Barney Room to Baby Room

I realize I never showed you the entire nursery.  I had intentions to but then Noah was born.

For those of you who know me and Jason, you know that we're procrastinators. We're very last minute.  It's something I've been working on.

Oh, and we're rarely on time  . . . which is why I was so surprised when my friends and family all guessed Noah would arrive early. 

Anyway, we waited until the last minute to finish Noah's nursery and he was late just like his parents kind enough to hold out entering the world until the last detail was complete.


The room used to be our spare bedroom. Once upon a time,  it had bright purple and dark green walls (think Barney).  That's how it was when we first bought the house.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it in its former glory, but trust me when I say that it could have been the set for the Barney cartoon.

When we first bought our house, it was in such disarray that Jason, Imani and I all slept in the same bedroom.  We plopped two beds in there and had what Imani thought was the coolest three month sleepover.  She was devastated when Jason announced that he had finished her bedroom and she could move upstairs.

Then this bedroom had just a single bed with Dora the Explorer bedding on it because it's all I had to fit a single bed.  It matched the purple walls nicely.    This was the decor when I offered the room up for a colleague and dear friend of mine who was going through a divorce with her crazy husband.

She took me up on it and the "Dora room" became her room for the month she hid out at our house so her crazy husband wouldn't find her.

After she moved out, the room got a fresh coat of paint, a full bed, some boxed-trim moulding, and some new decor.

And then last year, I wanted to lighten it up again so we bought new bedding, painted the bed and got some new fixtures:

And now, just one year later, it has come full circle.  What was once the shared bedroom of me, Jason and Imani, is now the bedroom of the newest member of our family. 

You'll notice we kept the paint color and the chandelier.  All we really did was change the furniture.  I opted not to have an official changing table and just used the dresser instead.  When I had Imani, I found the changing table to be a big space waster.

So Jason secured the changing pad to the top of the dresser instead. 

Jason also stenciled some trees on the wall just above the crib.  We splurged and bought the Pottery Barn "Little Lamb" bedding for the crib (and received some of the accessories from our wonderful friends to match).

Target pulled through for me with their cushy rocker-glider.  It's been a perfect place for Noah and I to relax.  We found the table at Big Lots and the mirror was purchased at TJ Maxx.

 

As a former English teacher, I'm a big believer in books (I'm one of the pregos who read to Noah and Imani in utero), so in addition to the giant bin of books that's tucked away in the closet, we placed a basket with some of our favorite board books next to the rocker.

In addition to the mirror and the stenciled branches, we decorated the walls with a few pieces that we created ourselves.

The shelf with the knobs that match the dresser pulls:

The ABC art I created with my Silhouette.

Noah's name on the wall, which I also created with my Silhouette.

And the drawing my mother-in-law made of Noah's bassinet.

We also made the curtains and the chandelier over the changing area
(which I'm happy to report little Noah loves).

Oh and I can't forget the closet.  Back in the room's Dora days, it was a catch all for everything. It looked like this:

And then Jason wallpapered it and created shelving.  Now Noah has this beautiful closet:

Oh and I cannot forget the super comfy rug I scored at Home Goods.  Everyone who visits comments on how comfortable the rug is . . . even Jason's manly friends.  In fact, our good friends just went to Lowes and ordered carpeting for their bedrooms in something very similar to the area rug in Noah's room.

More importantly, Noah loves the rug too.

And so does Maggie, and for those of you who are wondering Noah and Maggie have become good friends.

  We're really happy with how the whole thing turned out. It's a nice, peaceful place where we all enjoy spending time.  In fact, sometimes before Imani goes to bed, we all sit in Noah's room and read.

Here's the breakdown of where we got everything and how much we spent:

Delta convertible crib in cherry-- Target $249.99
Delta children's dresser in cherry --Target $249.99
Sealy Mattress -- Target $77.99
Rocker Glider - Target $399.99
Shelf - AC Moore $7.99
Curtains fabric, rods, clips and stitch witchery:  Hobby Lobby $95
Drawer Pulls for dresser and shelf- Hobby Lobby $27
Picture Frames for wall art - Target $15
Rug - Home Goods - $199
Closet wood, rods wall paper and baskets - Lowes $100
Table next to chair - Big Lots - $39
Mirror on wall - TJ Maxx $15
Chandelier supplies - AC Moore $20
Lamb bean bag chair - Pottery Barn Kids$100 (big splurge)
Lamb Crib Bedding -- Pottery Barn Kids(second big splurge) $220

Everything else in the room we either had or was given to us.  That brings the grand total for the room re-design to $1,815.95.  

Not bad, considering I wanted to spend over $1000 on the Pottery Barn rocker glider alone.

So that's how the Barney room came to be Noah's room.