Nursery Ideas

I’m in the beginning stages of converting my craft room into a nursery for our baby girl. I didn’t want to go with a “pre-packaged nursery theme”; instead, my theme is more color-oriented and sophisticated girly. Pinks, greens and creams. I picked up the fabric for the crib bedding a few weeks ago when I was on vacation:

Poor picture quality, but the colors are close to what they are in real-life. The fabric on the left is for the crib bumper (I know the arguments about them and SIDS, but unless my little girl sleeps right up against it, I don’t think it will be an issue, and if she does, I’ll remove it.), the fabric in the middle is for the main part of the crib skirt and the striped fabric is for cording around the bumper and a band along the bottom of the crib skirt. I registered for pale pink and dark pink crib sheets that will show between the bumper and the crib skirt.

I also priced out carpet the other day to replace the stained (courtesy of hubby’s sister’s dog) and paint splattered carpet that’s currently there and not too baby-friendly. That’s a few hundred $$ I wasn’t planning on spending, but I know my in-laws aren’t in any mood/position to put in the hardwood floors they intended too a few years ago to remedy the stained carpet, so it is what it is.

Needless to say, all this has scaled back the other plans I had for the room.

But, I did find some great carpet at Home Depot. It’s in the new Martha Stewart line and it has a nice textured pattern (similar to a waffle weave) and is only $1.95/sq. ft (before padding). Installation is only $37. This is the color I’m leaning towards (unfortunately I couldn’t find a picture of the carpet anywhere, but this is the same color in paint…again not as accurate as it was in real-life compared to the fabrics):

Originally I wanted to install crown molding and some board and batten molding, but any money I would have had for that is now going towards carpet. Thus, it’s solid color paint for the walls. Benjamin Moore Potpourri Green to be exact:

This color is not a good representation of it. In the fabric picture, it’s darkest of the green squares where you can still see the name (3rd from base of strip). It’s a perfect match the fabric and I’m hoping once I get a sample of it up on the wall it won’t be too bright of green that it overwhelms the space. If it does, I’ll probably go for paler color right above it on the strip.

I’m also going to build some cabinets to flank the window that is above the built-in desk/dresser thing. That area will be used as a changing table (to avoid having to buy an additional piece of furniture) and it’d be nice to have storage shelves there. I found these plans on Knock-Off Wood.

This is the crib I picked out:

I’m torn between getting it in espresso or white, but I think I’m going to stick with espresso. The trim in the room is all white and the built-in desk is white, but I’m using my in-laws rocking chair which is a darker wood (not this dark unfortunately) and I think if we ever have a boy I’d rather have a dark crib instead of a white crib. I may change my mind, though, when it actually comes time to buy it.

Instead of a crib mobile, I’m going to make some of these in shades of pink and cream to hang in the room:

I’m also going to make some wall art on canvases that I picked up a few weeks ago at Michael’s for dirt cheap. I have a few different ideas I saw in PB Kids catalog that I may try to recreate.

Lastly, there is no overhead light in the room so I’ve been searching on Craig’s List for a cheap chandelier. If I can’t find one, I may just get this one from Ikea (if it works with my hanging pom-poms, otherwise I’ll just get some table lamps):

So, that’s where we’re at for now. This weekend it all starts with a major packing up of my craft room stuff. Where it all is going to go for now I don’t know, but it needs a major cleaning/organizing anyway.