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.

He's Arrived!

Please excuse my absence over the last few weeks. We've been a bit preoccupied with our latest love.

Noah Joseph Atkins was born Tuesday, March 29, weighing 7 pounds 13 oz.

I'll do my best to get some posts up .. . in between lots of cuddling with this little miracle.

Thank you for all of the thoughtful comments and emails over the last couple of weeks!

Reading Bieber Tweets in a Comfy Chair

If you're following my Tweets you know that my chair from Tar-jay arrived and you also know I'm in love with it.

If you're not following my Tweets . . . I'll try not to take it personally. You know I'm ultra sensitive right now, being nine months pregnant and all . . .

You can just click on that little Twitter button in the top right of my page and follow, which would make me happy because I get an email telling me when new people follow my Tweets.  I like to know someone other than my mom gives a hoot about what I'm doing every day.

Anyway, my goal in finding a rocker was to find one that could eventually be moved out of the nursery and become a permanent piece of furniture somewhere else in our house.  So many gliders look like they belong in a nursery and look displaced if you try to put them anywhere besides the nursery..

 

I considered just getting a really beautiful antique rocker, but I wanted something really super comfortable and although I love old rockers, they sometimes hurt my tush if I sit in them for too long.

 

So I found this rocker at Target online but I was nervous it was going to be a big pile of junk when it arrived at my house.

 

I was also nervous about the color of the chair because I wanted a cream color and the Target website listed it as "tan" but it was really more of a soft beige or a dark cream.  It's perfect.

It was $399 but it's worth every penny . . . and NO, I'm not getting paid or reimbursed or receiving anything from Target for posting this.  I just want you all to know you don't have to spend $1500 at Pottery Barn to get a decent, comfy rocker glider.

Most of all, I love how soft the fabric is.  Imani and I have been snuggling up in that big chair and reading every night before she goes to bed.  Breaking it in before little Noah arrives . . .

Sometimes I just sit in there by myself and relax . . . or catch up on my emails or read my favorite Tweets from people on my phone.

If you don't have a Twitter account, I'd highly recommend it, even if you don't want to Tweet. It's fun to read other people's Tweets. I'm a bit addicted, actually (does that surprise you?).  I never thought I'd like it but I'm totally in love with Twitter.

I like it far more than Facebook.You can get the inside scoop on all of your favorite blogger's lives

or politicians

or famous musicians . . .

it's pretty cool.

Oh, and yes, I follow Justin Bieber's Tweets.  I blame Imani because we went to see Never Say Never 3D and she learned all about how much he uses Twitter and how he announces his concerts and appearances on Twitter so she begged me to follow him.

So I did.

And I secretly wanted to because after I saw the movie, there was something I really liked about the boy.  Did you see it?

But now, I might drop him from Twitter.

He always re-tweets what a bunch of his fans post about him and it's kind of annoying.  I'd rather read what he has to say than a bunch of retweets from people saying how much they love him.

But mostly it's annoying because he hasn't retweeted any of my tweets or my sister's tweets or Imani's tweets.

Like when Imani played "Happy Birthday" on the violin for him because she heard he wants to learn how to play the violin.  

How could he NOT retweet that?

So yeah, JB is getting dropped from Twitter now . . . not that he'll notice but still.

Anyway, I'm so glad the chair from Target is a keeper.  I was so nervous I'd have to return it and suck it up and buy the Pottery Barn rocker that I've coveted for so long, even though it would take a big ole bite out of our savings account.  I'm still debating if we should get the ottoman to go with the rocker. I don't want to take up too much space in the nursery, but it would be nice to have something to put my feet up on.

It's $169.99 too.  Uggh. 

I'm gonna go sit in my rocker now and drop JB from Twitter.

What's Hanging & Baby Name Revealed

We've made so much progress around the nursery and it's basically complete! I'm sorry I haven't updated you all in a week . . . I've just been busy wrapping things up at my job before I go out on maternity leave.

I'm due on Thursday of this week and I am trying to work right up until I deliver so that I can take my time off with the baby.  I get 12 weeks, and I'd like all 12 to be at home with him, rather than sitting around the house waiting . . .

I figured I'd share what we've hung on the walls this week in the nursery.  I tried to incorporate things that were meaningful and not just random art work from Target.

So first, I bought a shelf from AC Moore and had Jason prime it and paint it Valspar's "Honeymilk".

Then, he drilled holes and put the same drawer pulls in that we used on the dresser.

My mom dug out my old baby shoes and we placed them on the shelf.

Along with this bear that I knitted for the baby.

And I found this adorable sign at TJ Maxx for only $4.99.

We hung up one of his little sweatshirts on the middle hook.

For my baby shower, my mother in law and her boyfriend purchased our Pottery Barn bassinet for us . . . but since it was on back order, she drew this beautiful picture to let us know it was coming soon.  It was too thoughtful and beautifully illustrated to throw away or stuff in a drawer somewhere, so I framed it as a keepsake.

I also finally took the time to figure out how to use my new Silhouette machine and I made this alphabet art.  I printed the letters from the baby's name in brown  . . . and  no, his name is not "Ahno."  Can you unscramble them to decipher his name?

Well in case you didn't figure it out,  here is his name in vinyl on the wall.  The frame was a junking find from last summer and Jason painted it in Valspar's "Honeymilk" to match the shelf.   You can see it in it's original color here where we used it to decorate for Halloween.

I'm so happy we finally settled on a name!  And that's what we have hanging around on the walls of the nursery.   I might add a couple more pictures if I can get it together before he arrives, but I'm not sure. I don't want to clutter the space either. 

Oh, and Jason's been one busy boy finishing our bedroom wall and painting our downstairs bathroom.  I think "nesting" has hit him too.   Stay tuned!



Nursery Progress: Making a Mobile

I knew when I started planning the nursery that I wanted to have some sort of homemade mobile but I didn't know where to begin.

I googled homemade mobiles and found a lot of mobiles made from branches, which I thought were beautiful, but weren't really the look I was going for in the nursery.

Little Slices of Green

I wanted something a little more delicate and I came across this beautiful butterfly mobile/chandelier at Pottery Barn for $59.

It was nice, but I didn't really want butterflies . . . and I didn't want to spend $59.

Then I came across this beautiful ribbon and flower mobile/chandelier at Pottery Barn.  It was no longer available for purchase (and I'm certain I wouldn't have liked the price tag anyway).



Luckily, I found a great tutorial for a knock-off version of Pottery Barn's Mobile at Living With Lindsay.  Lindsay created a similar version of the PB chandelier but she used birds.  It turned out beautifully.

Image: Living with Lindsay

And as much as I loved Lindsay's mobile, our theme in the nursery is the Pottery Barn Lambs, so I didn't know how to make a million lamb cut outs.  I also knew I wanted our mobile to be smaller.

So I decided to stick with the flowers and incorporate the colors of  cream, blue and beige.

First, I bought three embroidery hoops in small, medium and large.  I took them apart and used the inside of the rings.

I also bought ribbon

And seven bunches of artificial flowers in blue and white.

Finally, I purchased some invisible thread.

I began by taking some low-gauge wire I had at home and making a cross on the inside of the two smallest  hoops.

Next, I connected the hoops using invisible thread.  I put the medium hoop on top, the largest hoop in the middle, and the smallest hoop on the bottom.  This was very tedious and I will warn  you that it was frustrating working with the invisible thread because it's so hard to see.

Once I got the hoops in the order and balance that I liked, I hung the mobile across a yardstick between two chairs so I could begin gluing the ribbon on.

Using a hot glue gun, I started by gluing ribbon to the top hoop, looping it down through the second hoop and then back up to the bottom hoop, where I glued it again.

I intentionally made my ribbons of differing lengths because I wanted the bottom of the chandelier to have different lenghts of ribbon to add dimension.

Next, I cut the flowers off of their stems and glued them randomly on the ribbons.  Imani helped a lot with this part and she had so much fun knowing she was helping to create something for her little brother.

When I was finished gluing all of the flowers on, I had to go through and pick off a lot of excess glue but I was happy with the way the chandelier/mobile turned out.

Jason then had the fun job of hanging it in the nursery using the invisible thread.

I will say that the invisible thread is amazing because it's so hard to see, but it's also a pain to work with.

And there it is . . . my smaller version of the Pottery Barn Chandelier, with colors that match our nursery.

I might cover those wires with ribbon or paint them to blend in more.

It won't be much longer and there will be a little baby looking up to see this.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Linking up to:

Thrify Decor Chick's Before and After Party