Friday, April 27, 2012

The New Nursery: Part 1

I've been working really hard on creating a nursery for baby boy #2. I was inspired by one nursery I found online and tried closely to copy her ideas.
Imitation is the highest form of flatery right? I first found a used (but solid, quality oak that will last forever) dresser since storage is oh so important. (Only $70 too!) I primed it (2 coats) and painted it (4 coats) and finished it off with a clear, gloss seal. I also painted and attached hardware since it did not originally come with any. The top shelf folds over the front and it converts to a changing table on top. I'm happy with the result. It was a lot of work and very time consuming but now we have a quality piece of furniture that should last a while.  

"Before"


"After"


Next up, painting the boring, white walls a light grey. (You should have seen Sean's face when I told him I wanted to paint the walls grey.) Boy I didn't realize how hard it was to find the right shade. Some look purple, some look green, and some look blue. I ended up using Glidden's "Smooth Stone" in semigloss and am happy with it. If you look above the door you can see the original white compared to the grey. Don't worry, the green is just painter's tape.

Every nursery needs a rocking chair right? I mean come on, how many hours do we mothers spend sitting in a chair and nursing? I wanted a smaller chair since our bedrooms are on the small side. I also wanted something the rocks and swivels. I went to the Mesa Antique Mart and found this chair for only $29. It's bones are great--solid piece of furniture, no structural problems, rocks, and swivels. However, the upholstery was dirty and needed some attention. So I bought a duvet cover at Ross ($16), and with all the help of my mom and mother-in-law, we cut up the fabric and sewed a 3-piece slip cover for the chair. This was a ton of work but again, I'm happy with the result, and happy with the cost. (The professional re-upholstery quotes I got were between $207-$350. No way was I going to spend that.   
"Before"
"After" (I also whipped up this grey and white pillow with extra fabric I already had.)

Check back for more nursery updates coming soon. I've made artwork for the walls, a curtain valence, and accessories to dress things up.

5 comments:

Laura said...

Looks good so far! I'm excited to see the finished room. The grey is really subtle--I like it.

No Name said...

Looking good.

JenW said...

hey, great job! the dresser, chair and walls looks great:) it's fun to re-do things, even if they take a bit of work!

No Name said...

Where's nursery part II?

Arian said...

Oh man, look at you! What a great job! I feel so behind. I need to get my nursery up and ready asap. I never go early so I guess I just figure I can procrastinate it until the end. Now that I'm 36 weeks I probably better get cracking! We need to meet up at the park soon. :)