Space-y Nursery

This nursery has been in the works since December of 2009.  Given that amount of time I should have been able to decorate a nursery worthy of Mariah Carey's twins.  I'm sure she would not approve of my little 9x12 space, but I'm much happier with it now than before.
Here's a little reminder:

OK.  This picture is particularly bad, but you can see that there were big changes made just with some paint and accessories. 

The big items had to stay.  As much as I love vintage-modern style cribs and mis-matchy dressers now, I didn't know that I loved them when I bought my furniture.  I also kind of bought them because my due date was getting close and I needed something.   I think I was able to bring a tiny bit of the vintage-modern style in with they pennant banner and vintage-looking space prints in the gallery wall.

You may remember this post...well....I decided not to paint my chair.  Now that the walls are lightened up, it doesn't seem like it needs it so bad.  I'll just keep the cream slip cover I bought to go in the next baby's nursery (possibly still years away).

The changing pad cover and crib sheet I got is from the Dwell Studio for Target Space Baby line.  I made the pillow in the chair and pennant banner from the curtain panel that belongs to the set.

This is the little corner next to the crib.  These are the only "toys" that stay out and visible in the room.  Everything else is stored in the closet. 

My little solar system mobile came from PB Kids.  I wish I could say that I made it myself, but it was $40 and I don't think I could have created one for significantly less than that.

My husband actually picked out the lamp on the changing table.  It's from Ikea and I think it was $20.

Since we already had all the big ticket items and most of the accessories, my nursery change-up didn't end up costing a ton of money.

Here's the rundown:
-Striped Curtains: $40
-White Paint: $20
-Pennant Banner: $9
-Birth Stats Print: $6

$75 for a whole new look!

Like always, I'll probably continue to add little things to the room over time.  I really want to re-cover a bean bag chair using this tutorial to put by the book racks. I'm also still considering putting something on the walls on either side of the crib.

I'll keep the blog updated with any changes I make!

Well, it's that time again.  Time for what's become my weekly "Y'all, I'm so tired" post.  I know you other mommies can relate, whether you work outside the home or in it.  There's never enough time to do everything I need to do.  I basically get things done in two hour (if I'm lucky) spurts while the Little Man is napping.  What did I do with all my free time before I had a baby!?

Yesterday I got around to re-installing book racks and hanging some coat hooks in my son's nursery.  I encountered some unanticipated issues, and those two little things took up a lot of time which left me no time to photograph the room.  I'll have to get those done when I get home today and get 'em posted tonight.

Thank goodness I have another break coming up.  I seriously need some time to get my house straight and get some sleep.  Just a few more days....

.....and seriously....I'm very close to being finished with the nursery so hang with me if this is completely uninteresting and irrelevant for those of you without kids.

Happy Wednesday!

Nursery Gallery Wall

I'm done!  The second massive wall in my son's nursery is (almost) complete.  I'll probably continue to add to it little by little over time, but for now...I'm done!

This little gallery wall ended up taking a lot more time than I thought it would (of course).  I started with only six frames and the clock and quickly realized that they weren't going to cover the amount of space that I thought they would.  I scrounged up every frame I could find in my house that wasn't being used and I ended up with a mish mash of frames.  Sometimes a mix of completely different frames works...these frames didn't work.  They needed something to pull them all together, so I decided to paint them all white.

The spray paint didn't mix so great with the slight winds we were having, so I ditched the can for a brush.  Painting the frames with a brush took for-ev-er, but it was worth it.

Once I had the frames painted I had to fill 'em up. 

The vintage-looking prints of the solar system, rocket, girl with a telescope, and astronaut (not pictured above) came from a book that I tore apart so I could put those pretty little pictures into frames.

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I originally saw A Is for Astronaut at Pottery Barn Kids for $16, but I found a used copy on Amazon for $5.  Not bad for 6 little prints!

I was afraid that the big frame would be expensive to fill, but I typed up the birth stats print in Adobe Illustrator and got it printed at Costco for $6.  $6 for a 16x 20 print!  I was inspired by these prints I've seen around the internet on other blogs and etsy.  It looked easy enough, so I gave it a shot and I love how it turned out.  Here's a sampling of those inspirational prints via Pinterest. 

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The other frames are filled with fabric that I've used in other places around the room.  I plan on using the one with stripes as a dry erase board.

Here's the finished product again:
I mostly used things that I already had.  I've had the frames, paint, fabric, book and clock ($3 at Target) for quite a while, so I only had to spend $6 of new money on my print from Costco!

I'm really looking forward to expanding the gallery organically, and I love the new colors it brings to the room.  I only have a couple more little things to do until I can get shots of the whole room.  Almost done!

I'll be linking up to:

Coming Soon...

....the nursery gallery wall.  I didn't quite finish yesterday afternoon, so I'll finish up later today and get it posted by tonight.

p.s.  I DIY-ed that birth stats print (16x20 for $6)!
p.s.s.  Happy Monday!

Thanks, Thanks, and Thanks

I've been mentioning how busy I've been lately with school and household stuff.....and school.  I haven't really had the time to make blog visits and leave comments for those of y'all that have begun following or left comments here.  I just want to let everyone know that I appreciate your interest in my ramblings and projects.

I also want to say a little thanks to those of y'all that have pinned photos from this blog onto your Pinterest boards.  It really is encouraging to see that you like my projects or inspiration enough to take the time and pin it.

Thanks again and have a wonderful weekend!

Nursery Inspiration: Pennant Banners and Gallery Walls

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Pennant + Gallery

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My pennant banner is done.  Now I just have to get moving on my gallery wall.  These pictures certainly give me motivation to get it finished.

Happy almost Friday!

DIY Pennant Banner

Does the internet need another pennant banner tutorial?

Absolutely not.  So I'm just gonna give details on what I used and which tutorial I followed.

I got the printable pattern here (great tutorial) and made the template from a paper bag.  The fabric I used was a curtain panel that I bought and didn't end up using, green striped Ikea fabric and left over navy fabric from my striped curtains.  I used cotton belting to hold the whole thing together.

I chose to make a pennant banner because I needed something cheap and something that would take up a lot of space on a massive wall in my son's nursery.  I only had to spend about $9 on the belting and I had all the other materials.  Cheap: check.  The banner is 15 feet and fills up most of the wall. Space filler: check.

I know, I know, I need to fix my circle, but there you have it...all 15 feet of my banner.

Next up, I need to fill the other massive wall in the nursery.  I feel another gallery wall coming on.

I hope everyone had a wonderful first day of summer yesterday.  It was hot here!

To all my readers that don't have children or babies:  I'm sorry for all the nursery talk!  I'll be done soon, I promise!

I'll be linking up to:

Almost Done!

I'll have more details tomorrow!

p.s.  Our bedroom has the most open floor space which makes it a great place to work.  That's why this is the fourth time my bedroom carpet has made a cameo in a post.  Others are here and here and here.

3rd Time's the Charm

Woo hoo!  I actually got something done this weekend.  The picture above is a little sneak peak of my nursery change-up.   I painted the nursery on Saturday for the third time.    I think I finally got it right.

The first time I painted I had different bedding and the walls were bright green.  Kind of like this:

The paint I just covered up was perfect in dim light, but the blue was way too saturated in the daylight.  I usually ended up toning it down in pictures, but this is what it really looked like with no tweaking. 

Now the nursery looks fresh and clean and bright!  Painting took quite a bit of time, but it did not take much money.  I only paid $20 for the white paint and I mixed the blue from paint we already had.  The white paint is actually Glidden ceiling paint.  It's only $10 a gallon at Wal-Mart.  I got it to use as a primer because it was cheaper than primer, but once I got it the walls I liked how it looked so I just did two coats of that and I was done.

I decided to add the stripe because there is so much wall space in this room which only has one window.  The walls needed to be a little bit interesting on their own so I wouldn't have to fill every inch of them up with a frame or shelf or some little accessory that would end up making the room look cluttered.

I'll keep y'all posted on what I'm going to put on the walls as I get things hung and I'll probably have the whole nursery done soon.


Happy Monday!

Boy Nurseries Are Difficult

I'm having a hard time with my son's nursery change-up.  Right now it's a disaster area and completely unusable.  All he can do is sleep in there.  I have to do something about it soon.  Like, this weekend soon.  I'm still not totally sure what it is though. 

Maybe one day I'll have a girl and she'll have a pretty room like one of these.  Girls' rooms just seem to be so much easier to decorate.

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This one's been floating around Pinterest lately.  via

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Any boy nursery inspiration you'd like to share?  Are girls' rooms really easier?  I'd love to know!

Y'all have a good weekend!

T.J. Maxx Finds

I made a quick stop by T.J. Maxx on my way to Target yesterday and the home-wares department was bringin' it!  Yes,  I said "bringin' it."  I think I've been spending too much time with middle schoolers.   

Anywho...I was just browsing through and I was kind of shocked at the amount of stylish furniture they had. 

Here are a few of the super affordable pieces I saw:

Black and white lattice ottoman $55.

 Brown, gold, green suzani ottoman $55.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but this credenza looked like a Restoration Hardware piece and at $200 it was a lot cheaper than anything you could find there. 

I know the inventory fluctuates from store to store, but if this is any indication of what other T.J. Maxxes might have right now, I'd say it's a good time to look.

Blah!

I'm  having a super, super, super, busy week and I really didn't expect to be as tired as I am.  My students tested last week and we're re-testing/make-up testing this week.  It is exhausting. 

On top of that, I still haven't recovered from our weekend at the beach.  Does anyone else find that "vacationing" with a toddler is more work than relaxation?

Despite all the ideas floating around in my head and how anxious I am to get started,  I'm gonna be putting them off 'til this weekend.

Until I have some of my own work to show, here are some gorgeous inspirations pics.  Are you tired of me posting pictures of homes with white walls?  No?  OK.

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Never Waste Your Money On An Organic Onion!

I've been trying to buy more organic and whole/unprocessed foods lately.  Of course, this can lead to a pretty big grocery bill.  Today (I'll get back to decorating tomorrow) I'm gonna quickly share a tool that helps me stick to our food budget.

The Clean 15 is a list of fruits and veggies that have little to no pesticide residue.  Because they have zero or low amounts of pesticide, I don't waste my money buying organic versions of them.

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The 2011 list was recently released by the Environmental Working Group and they even have a handy dandy printable version that you can cut out and carry with you when you go to the grocery store.

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So easy and such a great money saver!

Our Beachy Weekend

First, we had a wonderful weekend in Emerald Isle!  Second,  how funny is my son's expression in that picture?!  He was so sleepy from playing on the beach that no matter how goofy I looked (crazy hair and all) he could only muster up that stoic pose.

I hope every one else had a fantastic and relaxing weekend! 

It's going to be a busy week and I've got a lot of projects I need to get started.  I'm looking forward to getting some work done and I'll be posting plenty of updates.

Have a nice Monday!