Arlo's Party in the Woods: The Nursery Reveal

I had a lot of fun decorating Arlo's nursery, and I couldn't be more pleased with the end result. It's by far my favorite room in our house, and not only is it cute, but it's really meaningful, too.

Remember Danny's Party in the Woods post? Well, this nursery is a tribute to Danny, the strongest, sweetest guy a gal could ask for. He's cried with me, hoped with me, and rejoiced with me—and I'm honored to call him my husband.

This nursery serves as a reminder of how far we've come—a reminder of everything we've lost and of everything we have. It's a reminder that our love can move mountains.

Without further ado, here it is!

To give you a feel of what the room looks like as a whole, we'll start off with this poor-quality cell phone panoramic photo:

Now, here are the pretty photos that Sarah of LuSarah SEAS Photography took and my friend, Melanie, edited:

Just for fun, let's revisit the mood board I created before I started actually executing my plan. I made this board before Danny's Party in the Woods post, so I hadn't yet planned on incorporating party elements (i.e., the pennant, the party fabric in the embroidery hoop, the pinwheels, the happy fox art) into the design. 

Pretty close, right? Everything that's missing is missing for a reason. First, I actually did spend a million hours on a DIY mobile (I have a photo somewhere that I'm too lazy to dig up), but I couldn't shake the image of it falling into the crib, and it didn't look good anywhere else. Second, I have a mirror and lots of prints (already in frames!) that I just couldn't find the motivation to hang. Third, the giraffe is in the attic because he's too big for the nursery. He'll look cute in our office if we ever get it done. (Right now, it's a catch-all room.) Fourth, the little Ikea moose guy is in a box somewhere, and since Arlo won't be able to use it for a long time, we didn't feel the need to put it together yet.

And there you have it! Arlo's Party in the Woods. (It's so fitting because we just can't stop celebrating.) 

Nursery Stuff: Sneak Peek

Oh, dang. 

Nursery Stuff: DIY Book Ledges

The book ledges have been built and hanging for a few weeks now, but we had issues with the paint job until tonight (Sorry for being so Type A, Danny), so they weren't ready for their close-up until tonight.

I'd originally planned on using Ikea's picture ledges as our book ledges, but, naturally, the long ones were way too long for the wall, and the short ones were way too short—so I put poor Danny to work.

Danny based his plan on this tutorial by Ana White. How did this project cost Ana $10 and us $100? Whatever. Anyway, we went with the 32" ledges.

Thank you, God, for letting my wonderful but unhandy husband complete this project unscathed.

Chilling on the floor, ready to be sanded, primed, painted, and hung. And then sanded and painted again. And then hung, sanded, and painted again. And then sanded and painted one more time. You think I'm exaggerating, but I'll spare you the details.  (On Facebook, Danny posted this photo and captioned it "Pinterest should be renamed 'Shit I Want My Husband to Build'"

Done! 

These look amazing, and they were so much cheaper to make than buy, especially considering Pottery Barn seems to be the only place in the world that sells 32" ledges. I couldn't be more proud of Danny!

Nursery Stuff: Dresser

Danny and I finished up the last step of our dresser makeover tonight, so I thought I'd share the dresser story with you. As always, scroll to the end if you just want to see the dresser.

I know I've mentioned that we already own a mid-century dresser that I ruined with paint a few years ago (ugh). Here she is:

Back when I was feeling ambitious, I planned on refinishing that sucker—but as time wore on, the thought of all that stripping and sanding and priming and staining became overwhelming. Plus, if we used that huge dresser, we wouldn't be able to put anything else, like the Ikea Expedit, on that wall.

I searched Craigslist relentlessly for nearly 3 months—to no avail. The very same day I gave up and decided to just buy a changing table from Target (Seriously. Like, 3 hours after Danny told his mom she could buy us a changing table), I stumbled upon this stud (and his taller brother that'll go in our bedroom) on Craigslist:

Looks way better in this "before" photo I took than it did in real life.

I don't know why my gut told me to check Craigslist one more time, but it did. They're in very good condition, and we snagged them both for $200.

However, they looked very dull and dry, which this picture captures nicely:

I also wasn't a fan of this:

Freaking Formica!

...or this:

Disgusting drawer liners.

...but I knew we could remedy these situations.

We borrowed some supplies from my friend, Melanie, who happens to know and love all things furniture.

First we scrubbed the dresser down with Murphy's Oil Soap. Next, we applied Howard's Restor-A-Finish with fine-grit steel wool, then wiped it dry. Last, we polished the entire surface with Howard's Feed-N-Wax. This process really brought the piece to life, and it took less than 2 hours.

I removed the gross drawer liner and replaced it with some pretty gift wrap I found at T.J.Maxx.

I ordered a cut-to-order piece of laminated vinyl from Chic Shelf Paper to cover up the Formica and help tie the piece in with the crib. I have to be completely honest and admit that there are bubbles all over the surface of that thing, and try as we might, we can't get rid of them.

Anyway, this isn't the most fantastic picture in the world, but here's the final result:

All shiny and lovely.

Yay!

Nursery Stuff: Lighting

We've been busy working on the nursery lately (almost done!), but I haven't been sharing much of our progress because I don't want to give away too much too soon. Since the pendant's on the ceiling, I can show you that without revealing too much of the room.

Anyway, I knew I wanted to make a statement with the ceiling fixture, but I didn't want to spend a fortune. When Danny and I saw the Knappa Pendant at Ikea, we knew it was the one. Interesting + $25 = Come to mama.

When we got it home, though, we were bummed to find out that it's meant to be plugged into an outlet and hung like this:

Ugh. Ikea directions. 

That wasn't going to fly, so we enlisted the help of our handy friend, Joe, and he figured out a way to hang it from the existing ceiling bracket using a $17 "pendant fitter" from Lowe's.

I should mention that putting the actual pendant together was a nightmare in itself. Just as I was contemplating shoving all of those stupid little pieces down the garbage disposal, Danny (and YouTube) came to the rescue.

Here's the end result, which I adore:

Can you see those birch trees in the background, you sneaky devil? 

Thanks, Joe!

Nursery Stuff: CHAIR!!

Well, it just so happens that my 100th blog post (!!) is a super exciting one. Okay, maybe I kind of planned it that way, but still.

Remember this post, where I explained how important a sturdy, well-made, beautiful chair is to me—and admitted I'd be splurging in this department? Well, in case you don't feel like revisiting the post, here's the chair I claimed I'd be buying: 

Monte Joya Rocker

I tried to talk myself out of it last month. I really, really did. The $1k price tag was just so hard to swallow. Then, somebody warned me that rockers slide all over the place, so gliders are the way to go. Then, I happened upon a reviewer who complained that the chair was too narrow to comfortably accommodate a nursing pillow and too short to allow her to rest her head against the back .  

Unfortunately, the nearest store that carries the chair is 7 hours away, so we couldn't go check it out for ourselves. I'm crazy, but not crazy enough for that kind of drive. Instead, we contacted the only store in Ohio that carries the brand (not the specific chair), and learned that they carry the Grano Glider, which is basically the glider version of the Joya Rocker, as far as appearance and dimensions are concerned.

As luck would have it, the store is only a half hour or so away from us, so we headed on over to give the glider a test drive.

Danny chilling in the glider and loving it. 

In short, we were blown away. Yes, it's small, and for larger people, it would be a problem. It's perfect for us, though, and while it may not look like it in the photo above, the back of the chair is the perfect height for us to rest our heads against. I was almost sold on the glider, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life wishing I'd just gone with my dream rocker.

I contacted Land of Nod, and they told me that if I ordered the Joya Rocker and wasn't satisfied, they'd send a truck to pick it up and return it, free of charge. I'd only be out my original shipping fee of $90. Sold.

I decided to go with the heather gray, though, because I couldn't help but think the charcoal gray would be covered in white spit-up and all kinds of lovely things that the lighter gray could better mask. 

Anyway, here she is in Guido's nursery: 

OMG

I removed a couple of items from the scene, because I don't want to show you too much nursery at once. 

I repeat: OMG.

We try to keep the door shut, but if it's ever open for any reason, this is surely happening:

I knew Edgar would try to steal this chair from me.

And when Edgar isn't in the chair, Maynard is, and I was lucky enough to catch him mid-yawn for you tonight.

Judging by this picture, you'd never know that he's the cutest cat in the world.

Admittedly, the rocker does slide around a bit, and I think I'll have to find some kind of little rug to put under it. I know the charcoal would have looked even better in the room, but I think the heather gray was the way to go. This chair is gorgeous—and extremely comfortable—and I can't wait to rock our baby boy to sleep in it.

Oh, and I'll be amazed if I ever regret spending $1,000 on this sucker. 

Nursery Stuff: Rug

Here comes another too-long post about how I arrived at a decision. Scroll to the end if you just want to see the damn rug.

When I first started thinking about the nursery, I was pretty certain I'd end up purchasing a turquoise shag rug—this one, to be exact:

Sparkles Turquoise Shag Rug 

Once I actually started executing my nursery plans, though, I realized neither size was quite right. I didn't mind the under-$200 price tag of the small one (2.8 x 4.8), but my gut told me it was too small—and the large one (4.7 x7.7) was definitely too large, and at $500, too expensive.

Plus, it was obvious that the color of this rug wasn't quite right. It didn't match the bedding or any of the other pops of teal/aqua/turquoise that'll be in the room. Back to the drawing board. 

Danny's had his heart set on a shag rug since the beginning, so that was a requirement, and then, it became clear as day: I needed a 4x6, light-gray shag rug.

I searched and searched, and lost hope several times, and finally, last week, Urban Outfitters added this to their website:

Lux Shag Rug

Shag? Check. Light gray? Kinda. 4x6? Okay, I have to give a little. 3.6 x 5.6 is close enough. With a 10% off coupon code I found online, it came to $197. My goal was to stay below $200, so props to me.

It arrived in no time, and when I finally got it out of the crazy plastic packaging, I definitely wasn't impressed. It looked mangy and drab, but there was no way I was going to go through the hassle of sending it back—so I dragged it into the room anyway, and once I started fluffing up the fibers, I knew we'd be okay. 

Pretty! (And excuse the random piles of things.)

It's super soft underfoot, but it does slide around a lot, and I'll need to buy a rug pad. I like the size and the color (but it's a lot lighter than it looked on the website—which made me happy, but could probably piss some people off), and while it's far from perfect, it's about what I expected for the price.  

I wish it were denser. It's very easy to make "bald spots" in the rug.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with my purchase, and as you can see, so is Scooter.

When I told him to get off my rug, this was the best he could do.

While I was in the middle of writing this post, I received a very special delivery for the nursery. You can probably guess what it is! Stay tuned. 

Nursery Stuff: Curtains

This post about picking curtains ended up way longer than I'd intended, but it was a huge ordeal! Scroll to the very end if you just want to see the final product. I promise I won't be offended.

I may be hopping on the chevron bandwagon a little late here, but I've had my heart set on teal/aqua/turquoise chevron curtains in the nursery since I first started thinking about nurseries over a year ago.

I've always loved these ones:

ErinandEvan via Etsy

However, at $200 per panel ($200 x 4 panels = Danny murdering me in my sleep), it just wasn't feasible. (I have to be frugal from here on out; remember my $1k rocking chair?) In fact, all of the lined, quality chevron curtains I could find were way out of my budget.

I contemplated having a crafty friend make some curtains for me, but I couldn't even find an affordable chevron fabric, so I quickly dismissed that thought.

I was starting to think I was screwed, but when we finished painting the nursery, I couldn't shake the notion that some light, airy curtains might look nicer in the small room than the thick ones I'd been imagining all along.

I remembered seeing these sheer zigzag curtains on Urban Outfitters' website back in the day:

Urban Outfitters Zigzag Curtain

At the time, I'd deemed them too cheap looking, especially for the price, but I thought they might fit the bill now. I headed on over to their website, and lo and behold, they were still there—and they were 40% off! $19 per 84" panel. Fate? I think so.

I ordered 4 blue ones (the packaging slip actually refers to these as "aqua") and 4 gray ones, obviously planning on returning one color.

When they arrived just a few days later, I couldn't wait to hang them, and when we finally did, holy crap, we had some problems. UO doesn't show them hanging in pairs on their website because they're apparently not supposed to be hung in pairs, as evidenced in the following photo:

OMG (And ignore the rod placement. That's just where they were before.)

I hung all 4 aqua panels on one rod to better depict what was going on. Do you see it?? Not only did the zigzag patterns not line up at all (look at the very top of the panels to really see what I'm referring to), but that isn't the lighting playing tricks on you—each panel was a different shade of blue!

I was blown away, and as much as I liked the aqua, I didn't want to deal with exchanging them in hopes of getting 4 that were the same color, because even if I did get 4 of the same color, would the zigzags match up? Probably not.

The gray panels had issues with color, too, but it wasn't nearly as obvious—and I probably wouldn't have noticed had the blue ones not given me such a discerning eye. The zigzags didn't line up on the gray ones, either, and since I decided to go with 96" panels anyway, I sent everything back in exchange for 8 gray panels, hoping I could find 2 somewhat-matching pairs somewhere in there.

Why does everything always end up being 10x more difficult than it seems like it should be?

Mismatched curtains everywhere.

There was lots of this going on:

Different grays, different zigzags. Nice job, Urban Outfitters!

It literally took me an hour to come up with 2 pairs of curtains with patterns that were kind of the same. I didn't try to find one pair of curtains that matched another pair of curtains. There was no way that was happening. I was happy to find 2 sets of 2. If that makes sense. When all was said and done, here's what we ended up with:

Pair #1

Pair #2 (I swear they somehow look worse in this picture than they do in real life.)

Very imperfect. Having 2 sets of curtains that don't match each other (or even themselves, for that matter) would drive some people insane, and I know my final product probably isn't for everybody. Truth be told, I was bothered by it in the beginning, but now, I find it kind of charming.

Another shot of Pair #2 to prove that they're not completely horrendous.

Oh, and $29 per 96" panel = $116. Not the deal of a lifetime, but not terrible, either—and Danny'll keep me around a while longer, I think. (He just concurred.)

Nursery Stuff: Crib and Bedding

The crib is officially put together and is chilling in the nursery, looking adorable.

As much as I wanted this crib:

Oeuf Original Crib

...I couldn't quite get down with the $1,000 price tag (That kind of crazy is reserved for rocking chairs, apparently.), so I was pretty thrilled when I discovered WalMart's Baby Mod Olivia Crib, which costs $299, has tons of amazing reviews, and looks like this:

Stock Photo. They need to rethink the bedding they have on this thing.

Pretty similar, right? I knew it was the one. That is, until we had our floors refinished. I'm insane and didn't think the amber-toned wood would (wood would!) look right against the floor. I wasn't opposed to the idea, but I wanted another option.

One of my wonderful friends found this, Target's Babyletto Madison Crib:

I definitely preferred the espresso wood and the even cheaper ($249!) price tag, but it didn't have hundreds of good reviews like the Olivia. Well, I did a little research and learned that they're the same crib. They're both made by the parent company MDB, only one is made specifically for WalMart's Baby Mod line and one is made for Target's Babyletto line.

I ordered it, and it arrived in just a few days. Unfortunately, it sat in the dining room in a giant box for a whole week while we finished painting. I was dying to see it put together. Finally, it was time! 

Hey, Handsome, when you're done putting that crib together, howsabout washing that nasty window?

I have to say, I definitely made the right decision. I adore the Madison. 

The espresso is showing up as black in most of my nursery photos, so this close-up should give you a better idea of the actual color:

Birch Tree Pillow: Emilydove via Society 6; Monogram Pillow: West Elm; Owl: Pier 1

That bedding's pretty great, don't you think? I ordered it from Modifiedtot on Etsy, and I'm in love with it. The shop owner, Holly, is a pleasure to do business with, and my custom order arrived in 2.5 weeks. She accidentally swapped the fabrics I'd chosen for the sheet and the skirt, though, and she was very apologetic when I let her know. She was willing to expedite my new set, but I'm considering the swap a happy accident, because I couldn't possibly like anything more than I like this. I'd order from her again in a heartbeat. (In fact, I just ordered a few more things from her last night.)

Of course. (Excuse the blurry cell phone photo.)

So there you have it! The crib!