Thursday, July 30, 2009

My DIY Nursery

So, this is a big first for me - I'm linking up to the DIY Thursday party over at A Soft Place to Land. I have been a blog stalker over there for quite some time - I think I've pretty much read every post she's ever written - and I've gotten a lot of inspiration. And I've been using a lot of the inspiration I find there (and the Nesting Place and Centsational Girl and Thrifty Decor Chick and... the list goes on) to put together the nursery for Andy (due date is just a week and a half away!!). So, without further ado, here are all the projects I've been working on:

First an overview (you'll probably have to click on the picture to enlarge it if you really want to read my clever in-picture commentary.) :


My inspiration for the whole room was (were? I hate antecedents. I think it's was.) these three prints I found as I was wandering around on etsy. (They can be found in Gumball Grenade's etsy shop.)

I fell in love with them and knew I had to have them. Once I decided to base the whole nursery theme around them, though, I found that there really wasn't a lot out there in the baby realm to complement them, which necessitated many DIY projects - which suits me just fine.

So here are some of the projects I did:

I would have loved to have these prints custom framed, but I'm cheap and working on a small budget, so I bought those super cheap unfinished wood frames at Ikea ($2/per I think?), painted them, and then made "mats" out of scrapbook paper. They deserve so much better, but for now this will have to do.

Also in this picture you can see my shelves that I painted (same color as the blue frame). They look better in person. Really, they look better than the unfinished wood condition that I bought them in. So that's always good.

Here you can see the quilt that I made- it's a rag/shag quilt and it's fairly simple. Just blocks of color that echo the colors in the paintings. I also made that dust ruffle out of a plain red flat sheet I found at DI (like Goodwill). I just ripped two long pieces from it and sewed them together. The bottom was already hemmed hallelujah, and then I just tucked it around under the mattress in a ruffly sort of way. Totally pleased with myself there. Oh, any opinions - to bumper or not to bumper? I'm tempted to make one, but then I keep hearing how you shouldn't use them. Thoughts?



And here's the mobile I made using this tutorial. It uses the red, white, blue, and yellow motif from the paintings (and the rest of the room) and also the sail boat that is in one of the three prints. I like it. It's not amazing, but it's kinda cute.

And, my piece de resistance, the window "mistreatment" ala Nester. When I bought sheets for the crib (from Ikea) I was saddened to find that one of them had a hole in it. I couldn't be bothered to take them back (I'd lost the receipt and Ikea is a bit far away), so I racked my brain thinking what I could do with them. Then, after seeing several curtains and window treatments, I finally hit upon the idea of this, my own window mistreatment. I used 1/2 yard of 50" dark blue fabric for the top, the rest of the red flat sheet (from the dust ruffle) for the trim and ties, the crib sheet (that's the big blue part), and - as the lining - a curtain from Savers that I originally bought for the room and discovered was too small. Oh yeah, and some left over yellow fabric from the quilt, which I used to make the stars to cover the hole in the sheet. Whew. I only sewed one seam (across the top). Everything else I did with hemming tape, which I loved because I have issues sewing straight lines, especially when the fabrics are all different textures (that crib sheet was danged stretchy). Oh yeah, and of course I used the glue gun. How could I not?

Last of all, some advice? This room is doubling (tripling? quadrupling? It's also my office and craft space.) as a guest room while my mom stays with us for a month or so after the baby's born (thanks Mom, you are the best). I feel like that wall needs something, but I don't know what. I've got four prints by the same artist who did the sail boat painting over the bed - they are gorgeous prints of Greece, but they don't really go with the nursery. I was also thinking of doing an alphabet wall, but then I'm worried things will get too busy in the space ... and also that it isn't fitting for the "guest room" zone of the room. Any ideas? Should I just leave it? Really, I should just leave it, seeing as 1.) The guest room will only exist for the month that Mom is here and 2.) we're looking to move out of this apartment (I wonder why?) and into a house in the next few months, so it's probably just not worth the aggravation. Still open to suggestions though.

Anyway, thanks for looking at my DIY Nursery :)

16 comments:

Shauna Malia said...

This baby is the luckiest kid in the world! You and James are going to be the BEST parents! The room looks BEAUTIFUL! I'm so happy for you both!! :)

Evan and Holly said...

So that's where you've been for so long. It looks really good. If only Kyle's mom had those sorts of talents, or at least a sewing machine. They say that you should only use a crib bumper for a few months until the child can roll and then of course you can bring it back out after they can move themselves, but the child can use it to stand on later. I never did a bumper--but then again, we've never had a real crib.
It looks really good in there and it is getting so close. Almost everyday I think, "maybe Charity's baby has come."

MM said...

WOW, YOU REALLY DO AMAZING WORK! You could sell crip sets! I think bumpers are cute, but pointless and with all your colors, you definitely wouldn't NEED one because your space is already cute!

If you are moving, I wouldn't bother with the guest part of the room at all. But I have no imagination so I couldn't help you out there. ;)

Hailey said...

Good job, Charity! I am really impressed. I will definitely have to check out your inspiration blogs. My kids' rooms all need to be done. The boys are 3 1/2. I think it's time to try to decorate their room!

Tracie said...

Wow! I am super impressed. It looks great. I'm so jealous of your crafty skills. Maybe you can come help me with my nursery if we ever close on this dang condo.

Stephanie-jean Life:SemiCrunchy said...

Absolutely adorable! I am looking forward to actually "nesting" with this baby (Dan and I were living in my aunt's basement when we had Nate) and making Baby #2 it's own special space! You are amazing!

Elizabeth said...

Your nursery totally rocks! I absolutely love it! It is totally fantastic! I love the stars on the sheets! I love the pictures--good thing to fall in love with! I love the quilt you made for the bed! I love that you used a sheet for the ruffle, what a great idea!

Okay, I think I am done gushing, but I may have to come back for more later.

I didn't use bumper pads at all for Eleanor and didn't miss them one bit. By the time they are old enough to stick their feet through, they are old enough to be okay with that. The slats are always plenty big enough to not let them get stuck.

Christian and Jennifer said...

My question is this . . . how the CRAP are you fitting all that stuff into one room of your apartment?!?!?!? I am beyond mystified at your ingenuity. Everything looks great and I am so excited for Anders to have such a gloriously fun space to live in! We never used a bumper, either, and never missed it. Personal preference on that one. I know they're okay until the baby's on the move (which can come really fast), so have fun! It looks awesome, Char!

Sarah said...

Great job! I love all the colors. They look so crisp without being too bold. For the guest area, what about a floor lamp over in the corner? Just a thought. You've done beautiful work. God's blessings on your sweet arrival! Sarah :D

Brittny said...

This is so cute. I so wish I had even an ounce of your creativity.

I'd decided with Sam that I was going to forgo a bumper because they'd always seemed pointless to me. However, Sam got to a point where he would get his little feet stuck between the bars and get upset about it. So, off to Babies 'R Us I went to buy him a bumper. Apparently he's about the only baby that's had that problem, but I figured I'd throw in my two cents. I finally decided it was worth it :)

Heidi said...

Looks great madam talented! Well done!

Emily said...

The nursery looks really great Charity! What a fun project- you did a wonderful job of it. I'm so excited for you guys.

Jessica said...

I love it! You guys better call us when you have your baby - I really really really want to meet him. Please please call us?

Now to suggestions- I think you should move to a house close to us. I'll even help you decorate that one ;)

Actually, I think the pictures of Greece would be amazing.

Carolyn said...

Cute, cute, cute! Way more put together than anything I've ever done for Alice's room.

My 2c on the bumper issue: one night Erik went into alice's room. She was on her stomach and was not breathing. we took everything out of her crib except her and a small blanket from her waist down after that. I won't ever have a bumper in my kids cribs again.

Christian and Jennifer said...

Sheesh, Char! Jump on a trampoline or something. We are WAITING!!!!

Elizabeth said...

When you say rag quilt, do you mean one of those with the seams on the outside? If so, do you think you could teach me that when we get to Utah?