Mobile Modifications

One of the very first things I purchased for the nursery was this mobile, from seller WildChildShop on Etsy. I decided early on that I liked the idea of a mobile that would move naturally in the breeze from the van or vent in the room, and wanted something made of natural materials that would fit well with the decor of the room.

Online this one looked perfect - I loved the rustic wood, and the cranes hanging from it are made of maps, giving it great blues and greens for color, and the lightweight strings and cranes should have lots of natural movement.

When it arrived, I loved it instantly. The cranes, held onto fishing line by little pearls, were so colorful and sweet, and it had a very light and airy feel. The one part that bothered me a little was the branch at the top. It was not quite as rough and rustic as the one in the photo, and felt a bit heavy compared to the rest of the mobile.

So it was Carpenter Chris to the rescue! He went through wood scraps he keeps on hand, and came up with this very light and sweet solution. These two pieces of oak, measuring about 1/4" x 1/4" x 12" each, provide a nice light, simple top for the mobile, and match the tone of the room much better.

From there it was a simple matter of drilling and staining the wood to get it ready to hang. The original mobile came with three strands of cranes, so I cut a few cranes off the bottom of each strand and strung them up on some new fishing line to create a fourth, reusing the pearls to hold them on the line. A little more fishing line to string the whole thing to the ceiling (from a little hook I spray painted oil rubbed bronze, to match the rest of the hardware in the room) and we're done! 

And here's perhaps the most important angle - crib's eye view. I love the X in the middle with the cranes lined up on the corners, and the fun shadows it casts on the ceiling in the lamplight.

So for exactly $0 (using fishing line and wood scraps we already had, and rearranging cranes and pearls from the original mobile) it's an even more custom piece than it already was - all ready for our little guy or girl to gaze it sweetly after sleeping all through the night, every single night. Right? Hello?

And now, for the current state of the nursery. Here's what you see looking in from the hallway:

Standing by the closet door:

And sitting on the chaise lounge in the corner:

It's really beginning to feel like things are coming together (other than the mess of stuff we're currently storing in the crib), but there is still a lot to do. Our next steps are:

• installing baseboards
• adding a rug
• recovering the chaise lounge
• adding hardware to the dressers
• replacing closet doorknob 
• hemming the sheer curtains
• making a few pillows for the chaise and rocker

Once these steps are done, we'll be on to the fun stuff - accessories! I've been collecting lots of great things to decorate the walls, and we have a few projects planned as well to finish things off.

Oh, and Wrigley wants you all to know that you don't have to worry - the last piece of the mobile did not go to waste!

Nursery Decorating Chapter 2: When in Rome

And by "in Rome", I mean when you are living with an upstairs that is completely in pieces, and there are paint rollers and brushes everywhere - you might as well paint dressers!

First, a little history. The two dressers and mirror we're using in this room are part of a five-bedroom set I inherited from my great grandmother when I was ten (the other two pieces are a nightstand, which I currently use, and a twin sized brass headboard - which could be great little girl bedroom material someday shall we need it).

She had purchased them a few years before when she moved into a senior living apartment, and when she passed away she left them to me, which was a pretty mind-blowing thing for a ten-year-old! So, they have very precious history to me, but are not precious antiques - making them fair game for a fresh coat of paint and some new hardware!

Although, I do think Nino preferred them before . . . .

The dressers had great, embellished shapes, but the feathery hardware and gold painted highlights really dated them and made them feel heavy. Plus, the ivory painted finish on them had taken a bit of a beating over the years and was in need of a refresh anyway.

So they all got a light sanding, some wood putty and a fresh coat of paint. From there, the putty/sand/putty/sand process began to get the fronts of the drawers perfectly smooth over the old hardware holes. While I haven't selected new hardware yet, I am confident the old holes will not work (they had numerous different sizes and would be impossible to match). 

We use Sherwin Williams ProClassic Interior Oil-Based paint for all our woodwork - trim, cabinets and furniture - and used the color Creamy for these pieces. It's funny paint to use - very sticky, prone to drips and incredibly slow to dry - but once it's done the finish is incredibly smooth and durable, so it's worth the extra work.

Once the painting process was finished, here's what we ended up with.

I love how the embellishments on the furniture drawers and legs show up so much more now that they have a uniform finish. The ivory feels clean and fresh, and really helps the pieces feel nursery-appropriate.

So, hardware is the next step. I have been planning on using blue milk glass knobs for the drawers - something like this:

And while I love the look, I'm feeling like it's not quite what these dressers need. I ordered some samples to play with, both of the milk glass knobs and a simpler, crystal and bronze option like this:

The crystal is still whimsical, but a bit cleaner and less "baby-y" than the milk glass - so I'm anxious to get both options in and see what we like. Either way, these dressers have come a long way from the gold and beaten up yellow-cream they were a week ago.

And speaking of When in Rome, here's a little more to add some excitement to your Wednesday. Because every day is better with a little Will Ferrell.

Nursery Planning

In case you missed it, Chris and I made a little announcement earlier this month:

That's right - Baby Jones is scheduled to arrive around Thanksgiving of this year, which means we're busy planning for a lot of changes in our lives, one if which is . . . our nursery! I've been slowly collecting ideas over the last few months, and have recently begun purchasing a few of the staple items that will set the tone for our room.

A quick note - we decided before even becoming pregnant that we want to wait to find out the gender until the baby arrives. We think this is a really personal choice for each expecting parent, but to us it meant a fun surprise after a long wait and the labor process, and we really like that idea. So, this means a gender-neutral nursery (which I am pretty sure we would have opted for anyway).

So, the first step for me was choosing our colors. Fortunately, falling in love with this fabric made it easy for me:

I bought several yards a few weeks ago, and hope to begin making lined curtains out of it very soon. The windows are on the far wall in the room (directly across from the door) so you will see it immediately when you walk in. I love the nice aqua, dark orange, light green, gray and white, as well as the nice long, curvy vertical lines the birch trees on it will make up the wall.

I then chose this fabric to cover our old chaise lounge, which we moved into the room (more information on its replacement in the living room coming soon), and I hope to not completely screw up plan to tackle my first major furniture reupholstering project this summer, covering it with this fabric:

If any of you out there have done reupholstering - feel free to send tips my way! 

We're thinking gray walls and white painted furniture (more on that to come as well), but we probably won't get to that for several months, as Chris is still pretty tied up in his current painting job, and his help will be required since I'm no longer able to sand old trim or use oil-based paints, which we use on all of our trim. In the meantime, though, we've had fun collecting some other items to get us started:

Paper crane mobile made from driftwood and old maps, from Etsy.
 

  Orange and white changing pad cover, from Land of Nod.

 

Porcelain hedgehog nightlight, from Land of Nod.
  

  National parks poster, from Etsy.

Stuffed squirrel from Anthropologie, courtesy of Aunt Steph.
 

And there are still lots of other ideas I find every day that I think will help us keep adding the little touches we want to make this room feel like the cozy, comfortable space we want to create. We'll keep you updated as we go!