Nursery Musings

I know that the love of money is the root of all evil, but I have to be honest.  In the world of home decorating, it wouldn’t hurt to have just a little more.  There.  I said it.  Sometimes it’s hard being on a budget, especially when Pinterest offers so many tempting images of posh baby nurseries.  All that said, I know it’s good for me to have to think outside the box when it comes to decorating.  If it came too easy, it would be boring and I’m sure I’d take it for granted.  Obviously it’s a treat to have a cute room—not a right.  Can you tell I have to keep myself in line?  We all need some checks and balances in our lives, true?

When we first moved into our little bungalow, the soon-to-be nursery looked like this…

I know…those curtains seriously give me the creeps.  Then we converted it to a guest room, and it took on a slightly country look that I was never totally satisfied with, although it was a major step up from its humble beginnings (somehow we managed to paint the walls the same color as the original shag carpet…not our best move). 

It currently looks like this…

Several weeks ago, our friends moved into a new house chock full of bedrooms, and since they needed some furniture to fill the empty space, and we needed to clear out for Baby Braham, we loaned them all the furniture that resided in the guest room.  It was great to empty out the room so we could start fresh, but it was also a tad overwhelming.  It really didn’t take long to begin filling the space though, as some friends from church gave us this great changing table/dresser.  I’m considering either painting or changing the knobs, and I’ve also thought it might be fun to paint the top a bold contrasting color.

and a few days later we snagged this $20 glider on Craigslist. Pardon the wonky cushions—they’re air drying after a good sanitizing wash.

Yep, that chair is ugly as sin.  I have plans to paint it and recover the cushions (I’m hoping my talented neighbor will help me out, since she sews—which, by the way, is one skill I sew so totally wish I had under my belt).  At $20, it’s hard to go wrong, folks.  I’d love to add some sort of ottoman eventually—maybe one with storage inside. 

I’ve also been debating color schemes for the room.  Here are few of my favorites from the always inspiring Design Seeds website.

The neutral lover in me is struggling a bit over whether or not to paint the walls a color.  I’m currently on the lookout for some fabric, a rug, or a lamp shade that will inspire me one way or the other.  I really think every room needs something that pulls it all together, and I’m holding off on any major decisions until I find that something.  Ultimately, though, I really want this room to be gender neutral.  While I’d love to go all out, it’s really more prudent for us to make this a space that two kiddos could eventually share, and that means it has to be somewhat versatile. 

Since there is not much storage in our house, we’re hoping to add it via a bookcase, a crib with a pull-out drawer underneath, and some floating shelves.  Here’s what we’ve been eyeing.

Next time Matt drives to Denver, he plans to stop at IKEA to purchase the Expedit bookcase and Lack floating shelves.  By the way, IKEA definitely has the best deal on these shelves that I’ve seen so far.  They are white (although they offer several other color options), chunky, and only $15!  Woot!  The bookcase is more of a splurge, so of course I’ve been seeking used alternatives at local thrift store and Craigslist, but so far I’m loving this guy, especially since he fits perfectly into a little nook in the room. 

Now that I’ve rambled on about random aspects of the nursery with very little to actually show for it, I thought I’d give you some real news.  On Tuesday we had our 20 week ultrasound, and it turns out that Baby Braham is…

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a healthy BOY!!  We are so thankful and excited that our future kiddos will have an older brother to look out for them—here’s praying that he’s a great role model!  During the ultrasound, our wonderful technician said, “I’ve been doing this for 26 years, and even though I can’t tell if it’s a boy or girl quite yet, its hand is between its legs, which almost always means it’s a boy.”  We laughed so hard we almost cried.  A few minutes later she confirmed that our very active baby was indeed male.  And for the record, this kid can kick!  Oh, the adventures that lie ahead…

While we’re on the topic of boys, we’re all ears when it comes to parenting wisdom.  Any thoughts on bringing up boys?