Nursery Photos (FINALLY!)

It has taken forever, but I've finally dealt with the photo upload issues I was having and can post photos of the baby's room. So, without further ado...

Now that the bedroom closet has been completed, Chris and I have had a chance to get the baby's room organized. Thankfully, aside from hanging a few things on the walls and digging out a bunch of baby gear from the basement, the room didn't require much work. This is because Chris invested a good deal of time and energy on overhauling the room last winter, before we even knew a baby was coming. Before Chris got started, the room was pretty bleak. A suspended ceiling had been installed to disguise water damage on the ceiling, the paint color was a grimy cream color, and one wall was covered in an extra blah wallpaper. Chris single-handedly ripped out the suspended ceiling, put up new drywall and replaced the crown moulding. He also stripped the wallpaper, revealing a secret: at the time that an addition was added to the house, the previous owners opted to leave an exterior window in place, covering it with a piece of paneling taped into place, then disguised with the wallpaper. Chris went ahead and ripped the window out and replaced it with beautiful built-in bookshelves. Together we painted the room a short of sherberty yellow color, with a darker, mango-colored ceiling (you can see the darker color in the last photo or in the photo of the dresses, to the right of the shot). Finally, we purchased a lime green roman blind, the same color as the shades in Sam's room (for a bit of cohesion in a small house).

For wall art, we started with some really cool prints that my sister Katy and her husband Pat bought and had framed for the baby. I then unpacked a really cool twin-sized quilt that Chris' mother had given us. The quilt had been partially made by Chris's great aunt, then finished off after her death and given to us. Chris's sister and brother received similar quilts. The quilt has a butterfly pattern and is very colorful, perfect for the baby's room. Since she won't be needed a bedspread for a while though, we decided to hang it on the wall. I didn't want to make any permanent changes to the quilt, or risk damaging it, so I bought a couple of rolls of grosgraine ribbon in a lime green color close to the same color as the roman blind. I cut the ribbon into lengths of about 5 inches, then used safety pins to attach them as tabs on the back of the quilt. Chris hung a curtain rod on the wall, allowing us to hang the quilt as wall art.

One other nice addition was the inclusion of the Beatrix Potter figurines I collected as a child. My grandparents gave my sister and I a new figurine every year, and we've each got quite a collection. The built-in bookshelves that Chris built were perfect for them!

For the time being, we have opted to leave the full-sized bed that had previously been used for guests. Chris and I occasionally use this bed if one of us is sick, or if Sam is having a rough night. Having an extra bed means that during bad nights, at least one of us can get some sleep at any given time. With the new baby coming, we figured we might still need that extra bed! She won't need the space right away, and there is always the possibility that I could end up having a c-section. We don't have a bathroom on the same floor as our bedroom, so getting up and down the stairs would be difficult. Once the baby has moved from sleeping in our room to her own room, we'll move the bed out, but for now, it's nice to know it's there.

The butterfly quilt, crib, and changing table:

Some vintage family baby dresses, too gorgeous to hide in the closet:

A view of the built-in bookshelves that Chris built, with the Beatrix Potter figurines. The framed prints that Katy and Pat gave us are also shown:


A last shot of the room:

I'm realizing now that there's an entire corner of the room, including the window, that I didn't photograph. I'll try to get them in at some point. And yes, the room is a bit cramped, with limited furniture arrangement options while the bed is in there, but it'll be roomy enough for the baby down the road.