Telling Time

Because sometimes, a little lady just needs a pretty clock.

One day I might actually get around to filling those two empty frames, too.

Finally Fully Finished

It's hard to believe that two years ago, our nursery looked like this:

OK.  So, it wasn't actually a nursery then since we only had one child.  We called it The Office and pretended that that was it's actual purpose.  Occasionally we forgot this and used it as a giant catch-all flat surface.

Then a year-and-a-half ago, we pulled out the carpet to leave us with this:

It still didn't actually look like an office as much as it did a climate-controlled storage unit.

But, when we found out last fall that we were having a girl, I got right to work.

Those are pictures of my mother, grandmothers, and mother-in-law.

I had the room finished by November except for this wall.  

We were originally going to build a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, but in March we changed our minds about the design.

The first portion of the project looked like this:

A bookcase which, with the exception of one $5 stick of lumber, was made entirely from materials we already had (all the way down to the paint).

Blair got this much done and then took a four-day trip to the other end of the state, which turned out to be great because it allowed me to fill it with books and style the top.

Over the weekend, he put up these three ledge shelves, and, with that, not only is this project complete, but so is Katy Rynne's room.

These shelves hold new things and old items.  Some, such as the wooden dishes on the yellow shelf, have sentiment.  My grandfather made those for me when I was a little girl.  The Charley Harper post cards were a gift from my mother for my birthday last year.  Occasionally, I will write Miss Rynne a note on the back of one for her to read as she grows.

The rag doll here was made for me by my mother.  I made the bunny for Katy Rynne, and she is sitting in a rocking chair made by one of my great-grandfathers.

Blair and I love this space now, and hopefully as she grows, Kathrynne will as well.  It's full of love, childhood memories, and room to grow.

In Which We Build Yet Another Bookcase

The Nursery: The Walls and Lights

When I visited with my parents in October, fabric for the curtains wasn't the only thing I came home with.  I also picked up these letters for her "name wall", and I got these frames (for a bargain!) to place underneath.  The letters are painted in two coats of white semi-gloss.  Each frame has a photo of a grandmother or great-grandmother in it.  At the time I took these pictures in November I hadn't yet made enlargements of either of Blair's grandmothers' photos, and I'm still looking for a good one of my mother-in-law's mother.  

Letters:  on sale at Hobby Lobby

Frames:  on sale at Michael's

This beautiful lamp was given to us by a dear, sweet friend who I know would wish to remain anonymous.  I will allow her that.  Isn't this lamp gorgeous?!  I love to fill the rooms in our home with a balance of old and new, and I think this piece offsets many of the more "modern" elements in here.

   

Next up, we have the overhead light.  So many homes have these light fixtures in them, and they have neither style nor character.  I bought a $26 lamp shade at Lowe's, covered the "cross bars" with jute twine I already had on hand, and attached it to the ceiling with three, small cup hooks.  I love the way this looks in here.

And the view from directly underneath.  

When writing this in early November, I already had the pennant frame finished but had yet to decide what to do with the empty wall on the right side of the crib.  When I post a final before-and-after post of the nursery, I'll show you what I chose.  

It was so much fun to see this room come together piece by piece and change by change.  When we brought Noah home from the hospital, we brought him into a small, dingy apartment (with a neighbor who had a major drug problem), and put him into a borrowed Pack and Play in the corner of our crowded bedroom.  I feel so blessed this time around to have a beautiful, functional space in which to place our new sweet baby and give thanks daily for the opportunity to have this simple but lovely room.

The Nursery: Paint and Curtains

*Note:  This post was actually written in November 2012 we when completed the nursery remodel, but  I didn't want to share them immediately since we decided to keep the gender of our baby a secret.  I figured I wouldn't have the time or energy after our sweet little one joined us to post pictures and share all of the details.  Some of the after photos may be different now because of this, and I promise a current post as soon as we are all settled in.*

Blair and I spent four days painting the nursery, hanging curtain rods, and making curtains.  I love to paint, however, I was still on rest at the time, so I had to take it slow and let Blair help.  We spread it out over several days to make sure I wasn't over-doing it and to accommodate his very busy schedule.

I started early by spray painting the curtain rod I purchased.  I loved the bird finials, but hated the finish.  I wanted to make sure it had plenty of time to set and off-gas before we brought it in to hang.

Bird Curtain Rod

From Lowe's, painted in Valspar's Golden Maize spray paint

Getting the paint on the walls normally would only have taken me an afternoon, but we spaced it out doing only one wall at a time.

Wall Paint

Valspar's Sparkling Sage in flat finish

I absolutely adore how the curtains turned out!  I spent a week in October with my parents in Knoxville, and my mom and I went to Joann's together to find fabric.  This pattern is nothing like what I originally had in mind, but I'm sooooo glad we found it!  It's a twill and stitched up like a dream.  Each panel is two yards long and backed with a simple white, flat cotton twin-sized sheet from Wal-Mart.  Eventually, I may get some curtain hooks to hold them back, but for now they look so sweet and simple off to the side of the crib.

Curtains

Made by me with home decor fabric purchased at Joann's

The day after we finished this part of the work, I spent several hours sitting in the rocking chair in here with my knitting.  I found that there was a cool, calmness to the room that I truly enjoyed.  Before, it was just a cluttered up "office space" catch-all with a paint color that reminded me of our first cruddy apartment.  A fresh coat of paint and window dressing made such a huge difference in the overall feel of the room. Blair commented that evening that it might just be his favorite room in the house.

I hope you have enjoyed this part of our little "nursery tour."  I'll have some more pictures for you soon!