Nursery Update - Another Craigslist Dresser

Hello, all! I hope everyone is getting to enjoy some fantastic early spring weather like we are here in North Dakota! We went to a St. Patrick's Day parade yesterday and it was almost 80 degrees! Who would have ever thought that you'd be able to wear shorts and a tank top on St. Patrick's Day in ND?

Anyway, we're plugging away on the nursery and this is our most recent project.

I love this solid wood (no particleboard or veneer!) mid-century dresser and at just $60, it was a steal! The top was in sort of bad shape, with some water spots, stains and dents so I went back and forth on what to do with it. I loved the look of this dresser from aDESIGNdock.

I love the darker wood drawer fronts and the contrast with the white shell. This is such a fantastic look but the dresser is going against a cream colored wall and I just didn't feel like it would look right. We decided that since it was solid wood, sanding and staining was the way to go. So...I put my husband to work :-)

My next decision was what to do with the bare wood. (Man, decisions are TOUGH!) I had three options in mind. First, a clear coat just to seal it. The color would have been super close to the crib but the contrast against the cream colored wall wouldn't have really been there. My second thought was a simple, natural colored stain and my third was a beautiful, deep walnut color.

I ended up going with the natural stain.

I'm super happy with my choice. I love the little bit of color and if we decide to go darker in the future, we can easily do that.

So, that's just a tease. You'll have to wait until the room is totally done to see the finished project :-)

As far as updates go, here are a few more. I finally got the chevron curtain fabric and blackout liner and plan on sewing them up today. While I was at it, I picked up a yard of this Dwell Studio fabric for some accents.

I also have a couple updates on the baby. My c-section is scheduled for April 23rd so unless he decides he wants to come early, that's his birthday! Speaking of him deciding to come early, I guess he's big. He's measuring a couple weeks ahead so I have another ultrasound scheduled for March 27th to get an idea just how big he is. Who knows, maybe he'll be here sooner! I guess that means we still have a lot to do!

How is everyone doing? Are you taking advantage of the fantastic weather? What are you working on right now?

Grosgrain Ribbon "Matting"

Hello all! I'm so excited to show you my favorite element (so far) of the nursery. I showed you back here the prints I bought from etsy. I'm super happy with them but I bought them in 11x14 and my cheapo frames from IKEA were just slightly bigger than that. I had to come up with a solution to hide that fact.

Here you can see at the bottom of the frame where I had a little space. It was like this at the top as well. I also didn't like that you could see the outline around the edge of print.

Close up :-)

I used an orange grosgrain ribbon to conceal the problem areas and to add a little punch of color.

I cut four strips of ribbon so it would be just slightly longer and poke out the back. I laid it right up against the glass of the frame and put the print over (or I guess, technically, "behind") it. I put the backing on the frame just like I normally would and used the little tabs of ribbon to adjust the placement so it was just right. I trimmed the excess and voila:

 

I'm loving the extra bit of color this adds and they're going to look fantastic against the gorgeous blue wall.

 

We've got the blue wall painted and the crib is up. I've been posting some progress pics on my Facebook. I'm going to order the fabric for the curtains this weekend but want to find a fantastic coordinating fabric to use as an accent so I can order them all at the same time.

So, does anyone have any ideas for a great fabric to coordinate with green and white zig zag?

Design Plan - Baby Boy Nursery

Hello friends! I have been having so much fun collecting ideas for my little boy's bedroom. If you follow me on Pinterest, you have probably already seen my board full of ideas. I've gone back and forth with plans and was pretty sure I wanted a navy blue wall and chevron curtains but as soon as I saw this picture, I knew it was exactly what I was going for. (For all of these pics, click the picture for the source.)

Now, I'm not going to be copying the whole room but the navy wall and green chevron curtains will both be the same.  

I ordered some swatches of a few different shades for the chevron curtains and I just can't help but love the above shade of chartreuse. The fabric has been ordered!

The instant I saw these prints on etsy, I knew exactly what direction I was heading in for this room. You may not know this about me but I'm an absolute music lover and a HUGE Beatles fan. In our house, music is on more than the television and my daughter has been able to identify the Beatles (music and pictures!) since she started talking. I'm so proud of my girl :)

Anyway, I ordered the set of four and got them almost right away. The colors in these are so vibrant and I can't wait to see them hanging up in his room!

This mobile is fantastic and I'd love to DIY this. I'm not usually big on "themes", even for a nursery, so I'm trying really hard to stay away from going overboard on the music stuff. Also, this isn't a huge room so I'm needing to be kind of choosy. I have an upholstered glider and ottoman we used in my daughter's nursery at our old house and I'll be bringing that in. We also picked up a new crib at IKEA a few weeks ago. I've still got a lot of wall space to fill and I'm still trying to figure that out (again, without getting too themey).

I think that all in all I've got a good start. Now, we just need to get that room cleared out! I'm sad to be losing my office/guest room but to be honest, I wasn't using that space anyway. Well, except for storage of all my thrifting finds. Figuring out what to do with all that will be a challenge. I'm thinking major purge and rummage sale. After all, I've got a ton of baby girl clothes to get rid of!

I'm thinking that next weekend we will get started on clearing out the room. I'll take lots of pictures of the process and be sure to share. I've also been thinking that since the boy is going to get a fantastic room, it's time for my daughter's room to be updated. I'll share some ideas for that another time!

I hope you're all having a great weekend and have something fun planned for the big game tomorrow. I'm alone this weekend and will be until shortly before kickoff so instead of making a big spread with awesome apps, I'm going to be making my favorite chicken enchiladas instead. What are your plans?