One of my goals while on maternity leave was to get a post up about the (mostly finished) nursery before I went back to work. Well...... It's now 5+ weeks of me being a working mama and I'm just now getting the itch to post about Max's itty bitty room. I clearly didn't realize before making the blogging goal that maternity leave didn't allow me all that free time I expected (Veteran moms laughing everywhere). But truthfully there were just more important things to do like bonding with my brand new, beautiful baby boy, Max Nathaniel! I look back on those 12 weeks and wonder if they even happened- It's so surreal to think about and those days went by so fast. I really do feel like my Max and I got in some major bonding time though and we took advantage of every moment together. He's definitely a mama's boy so far... or maybe he just knows where his food comes from. Regardless, he and his daddy are simply the best things in my life. It's weird to think of it all before him- Cliché cliché cliché- I know. But it's nothing but the truth.
I say 'mostly finished' nursery because there are a few things we didn't have time to get done. We literally just finished hanging some pictures on the wall when it was time to head to the hospital. Our little guy made his dramatic (understatement) entrance pretty quickly after our arrival. Needless to say- the final items on the nursery "To Do" list have been put on the back burner. I'm sure Max doesn't mind the lack of window treatment and the additional bookshelves that I'm wanting to put up... but if he does mind- well sorry son- but you're the one that decided to come early! ;)
Less than 24 hours before Max made his entrance into the world...
Heading out to our last "pre-parent" date. If we would have only known....
Heading out to our last "pre-parent" date. If we would have only known....
It originally had wood paneling and some not so great carpet. We got that carpet cleaned and immediately painted the walls white and the ceiling the color mint. It's subtle- but it's such a small room that I didn't want it to be too busy. I also wanted white to be the main backdrop since we weren't sure if Baby Weldy was a boy or a girl. I figured that is as 'neutral' as we can get (without it being your typical green or yellow)- and it made the room look much larger and much much cleaner!
We 'splurged' and bought the gray and white striped rug from Crate and Barrel. I love the look, but it is a little thin so it bunches up sometimes. That is about my only complaint. I think it would work better if there wasn't so much furniture pulling on its edges.
Next thing were of course our polka dot doors- which I think sets off the room. These were so easy to do- the dots are a vinyl decal that I ordered online. You can check out that post here.
Next step was bedding! I looked around at some stores and online, but couldn't find exactly what I was wanting. When you can't find what you're looking for- make it! One piece of inspiration for the nursery was this Hygge and West wallpaper below.... however it is crazy expensive and the room is so small that it would be way too busy on any wall.
Enter: Spoonflower! Spoonflower is a great website where you can actually design your own fabric- along with ordering designs others have created as well. After I accepted the fact that the wallpaper wasn't going to happen- I actually came across a fabric that is pretty similar to my inspiration!
I couldn't believe it when I saw it- it was perfect! I did have to contact the designer to change the orientation (she was very responsive and awesome). Once she customized it, I was able to order a few yards of the fabric to make the crib sheet.
I had never made a crib sheet before, but it's pretty simple using tutorials I found online. I still use my late Grandma's old Singer sewing machine and it works perfectly for simple project like this. If you don't have a sewing machine, I'm sure there are no-sew ways to make a crib sheet as well using a sewing tape. I'll spare you the steps- but here she is! And at a much lower cost than that crazy expensive wallpaper!
I also decided to make the crib skirt. It was a bit more time consuming than the crib sheet, but ended being relatively simple to make. The mint chevron is a flannel from JoAnn Fabrics. You could also use a sewing tape for this (or heck even a hot glue gun). As long as you know basic math and how to measure, you can make this stuff!
Next up were the bumpers. I was a little more ambitious with these since I added piping. I had never piped anything before, but it ended up being pretty simple (I sound like a broken record). I bought some foam bumper inserts off Amazon and they actually had the sewing instructions in their packaging so I just followed that and found a separate tutorial online for the piping. They aren't perfect (I became pretty impatient -and tired- near the end) but they did their job. (And their job is to be cute for a few weeks before you have to remove them once the baby is sleeping in the crib) Oh well- they were worth it! Both fabrics are from Spoonflower. The gray was an existing one from their website and the polka dot was one that I created on my own. I just uploaded a JPEG of a mint dot and then just adjusted the scale and repeat until I got what I wanted. Again- I love Spoonflower!
One of the easiest projects for this room was the dresser/changing table. We bought the Tarva dresser from IKEA. It comes unfinished so there are endless possibilities. After we assembled, we chose to paint it white and then tape off the edges of the drawers. Then, we just painted the inner part of each drawer front the same minty color as the ceiling. After we pulled off the tape, we got our result! I love these dressers (we also have them in our master bedroom). They are a great option when you don't have the money to splurge on a bedroom suite!
The changing pad cover was another DIY. It's basically the same process as the crib sheet- just a smaller scale. Polka dot fabric is also from JoAnn's.
The above picture leads me to some of the art we hung on the wall. One of my favorite books as a kid was Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends". I borrowed the book from my mom and scanned and printed some of my favorite poems that I remember reading when I was young. The book was read so much that it is literally falling apart (and I think it survived a flooded basement). I have it on display (and opened to my favorite poem- The Unicorn!) in the corner of the nursery- hopefully my mom doesn't mind me holding on to it for a bit.
Above the crib is a simple round canvas that I purchased off of Amazon. I painted the gray circle border and then had my two initials ready for either Baby Boy Weldy or Baby Girl Weldy. Welp- Baby Weldy was a boy so Max it was (I should have known considering I called it a HE the whole time- mother's instinct)! After we got home from the hospital my mom glued it on for me and we hung it up.
Another piece of art that I hung was this button balloon shadow box. I originally saw this on Etsy. I decided to make my own. It was one of those projects that you can just zone in on with a movie playing in the background. I love those kinds. Lots of hot glue though! Love the color it brings to the room.
One of the last projects we did was the book ledges. They were done a week before Max was born! Nathan built them all... I was out of commission by that point. We have so many books that I am wanting to add some on the other side of the door (Plus those frames we have hanging are WAY to small and not working) We'll get there at some point!
And FINALLY- Nathan built a window seat bench. We added this for extra storage, but also to cover the weird piece of shag carpet that was still on the floor. Gross! Had to elevate the bench due to an air vent. I think I got the gray bins off Amazon. They hold a lot of his toys that he will play with eventually!
The seat cushion and the pillows were a DIY. Fabric was either from JoAnn's or Spoonflower. You can see in the pic above- the worn out "Where the Sidewalk Ends" book. Like I said- it's falling apart! I also made sure to include Nathan's dog lamp he had as a child. That was his only request for the nursery. I'm glad Max will grow up with it :)
I am ITCHING to get a window treatment up. It looks incomplete to me in these pics- but this room has come so far that I should probably let is slide ;) That may be one of my next projects!
Finally- here are some more Before and Afters. I may do some additional posts regarding the nursery details or I may move on to something else. We will see- Mommyhood and working full time are keeping me pretty busy. For now, I'm just glad to have a post up for the first time in 4 months! Glad I have an excuse. Thanks buddy :)
Thanks for checking it out! Off to have more baby bonding with my almost 4 month old!
-Tricia
