Nursery Tour

Chris and I have been spending some time (and money!) on fixing up our house. When we moved in, we finished anything that was necessary. New carpet, a neutral wall pain throughout the house to replace the horrid wallpaper from 1974, and a couple new light fixtures, bedroom doors, closet doors, and other odds and ends. We took a break from the fixing up over the summer because we went down to one paycheck since I was on summer vacation, but as soon as my first fall paycheck hit the bank, we fired up the home projects again.

We’ve decided to take things room at a time. A couple weekends ago we painted the dining room a beautiful blue color that really makes our living room pop now. And then the following weekend, we painted our kitchen sort of a marigold color. I’ll post about those when we’ve finished the little odds and ends in each room, but it is already looking better.

We did Bean’s bedroom over the summer, and I was super happy with it. New paint, curtains and clever bookshelves gave it a fresh, little boy feel. It’s now my favorite room in the house.

The next room we are doing is Gracie’s nursery. We’ve decided to actually switch her bedroom to a different room in the house. The room she is in gets direct sunlight all day long, and by 3:00 in the afternoon, her room is sweltering. And the heat never really cools down. It stays hot in there all night long. So, we’re moving her to a room that doesn’t get direct sunlight, and hoping that takes care of the temperature control issue.

Because we are moving her room, we decided to go ahead and start on her room now. We are going to do a garden theme in her “big girl” room. I think we’re actually going to use the green paint we originally painted our kitchen. It was too pale for the kitchen, but it will be really pretty in a bedroom. Our friend, Trey, is an amazing artist and he has offered to paint this big white tree with little white birds on one of the walls for me.

For art work, I am using these prints from Etsy. This one was the inspiration for the nursery theme, and when I went to the girl’s Etsy shop, they were actually super inexpensive.

The biggest thing that is changing in her new room is that Gracie MIGHT be getting a toddler bed from Santa Claus if she is a really good girl. She will be 22-months-old at Christmas, and so we’re going to try moving her over to a toddler bed. Next week she is moving up to the next classroom at school, and she will begin taking naps on her little cot instead of in a crib. We’re going to see how she does with that at school first. If all goes well, then we’ll be picking out her toddler bed in the next few months and passing along the idea to Santa.

Even with all this change in her room, though, there will definitely be things that stay the same. This lamp will go with her wherever she goes. It was made by my mom for me when I was born and was in my bedroom throughout my entire childhood. Mom kept it for me until I had a daughter of my own, and so it has been in Gracie’s room since she was born, too. (FYI – It’s not as creepy as it looks in this picture…)

Gracie’s books will also go with her wherever she goes. Books are Gracie’s favorite things right now. She always carries one or two with her (just like her momma!), and she’ll just stop wherever we are and plop down to read. Her room has a ton of books in it, and those will definitely go with her.

All around Gracie’s room are stuffed animals and baby dolls. I keep them in overflowing baskets and use them as decoration. I think they are a super cute way to store toys and decorate at the same time.

But my favorite thing that will go with her is this little plaque. It has hung over the light switch in both Bean and Gracie’s nurseries. I just love it. I’ve looked for it in stores before to give as gifts to people, but have never found one I liked as much. This is something that I will keep my entire life, long after my babies are grown.

Big changes are coming around here. New paint, new rooms, new beds. The possibilities are endless! But it’s nice to know that when we move forward, we get to take parts of the past with us.