After so many months (maybe years?) of planning, our baby boy's nursery is FINALLY DONE!
Everything revolved around this piece of toile I found a couple of years ago. I thought about it all the time, and bought several yards the week after we found out the gender. It seemed like a perfect blend of little boy, Southern class, and - most importantly - James Sasser. :)
From the toile came a theme, centered around all the things that we (especially James) hope surround this little guy: the outdoors, family, history, hunting, love, the Lord. I did refrain from mounting a shotgun above the crib, of course, but tried to bring in some (classy, non-threatening) elements into the decor.
So, without further adieu, a 360 degree view of the nursery:
The difficult lighting in our house keeps me humbled as a photographer, so it's a bit hard to capture all the details and the colors. It definitely looks better in person, so come visit us!
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A little background on some of the key nursery elements - most all of which have a story. You'll see that we used many of our mad skills to build it, including swooping, deal-making, crafting, DIYing and roping people into making things.
The Walls:
This room was a junk room for the past two years. We never painted it, (admittedly) never cleaned it, and kept the door shut all the time.
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| Pre-Nursery (the cleanest it had ever been, don't be fooled) |
To prep for the overall design, our handyman built a lovely chair rail / wainscot / whatever you want to call it, then we painted in a very light tan.
The Crib:
Because our 1930s bedrooms are teeny tiny, all of our bedroom furniture never fit in our room. The dresser had been occupying this room already, and it seemed perfect for the baby's dresser/changing station. Which meant that (in my world) the crib needed to match the espresso finish. However, the crib also needed to be small and fairly low profile. Swedish natural crib (i.e. Ikea), sandpaper, and low VOC stain - voila. (The bedskirt I made out of the toile using this great
tutorial.)
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| (Safety First) |
The Rocking Chair and Ottoman:
I bought this rocking chair at a thrift store in the 'burbs last year. I have very strong preferences towards
rocking, not
gliding, and this one rocked so well! It still had the tags (originally $1900, for reference), but I bought it for dirt cheap.
The ottoman came from craigslist and cost me $10. I failed to capture a picture of the original, but please trust me that it was UGLY as SIN. But, I liked the unique shape.
Both of these guys got recovered in a thick, neutral microfiber, which turned out great. Never underestimate what reupholstery can do for you.
The Wall Art:
I knew I wanted to use a children's book to decorate the walls. I spent a good two hours at an antique gallery in McGregor, Texas, perusing every booth with books I could find with my aunts and sisters. Finally, I saw an old copy of "Are You My Mother". One of my favorite books as a child, and I love having these scenes on the wall. (Along with my original copy - which is in really rough shape! - on the book shelf).
The Book Shelves:
Speaking of book shelves..these are all the rage on Pinterest, but are really hard to find! Fortunately, my dad did not shy away from a challenge when I sent him a
tutorial and asked "can you make this?" With the help of my uncle, who was visiting, they quickly built three shelves. I painted in my coordinating blue color.
Between some of my old books and all the books we received from family and friends, we'll be able to expose him to many books and stories from the beginning.
The Lamp:
Okay, not the most exciting part of the room, but there is definitely a story behind it. This lamp was at Grandmom's house for as long as I can remember, sitting beside the chair where my Gran Gran always sat. When we were cleaning out her house, it went into the Goodwill pile because no one could take it. I rescued it, stuck it in our storage room, and waited until we had the perfect place. A little matching blue paint, stain on the shelf, and a (garage sale) shade, and I think we found it.
The Curtains:
I know, I've written about
these curtains the last few weeks, as they have tormented me for about that long. But, they are finally complete and - importantly -
even. A huge thank you to Geoff (and Jon) for making and installing the valance box for us!
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| THANKS AGAIN! |
Handwork (as my Mimi would call it):
There are several little touches around the room that required very careful stitching from different ladies.
First, we received several lovely crocheted and knitted blankets that will be used and loved (top left, bottom right). This beautiful wall hanging, made by a dear friend's mom, makes me cry every time, because it speaks to the relationship that I know James will have with his son (top right), I've had this verse (middle) on my heart for a long time, and something I wanted to include to demonstrate how thankful we are that God has blessed us with this child. (I'm not the best embroider, so it's a good thing we have a "rustic" theme...) And, lastly, I had fun with felt one weekend and came up with this mobile (bottom left). These guys are loosely based on this ladies'
design, although I had to come up with the patterns myself.
The Changing Station, Dresser and Shelves:
As I mentioned, the dresser was part of the nursery from the beginning and comes from our bedroom suit. The wall shelves were another Ikea buy. Then, I had a lot of fun pulling everything else together:
(My) Daddy to the rescue once again - he built us a changing tray to hold the changing pad (grippers keep it in place).
The owl (top shelf) was actually part of
my nursery, if you can believe it, and - more shockingly - my Mother actually let me have (or borrow?) it from her house!
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| Baby Jennie, my lovely Mother, and (top) the owl! |
Further throwbacks to our childhoods...
The shelves hold James' silver rattle and teethers (top left), my first pair of Nikes (bottom left), and both of our piggy banks (bottom center). (The third silver piggy bank, a gift from a very dear lady, will be the baby's.) I spent a good deal of time searching for old wooden shotgun shell cases (top right), which hold diapers, wipes, lotions, etc (and some added decoration to the shelves, bottom right).
I also added some pictures to document the excitement around this baby: his "big sister" announcing her news, and the picture I captured of James the moment he found out he was having a son.
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I can't wait to bring him home! Yes, I know he'll most likely not occupy this nursery for a while, but just knowing that it's ready for him makes my heart so happy. Now, I hope his parents are as ready for him as the room! :)
