Our Nursery

It's been a long road to get here, but I think the nursery is almost complete. I love it! I think it is an absolute reflection of our love for sweet baby Grace.

Here is what the room look liked when we started:

(I'm actually not sure what the office chair is doing in there--it wasn't really normally in there, but whatever).

I loved the room. A pretty standard guest bedroom. It was already painted that color when we moved in, and we liked it well enough. We've never really spent a lot of time in this room--it's just nice to have when people come to visit.

I always knew that this was the room that we would turn into a nursery when we were lucky enough to have a baby. I love the bay window. I love the natural light. It's a nice, big room which will be great for baby as they get older.

When we started looking at decorating the room, it was pretty overwhelming. There were so many choices to make, even for the simplest things. If you choose this furniture, what color finish should you get? Do we have to have a theme for the room? We have found that one of the most useful tools is a book called Baby Bargains. It's written by a married couple who aren't sponsored by any particular brand or company, it's just meant to help inform new parents. The book is great- they give you an idea of when it is a good idea to spend a little bit more on something, because it will be worth your money, and when you will be fine with something on the low end.

After we had made lots of purchases and decided on our colors (a pale petal pink and a light gray) we decided it was time to paint. It only took us painting the room three times to get it right. Only had to paint the ceiling white once, though! 

Trying out paint colors.

Bless his heart, Corey insists that I can't help with it because of the fumes so he ends up doing all of the work. We initially picked a color gray that was way to dark and had too much blue in it. Poor Corey and my dad painted the whole room that color and I walked in and said "It's blue". Paint often dries a different color than it looks when it's going on.

In the background here is the "blue" color--paint attempt #1

Next, we went to the initial color I had gravitated towards--Stonington Gray from Benjamin Moore. Corey painted the room again completely in that, and I decided it still looked too blue.

Poor Corey. But he didn't give up. He decided to go back to ACE Hardware (he's made good friends with most of the people working there now) and asked them to adjust the gloss on the paint to be a step less glossy. That did the trick! Corey and my dad painted the room again and it really did look much better (meaning gray!).

The final step was painting the closets, door and windowsill white (they were cream) to match the ceiling and make the gray of the walls look less blue. It really made a difference.

Once the painting was done, everything else could move forward. Luckily, we had already purchased most of the items that we needed to put the room together--it was finally time to do it!

When I got home last night, thanks to the handiwork of my wonderful husband Corey and my amazing brother-in-law Cam, our baby's room looked like a real nursery! The painting is done (save a few touch ups), the chandelier is installed (and beautiful!) and her furniture is in!

Corey had put a few of the other cute items we've picked up along the way around to decorate. So sweet!

The first thing we decided on was the furniture. I'm so glad we went with the furniture we did. It is really beautiful and will grow with our baby. The crib converts into a toddler and full-size bed. The changing table is also a great dresser.

Last night, Corey and I hung out in our pajamas and put together the crib. It was such a fun experience and didn't take us near as long as I expected! Thanks to my wonderful in-laws, Denny and Chris, for buying Baby Grace her crib!

I'm not really into any of the theme-y stuff for nurseries. I like subtle touches of elephants and bunnies (our two favorite animals) but I'm not crazy about having elephants all over everything.

We found beautiful bedding that we love at Restoration Hardware for Baby & Child. We got it on a great sale. The crib skirt is from Pottery Barn Kids (and needs to be ironed!)

I love the way Grace's nursery has come together. I think it it so beautiful and I can't wait to bring her home to it!

Some of the finishing touches that we are waiting/working on: We are going to get some wood blinds and petal pink drapes (from Restoration Hardare) for her windows -- I love the natural light, but we want to make sure she will be able to sleep in there during the day. We are also waiting for the glider to come in--I really think that will be such an awesome addition to the room! That should come in mid to late January.

In the meantime, I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband and wonderful family who have helped us with this project along the way. I truly love the room and I know Gracie will, too!
Love,
Elizabeth