Art for the Nursery: Which Would You Choose?

I'm trying to decide on a print for Lucy's nursery to go on the wooden shelf above her bookcase, but I just simply can't choose between the two of these from The Animal Print Shop. That little fox is just too handsome, and the deer is so, so sweet. Which would you choose?

(On the other hand, I suppose I could use the "Love" artwork from Violet's original nursery? It is currently homeless, as it doesn't really fit in her new space. Plus - "free!")

An Update on Lucy's Nursery

One thing I get a lot of questions about is Lucy's nursery. I know I've never really done a "reveal" because it's really still not finished - for a lot of reasons. Namely budget (being off work without pay for over a year makes you pinch your pennies for sure) and time (with Lucy down to one nap and Violet not napping at all, plus freelancing for a bunch of different sites and a local magazine, plus finding time for friends and family = not much time to fiddle around with home decor) So anyway, here is an update for you, and really there are just a few little things that I need to do to finish off this space.

The main area that needs work is this little corner. You can still see the painter's tape on the shelf that Kev made, the curtains need to be hemmed, I'm trying to decide if I want to hang a tassel garland above the bookshelf or put a few globes that I've collected on top of it, and I need at least one more piece of artwork for the wooden shelf (thinking of a cutie from The Animal Print Shop).  The crib still doesn't quite feel "finished". We didn't use a bumper with Lucy like we did with Violet, and the all-white crib bedding just isn't quite doing it for me. Some fun patterned sheets or a new crib skirt could make it look a little more put-together. In my dream world I'd get a new glider as well - ours is fine and you can't beat the $5 yard sale price tag, but beige isn't really my jam. Overall though, the space is functional and I love the bright, colorful, happy vibe that's going on in the space. I think it's very "Lucy"!

An Update on the Nursery

I really wanted to update the nursery for Lucy, but kind of got stuck when it came to decision making. I very much wanted to brighten up the space by painting the walls white and bringing in some fun colorful accessories, but I was also really attached to the tree that I had painted on the wall for Violet.  I finally had a lightning bolt moment when I realized that I could trace the tree with a large roll of tracing paper that I had from another project so that it wouldn't be permanently gone. If I regretted painting over it or wanted to use the design again in a new home I'd be able to put up the tracing paper and transfer the design onto the walls really easily. It felt a lot less permanent and made me feel a lot better about changing the room color.

When the new paint color was up, the room was pretty much a completely blank slate, and I was really excited about the possibilities that opened up with the change.

It's far from finished, but I brought in a few colorful accessories that have been on my wish list and the space feels so fun already. It definitely reflects Lucy's personality more - she's such a happy, bubbly little girl and she is in love with the dots. Every morning she wakes up and points at them with a huge grin on her face.

I'm definitely moving at a snail's pace when it comes to finishing the space - it feels like everything takes a ridiculous amount of time to complete these days. Two kids means no time for mama's projects unless they happen to nap at the same time. And with Violet being very anti-nap or room time these days, that doesn't happen often. For now I've taken the attitude that the most important thing is to fill up our days playing princesses, digging in the dirt, and visiting the library, and the decorating will get done when it gets done. I'm excited to share updates as I sloooowly make progress on the space! xo, Lauren

P.S. The last update on the nursery waaaay back when I was pregnant with Lucy and an update on Violet's room.

DIY "Gilded" Blocks

I've been coveting these gilded alphabet blocks from Cabin 7, but at $260 for a set, they were a bit out of my league. So I decided to roll up my sleeves and go for the poor man's version with a little tape and a can of metallic spray paint:

You will need: plain wooden blocks, metallic spray paint, letter stickers, painters tape

1. Affix the letter of your choice onto one of the blocks. I chose "puffy" letters so that they'd be easier to peel off:

2. Cover the remaining sides with painter's tape:

3. Place your blocks letter side up on a piece of cardboard (outdoors or in a spray booth) and spray with metallic spray paint using light, sweeping motions. Peel off the letters and tape and, voila! Certainly not nearly as fancy as the original, but they'll do! xo, Lauren 

(P.S. These are meant for display purposes - not for use as a toy. They'd probably be fine for older kids, but not little ones who would put them in their mouth/chew on them, etc.)

Giveaway: Hand-Stitched Baby Blankets

[This giveaway is no longer accepting entries]

The American Blanket Company recently sent me one of their gorgeous, soft hand-stitched baby blankets for the new baby, and I have to say I am in looove. It's super soft, has gorgeous stitching, and comes in a bunch of beautiful colors and patterns. They're handmade here in the U.S. in Massachusetts, which is an added bonus. And the best part is, they've offered to give away a blanket to one lucky reader!

I chose the Gardenia circle-stitch pattern in white:
 

But they have three different patterns and a variety of color options to choose from:

To enter, visit the American Blanket Company's site and let us know which style and color you would choose from the hand-stitched collection if you won. I'll choose a winner at the end of the week. Good luck! xo, Lauren

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only. Entrants must provide a first name and email address in order to enter. Up to one entry per person. After the winner is randomly chosen he or she will be put in contact with the sponsors of the giveaway. Winnings will not be distributed by A Lovely Lark. If the winner does not claim his or her prize within ten days, they forfeit their winnings and another winner will be chosen and contacted via email. All rules and conditions are subject to change without notice.

[This giveaway is no longer accepting entries]

It's Coming Together

The nursery is starting to come together. I can't wait to add the finishing touches! This is my favorite spot in the house at the moment. Which I suppose is a good thing since I'll soon be spending a lot of my time here. Four-and-a-half weeks to go before I meet this little lady, as you can see from my giant mid-section:

At least I can still see my toes!

 xo, Lauren

P.S. You can follow along on Instagram @alovelylark

Lovely Little Things

I happened to pop over to Zulily today and I think I hit the jackpot! I've been coveting woven baskets for the nursery as well as Tadpoles organics for the new babe, and both are on sale! Not to mention some of my other favorites - Eric Carle books and Puj products. You can check it all out via my invite here.

xo, Lauren

Life Lately

Pregnancy is one crazy ride. I was feeling great in the second trimester, and suddenly when I hit the third trimester the energy disappeared and my hormones went crazy. I was feeling so incredibly down and blue. It helped a little to know that it was a pregnancy thing, but I was at the point where I just couldn't stand feeling so blah any more. I was depressed about every ridiculous little thing and just wanted this pregnancy to be over. Thank goodness my body is finally starting to even out again and I'm feeling a little more 'normal' (or at least as normal as you can feel with a person doing flips inside of you!) I've even felt like taking some belly pictures, so you may be subjected to a few these final six weeks.

And for you other pregnant ladies out there, Old Navy currently has some of my favorite maternity tanks. They're super comfy, come in a bunch of cute colors and patterns, and can be dressed up or down. I seriously want to wear them all of the time.

In other news I feel like the nursery is really coming together now that I've gotten the fabrics:

I'm keeping all of the same furniture and probably the paint, but I wanted to freshen things up a bit with the accessories. The dhurrie rug is from West Elm - on the site it says it's "earth red" but it's really closer to raspberry pink in my book, which I love. I also got these Anthro pillowcases and am planning to sew them together to recover the window seat cushion. Serena & Lily just had a kids' bedding sale and I picked up these pretty patterned crib sheets at a bargain, and the faux sheepskin is one we've had for a long time now from IKEA. I'm so excited to finish up the space!

And last but not least I've been getting some questions about Violet's toddler bed. We went with the SUNDVIK from IKEA - great price and looove the look. Violet loves that it is small (like her) :) and has sides so she feels nice and secure. We didn't have the best experience in purchasing it (I won't get into all of that. Let's just say words were exchanged.), but I'm really happy with it in the end.

We made a few other small changes in Violet's room, so I'll probably do a full update on it soon. I just need to find time to snap a few 'real' photos (AKA not on my phone). And the best news of all is that Violet still isn't 100% but seems to be feeling much better today so fingers crossed for a speedy recovery - thank heavens for modern medicine!

xo, Lauren

Indecisive

framed bonnet, metallic print, cloud mobile, floral pillow, mongolian lamb pillow, linen pillow, ribbon border pillow, affirmation banner, rabbit lamp, narwhal, abstract print, mother and child print, cloud pillows, rug, jenny lind crib, patterned crib sheet, floral arrangement, deer print, cradle

So I'm still being indecisive on the baby's new nursery. I think it's pregnancy hormones or something? With Violet's nursery I found those curtains and bam - the design was easy from there. With this new one nothing (or maybe everything?) seems to really catch my eye. I think the other problem is that I don't have as much time to sit around and think about the nursery, what with a two-year-old running around and all.  xo, Lauren

Nurseries, Babies, and More

Just a few snapshots from our weekend...

Got a chance to work on the nursery a little bit this weekend. I hung the DIY artwork that I made above the glider, strung some pretty wild asters garland from BHLDN, and am working on a garland of felted wool balls as well. I'm still going to use the crocheted flower garland that my grandmother made for Violet's nursery too, so this nursery is going to be fully festooned! You can also see a couple of the furry friends that are going to make themselves at home in the room too.

In other news we got a chance to babysit my nephew and baby niece this weekend and Violet was in love. She enjoyed holding and kissing the baby, feeding her, and burping her. Hope she's as helpful with her own baby sister!

Kevin pretty much finished installing the wood floors in our bedroom (pics to come!), so this may be the last weekend for makeshift naps on our mattress downstairs for Violet. She lined up all of her baby dolls and fell asleep in doll heaven :) And last but not least here are a few random pics from elsewhere around the house:

New little lovelies like a pretty new book and a bouquet of billy balls make me smile. And in Violet's room her new suitcases from the Land of Nod are already getting some heavy use - they're filled to the brim with dolls, blocks, and other various tiny ephemera. Hope you had a good weekend! If you want to see more photos from our every day, you can following me on Instagram @alovelylark

xo, Lauren

Nursery Update {Update}

I've been re-thinking my plan for the nursery a little bit to save some money. I'm hoping to DIY a few more things and re-use things that we already own. We already have the Sharon Montrose print and pretty hand-printed pillow from Skinny Laminx, I made the 'for like ever' birch veneer artwork,  and am hoping to DIY a banner similar to the one above, the soft-sculpture butterfly, and perhaps make a crib sheet out of the Taza Cynthia fabric in yellow. I may also make a couple of cute little toadstools similar to these. The only things I don't think I can make myself are the wooden bear (which I already purchased - he's just as adorable in person) and crochet pillow (although I'd love to learn to crochet!), but I may search Etsy for a while until I find a similar pillow with cheaper shipping.

Even though we aren't buying any new furniture or window treatments, I just couldn't bring myself to spend a lot of our hard-earned money on prettying up the space. I really want to save as much as possible so that I can stay home with my two  little girls for a while. I'm pretty excited about the updates though! Happy Friday! xo, Lauren

Nursery Bits + Pieces

I finally started working on updating the nursery for the new baby. It probably wasn't the best idea to wait until the third trimester - my energy has plummeted and I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable. Luckily I'm not planning to do anything too labor intensive like repainting - just hoping to update some of the accessories. So far I've purchased this rug (20% off, hurray!) from West Elm, the sweet little bunny lamp by Egmont Toys, and Serena and Lily was nice enough to send over these gorgeous tassel drapes from their amazing new Spring collection. (By the way, today they're offering 20% off sitewide + free shipping!)

I'm currently working on creating some custom fabric for the crib bedding on Spoonflower - I just haven't been able to find anything ready-made that I really love - and on creating some DIY wall art and possibly a mobile for the space. Stay tuned! xo, Lauren

Even More Nursery Ideas

Clockwise from top left: French tassel curtains, dot fabric, Ferm Living little dorm, Castle pom pom cushion, Egmont rabbit lamp, Phoenix dhurrie rug, tall rope basket, linen heart, Marimekko Unikko wallpaper, In the Gnome container

I had a lot of trouble committing to a design for the nursery update, but I notice I'm being drawn to warm pinks, peaches, corals, and oranges. (Surprise surprise!) I honestly kind of resisted it for a while because I feel like there's a lot of negative thoughts on doing a 'traditional pink' nursery for a girl, but in the end you've got to do what you love, and really, who cares what everyone else thinks! I'm really excited about these new tassel curtains from Serena & Lily. I was planning to DIY some basic white curtains with pom pom trim, but I came across these and was instantly smitten. Looks like I might not have to muddle through a sewing project after all! xo, Lauren

White + Wood + A Pop of Color

Here's another look I'm really drawn to: creamy whites + warm wood tones + pops of bright fun color. I am seriously the worst decision maker in the world...

Clockwise from top left: Themis Mono Mobile, LIDAN Baskets, Cloud Wall Garland, MUR Wall Patterns, Chevron Knot Rug, Love You Art, Dovetail Animals

New Year, New Baby, New(ish) Nursery

Now that we know we're having another little girl, I've been thinking a lot about the nursery. I'd like to make some small changes to update it for our new little sweetie without going too crazy. Right now I'm thinking we'll keep the current paint color and furniture and just spruce the room up with new accessories and bedding. Here are a few fun things that are on my wish list:

1. I Lovely Love My Family print by Tuesday Mourning
2. For Like Ever lasercut sign by Oh Dier Living
3. Unikko Wallpaper in Cream by Marimekko
4. Sleepy Fox by Savage Seeds
5. Lasercut Birch Eep Birds by Skinny laMinx
6. Running Fox by Ostheimer
7. Clay Toadstool by Sweet Bestiary
8. Little Wooden Bear by Outside Everywhere

I've been crushing on that Marimekko wallpaper for pretty much ever since I saw it in this little girls' room a long time ago. I'm not sure where I'd use it - as art? In the nook? On the dresser? But I'd love to incorporate it somehow. It would be nice if I could find a remnant since a whole roll would probably be overkill, but I don't know if that will happen. Well, I'm off to ponder a little more so that I can hopefully have it finished by the time the new baby arrives! xo, Lauren