Thursday, April 26, 2012

Juliana Claire's *Mostly Finished* Nursery

Juliana's nursery isn't done, but since I could go into labor anytime and since I have a certain sister-in-law who insists that she's "dying" a slow agonizing death without nursery photos, I thought I'd go ahead and share what I've done so far.

This is what I started with two weekends ago:


What a mess! I'm usually a "share the step-by-step process" kind of gal, but since I had a definite timeline, I just didn't have time for that much blogging.


Just looking in there made me want to bang my head against the wall. Repeatedly. Until I knocked myself unconscious.

terribly mangled star mobile from Joseph's nursery

Fortunately, once I got it cleaned up and started playing decorating, it started coming together beautifully. In my opinion, anyways.

I set up a couple of rules for the room:
  • Reuse as much of Joseph's nursery items as possible. Check.
  • Use items from around the house and spend no more than $5 total on necessary crafting supplies (i.e. thread, hanging hardware, etc.). Check.
  • Embrace the fact that you are going to have a baby girl and have fun with it. The space should make you happy. Check.
Let's get started before my ticket to aunthood expires from the anticipation. ;) This is what you see when you first walk in the door:

Sorry, the pictures aren't the greatest. It was a super rainy, gloomy, and dark morning so I had to turn on the overhead light.

I made this little welcoming door wreath last night with some ribbon (one of my few purchases), an old Christmas cranberry wreath that had cracked cranberries all over it, scrapbooking stickers that my Mom gave me a long time ago. and some foam letters that my MIL picked up on clearance at Target (the same ones we used for our ABC Easter eggs). Thank you, mothers!


The view when you walk a little bit further into the room:



The view from the tall dresser in the corner:



And the view from the corner behind the glider:



The little bookcase corner right by the door has my old jewelry box and some kissing teddy bears that I had lying around. They are making out sitting in the same exact style chair that I used for my dollies when I was a kid (from Goodwill Outlet a long time ago). The hanging branch is something I just grabbed out of my backyard and the dress hanging on it was my SIL Theresa's baptismal gown. I can't wait to put Juliana in all that frilly white! The artwork is one of three numbered and signed prints by Mark Strauss. He is a Holocaust survivor and was my very first guest speaker as a history teacher. I bought the prints for Joseph's nursery at a teacher discount of $20 each.


The ceiling to floor curtains are made from two different linens I already had in the closet - my sister Kate's old IKEA duvet from her high school days and a light blue fitted bed sheet.


I love how fun this fabric is, but the spunky purple flowers are a bone of contention with me. It's not that I don't think they are fun and cute... It's that there is NO purple anywhere else in the room. I've tried to convince myself to ignore them, but they make my eye twitch. So, I'm in the process of making little blue fabric roses to cover them up. It will only take about a 100...


Yes. I am aware that I'm off my rocker. ;)

The grape vine wreaths in the windows were a part of Joseph's nursery. The little owls sitting on them were knitted by my mother for Joseph's nursery when he was a baby. She made me a whole parliament of them!


The lamp also used to be in my sister Kate's room in high school. It has been spray painted white and ribbon-ified. I used hot glue on each end of the ribbon to make a fun latticework shade inspired by this.


The grass in the baby food jars on the window sill was grown by Joseph for his aunt's baby shower and then used for his second birthday. Now, it's gracing his baby sister's room. *sniff*

I love the big prints by Mark Strauss. They always amaze me because the man had a bomb blow up in his hands and is missing a large chunk of his fingers. I simply can't comprehend how someone who has been through so much can paint such beautiful and whimsical landscapes. On the whole, I find them very moving. I didn't have a theme for the room, but I built the nursery around these three prints.


This one is my favorite:



The framed ABCs that go all around the the top of the room were a hand-me-down from my SIL Sarah. She originally had them on the wall in baby Katherine's nursery, but decided to take the room in a different direction. So she gave them to me! Sweet! Thank you, Sarah! I had my brother stain the dollar store frames to match the rest of the frames and furniture in the room. The conversation went like this:

"Hey, Marshall! Would you stain some frames for me when I come over tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"Thanks!"

The next day:

"So, I may have neglected to mention that there are... um... 26 frames..."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm framing the alphabet. It's going to be adorable!"

"You could have mentioned that yesterday!?!"

"Aw, c'mon! You wouldn't make a pregnant lady breath in fumes while staining twenty-six frames now would you?" (This argument works for everything with him. It's so sweet! Usually, you have to bribe the kid to get him to do anything.)

"You know that isn't going to work for very much longer, right? Once you have the baby, you'll have to start bribing me again."

"But it's working now? Right?"

*grumble grumble* "Fiiine..."

Ha. I love it.


The little antique fan on the top of dresser was acquired at the Yard Crawl a few years ago. The book is the complete works of Beatrix Potter. I love me some Peter Rabbit and it goes with my Peter Rabbit music box. Each of the four music boxes on the dresser belongs to me and my three siblings. My mom got each of them when we were born. I have them in safe-keeping until my siblings decide they want them.


One of my favorite spots in the room is the changing table. The doily bunting with Juliana's name is just made from twine, paper doilies, and the same foam letters from my MIL.


I picked up some embroidery hoops at the Yard Crawl last year and have been waiting for the perfect use for them. I also acquired some antique doilies at a church bazaar sale with Sarah sometime last year. I put the two together and I am totally smitten with the results.


I hung them with clear beading string from a near invisible nylon fishing line that is stretched taught between hooks in the ceiling.


I'm using the same chalkboard that I used on the milk & cookies bar at Sarah's baby shower on the back of the door. I haven't decided if the frame needs to be painted a happy color or not, but for now, I think it looks good.


The lacy bunting on the wall behind the crib is made from an old stained lace bed skirt from my closet. I pretty much let my girly side reign with the crib.


Not because of the beautifully crocheted blankets from Stephen's aunt or the adorable little pink rabbit from my MIL. No. Definitely because of the pink platypus. Every little girl needs a fuzzy pink platypus. It's a rule.


I was also inspired by this to make a little framed word art with a scrap of blue fitted sheet left from the curtain project and the foam letters from my MIL.


It amuses me to have it by the crib and glider. Besides, that wall was practically blank, so I had to throw it together last night. Hi, my name is Caroline, and I don't like bare wall space. At one point over the weekend, Stephen walked in and pointed at this corner and said, "You missed a space. You should get on that." ;)


I was waffling about possibly putting up a princess drape above the crib on Pinterest when Sarah decided Juliana needed a princess drape and gave me the most adorable hand carved shelf from her house. She picked it up for a song at a yard sale a long time ago. Thank you again, pretty lady! I draped a lacy table cloth and some white sheer curtains from the inside of the shelf using tacks and a staple gun. I even found a queen sized bed skirt in my linen closet (four pictures up) with an edge on it that sort of mimics the carving and used it as the crib skirt! Love.

The moravian stars that I made into a star mobile (using the same method as the doily mobile) were actually made by my Aunt Jennifer and given to me as a wedding present. They are something of a tradition in our family and they used to hang above Joseph when he was a baby.


The most adorable "J" on the planet was actually a little cardboard J that was given to me by Sarah's friend Karla. Thank you so much! It's my favorite thing in the whole room!

Belly!

I hand painted it using Katie Daisy's Pocketful of Posies as a guide. I couldn't be happier with the results. It just so stinkin' happy!


So, that's where we stand with the nursery. I still need to cover up the glider. It's a hand-me-down from my MIL and plenty comfortable, but the blonde wood sticks out like a sore thumb and the cushions are straight out of the early 90s. I plan to make a slip cover for it... probably from white bed sheets. We'll see.


I also have the little bookshelf in the corner for toy storage. It doesn't go with the rest of the dark mahogany furniture either, but it's functional and helps to cover up a giant plumbing access panel that I don't consider to be especially safe for small children to be around. So, I will be making a slip cover again, probably out of white bedsheets. It will serve to hide the toys and make it work better with the rest of the room.




So... a few projects left to complete:
  • DIY glider slipcover
  • DIY bookcase slipcover
  • DIY oval rag rug from sheets
  • glue broken dresser drawer
  • make 100 or so fabric flowers and use to cover purple curtain flowers
  • make small, easy faux roman shades to hide the miniblinds and black out shades.

Am I going to get any of these done?


Well, considering my present state, probably not.


But I'll keep working on it right up until contractions start. ;)

5 comments:

  1. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
    I LOVE IT!!!!
    Thank you. I can breathe now. ;)
    I ADORE the doily mobile and the ribbon-adorned lampshade. I was TOTALLY DYING to see how the princess crib turned out and IT'S AWESOME. The ABC prints are fantastic with the dark frames! And that "J"... oh my. Soooo in love with that "J". And the bunting everywhere! So cheerful and girly and pretty!!!!
    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! :):):)

    You know, I bet that flowers like the one on Katherine's headband would be faster to make for those curtains. If you don't get them done before Juliana gets here, we'll have beach craft time. :)

    I love you!!! :):):)

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  2. The room is looking awesome! I really love the fabric on the curtains and didn't notice the purple at all, but if it bugs you, make those rosettes, girl. I also love the dark wood frames. They really balance all the other colors. Everything looks so great!

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  3. Eeeeeeeeeee!!

    I gasped audibly when I saw the first finished photo. It is totally Juliana's princess land. I actually really like the purple in the curtains, but I know you're going to make those rosettes anyway! And, I know they're going to look fabulous! Seriously, you and Sarah are designing my next nursery for me.

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  4. This is beautiful! I really like the purple in the curtains, it's so girly! But make your rosettes if it really bothers you, they're super cute too. I love that you used so many items that once belonged to your family, I think that's so sweet! I knew I recognized that shelf from Sarah's the moment I saw it! I'm so glad you like the J, you did such a great job painting it! I should have done that, it looks way better than my scrapbook paper and modpodge. Beautiful nursery!!

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  5. Looks so great! What a lucky little girl!

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