with a little paint!

Mr. Fox and Mr. Owl were gifts from my sister. They really helped to jump start the whole nursery design.

I'll update as little finishing details happen, but we're so happy with how everything turned out! AND we managed to stay within our budget. Here's the break down:


Construction and Furniture Costs:

Flooring: $110
Beadboard: $80
Paint: $23.50
Curtains: $70
Crib: $103
Glider: $5

Subtotal: $391.50

Decor Costs:

Owl & Fox: Etsy Gifts from my Sister = free!
Custom Crib Bumper: Etsy Seller Rocky Top Designs ($99)
Crib Mattress: Gift from my Parents (Free!)
Custom Window Seat Cushion: Etsy Seller Rocky Top Designs ($89)
Love Print: Made by Girl ($25)
Floor Lamp: IKEA ($39.99)
Pillows: Handmade ($30)
Grey Rug: Overstock ($80)
Hamper: It's a Girly World ($29.99)
Metal Owl: Gift (Free!)
Crocheted Monster: Etsy Seller KDericks ($18)
Crocheted Blanket: Gift (Free!)
Wall Letter: Anthropologie ($18)
Crib Skirt: Gift (Free!)
Crib Sheets: Gift (Free!)
Dresser Knobs: Lowes ($24 for 8)
Boppy & Slipcovers: Gift (Free!)
Crocheted Flower Garland: Made by Great-Grammy (Free!)
LEKA Gym: IKEA ($24.99)
Storage Bins: Target ($16)
Books & Stuffed Animals: Gifts (Free!)


Subtotal: $493.97

Grand total for nursery construction, furniture AND decor: $885.47!

THAT'S a bargain. Now we just need our beautiful baby girl to make it complete :)

To see all of our nursery posts, click here. Thanks for letting me share and have a great weekend!

I did a post on the sources that are not listed here.

Organization Love

It always amazes me when people can take everyday utilitarian spaces and things and make them look beautiful...

I'd love for my broom closet to look like this:

Gotta love Martha!

And this is very pretty too:

Via

Who would've thought to color coordinate under the sink?

And I can't get over my love of wire baskets:

Via

I also love how you can pretty up a plain old cabinet just by adding a little wallpaper:

Via

And painted pegboards are just perfect:

 Via 

Via

Who knew that being organized could be so pretty?

Feel like organizing? Here are a few links that may be helpful:

Pegboard Ideas for Small Spaces - Apartment Therapy
Pegboards for Every Room - Real Simple
Organize Your Closet Like a Pro - Unclutterer
A Call to Order: Maximizing Your Closet Space - Martha Stewart  
31 Ways to Make Over Your Closets - Real Simple 

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for the nursery reveal! 

Nursery Update

I'm so excited - the finishing touches on the nursery are coming together this week!

We got our lamp, our custom bumper and window seat cushion will be arriving any day now, and our window seat top is in! (It just needs to be painted). And my super handy father-in-law is currently working on a changing station for the crib. All just in time for Violet's impending arrival!

Maybe pictures by Friday? I'm not making any promises though...

Mood Board Monday for West Elm

Okay, so I know it's not Monday, but I recently discovered Mood Board Mondays over at Pewter & Sage and just had to participate! Here is my idea board designed around West Elm's PATCH NYC Framed Wall Art Collection:

Sources:

Headboard - West Elm
Duvet - West Elm
PATCH NYC Framed Wall Art - West Elm
Toss Pillows - Velocity Art & Design
Print - Ballard Designs
Lamp - Crate & Barrel
Wall Sconce - West Elm
ArmChair - Macy's
Window Treatments - West Elm
Potted Succulent - Crate & Barrel

Lauren & Jon's Bedroom

Recently, Lauren wrote to me with a request for a bedroom idea board:

Hi Lauren, 

We are redoing our bedroom and would love an idea board.We've chosen the bed and bedding, but need ideas for the rest of the room. Curtains would be great - right now we have wooden blinds on our windows which I still like, but I'd love to see your ideas for fabric. 

Other furniture we need would be like a mirror, 2 dressers - a tall one and a long one, and some kind of bedside tables; however, with the new bed, we are limited on space, so I was trying to think of what could double as a bedside table and something else.  I thought maybe a small desk type piece that could be my makeup area/jewlery place/lamp with alarm clock.  

I want to start searching, but now it's report card time and I need to spend my entire weekend working on them!  I was also thinking of doing a bench.  Add any accessories you like b/c they are MY FAV!

Thanks!

Lauren

I absolutely love your headboard and bedding choices, Lauren! Here's what I came up with:

Curtains - West Elm
Paint - Behr Water Mark
Mirror - Ballard Designs
Dressers - West Elm
Vanity/Nightstand - Bed Bath & Beyond
Chair - West Elm
Bench - Ballard Designs
Print - Ballard Designs
Wall Sconce - West Elm
Throw Pillow - Williams Sonoma
Lamps - Crate & Barrel

Eye Candy

For your Monday...I am seriously IN LOVE with these new images from BHG magazine:

It makes me want to repaint my house again!

My Love Affair...

With cookies has definitely taken back off. I've always had a bit of an obsession, but during my first and second trimester, my interest waned. Now in the third it is back full force!

Via

I can't remember saying throughout my pregnancy, "I deserve to eat this because I'm pregnant"...until now! Last night I baked cookies and ate three. Then I really wanted a fourth...and then a fifth. I did end up stopping at four, but that phrase definitely kept playing through my head, "You deserve it...you're pregnant..."

I guess that's what happens when you're almost 39 weeks!

H-Haus Back Room

A.K.A. The Room of Hand-me-down Furniture

So the back room of the H-Haus, formerly the dining room, has been a bit of a storage room for a while now. With saving up for being off with Violet, there wasn't much left to furnish this space. We had lots of hand-me-downs, but they just didn't seem right for the room. Well we finally got fed up last weekend and decided to do something, at least temporarily, to make the space livable.

First we cleaned out all of the junk that had taken up residence in the room. Then we scoured the H-Haus for any hand-me-down random furniture that we could make use of in the space. We had an IKEA shelving/entertainment unit from the Hubster's sister, an old desk that had belonged to the Hubster's grandmother in nursing school, and a few random pieces from Target that we had bought when we first moved into the H-Haus. It certainly isn't our dream furniture, but we thought we could make it work.

Here's what we came up with. (Sorry I don't have a before shot. Just picture the space filled with boxes and STUFF):

I kind of felt like we were on an episode of an old HGTV show called Design Remix. (At least I don't think that show is still running - I haven't seen it for a while.) But basically they would hunt around people's homes for whatever they could use in the room to make it nice - a room makeover without spending a dime.

The best thing I think we did was to separate the entertainment center. One part became a console on which we placed the mirror. The other half became a shelving unit around the desk. We happened to have some art that worked, and I felt like the black accents really helped to tie it all together. '

Is it our dream space? Definitely not. But it's livable and functional - I love having the desk to use for bills and things. Before it was never used in a lonely corner in the guest room. And I love to cozy up in the chair and blog to my heart's content. I feel like our tiny house has grown!