It's time I finally share Dax's nursery.  And admit to myself and to you that it might not ever be 100% complete!  It's good enough for now. And I'm excited for you to see it.

I'll start by saying I LOVE his nursery.  It's not perfect but it was so fun to depart from the ultra girly nurseries I created for Genevieve and Nadia and do something more masculine.  I jumped aboard the aztec/tribal trend and I can't say I'm sorry. I'll admit I meant for the theme to be more subtle but I just kept finding things I loved and "editing" has never been my forte.  It's trendy but there are definitely classic elements that can grow with him (and with me when I tire of the trend) over time.  I also love the main message-- be brave and courageous.  It truly embodies character traits I hope to cultivate in him (and each of the kids) and we've recently chosen Joshua 1:9 as our family scripture.  Be brave enough to tell the truth, daring enough to be different, courageous enough to stand up for what you believe in.  So here it is in all its glory. (and I'm sorry for the obnoxious watermarks. I tried to make it smaller way too many times and then gave up. I have a newborn.  Ain't nobody got time for that).

Currently I have guests staying in the nursery so I can't give you a real sneak peek.  So I decided to throw together a little e-peek.  All of the items pictured are currently in the nursery.  There is more to of course--a fun yellow side table, shelves, woodsy/rustic art, and fun DIYs, but this is the best I could do with items available online.  My instagram friends have asked to see more so hopefully this tides you over!  Oh and if you don't follow on instagram, there are more "real" sneak peeks there.

Nadia is 8 weeks old and I am finally finished her nursery.  Actually I'm lying.  I still have one more tiny task to take care of but it requires shopping around for the perfect thing and I don't know how long that might take (I mean it IS me, after all!).  But more on that later...

Nadia's Nursery was such a fun adventure.  I really wanted to create a fun, unique, functional nursery on a budget.  I wanted it to reflect my style but also be suitable for a baby/toddler and a happy place for Nadia.  I have a love/hate relationship with decorating.  On one hand, I love it.  I love all things pretty and the thought of creating a space that makes me feel a certain way is a welcomed challenge.  On the other hand, I am very indecisive, can have a hard time visualizing the finished project, and am painfully aware of my shortcomings when it comes to interior design.  But when all is said and done, I love learning about design and learning how to execute my ever evolving style.

my inspiration.

Initially I had several different design schemes I really liked for Nadia's nursery. One involved a palette of beige, cream, taupe, and white...a peaceful, natural vibe.  One involved Joel Dewberry's aviary line with a rustic woodsy feel (I have to admit part of the draw here was using owls which despite their trendiness, I think are simply adorable).  The next involved a modernly shabby chic feel with florals and distressed furniture in a palette of bubble gum pink, red, and aqua.  The last was a girly room of bright colors- aqua, pink, and yellow, with an ethnic vibe- based on Dena Fishbein's Kumari Garden line.  Hey, I warned you about my indecisiveness!  I dropped the Joel Dewberry version and then showed photos and described my 3 ideas to my super artistic sister and my designer friend and they both gave me the same advice: combine all three.  At first I wasn't sure if I could do that--I'm a bit of a design schizo and I felt like they were all so different.  But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I could totally take my favorite elements from each scheme and make it work.  So that's what I did.  I did give one priority and that was the Kumari Garden inspired room.

I had crib bedding made from it and the rest flowed from there.  From the peaceful beige palette, I took the natural elements and used DIY drop cloth curtains, the cute hamper, the natural blond wood shelves, and woven accessories.  From the shabby chic scheme, I took the aqua and pink, used a painted yellow dresser, and painted and distressed an antique dry sink to re-purpose as a changing table.  I also used the ornate (and yes, ubiquitous) ung frame.  The goal of "ethnic" might not have been achieved. I ordered a Moroccan Pouf from Morocco (yes straight from Morocco) and it ended up being a total NIGHTMARE!!!  I ended up returning it and since I can't afford the $400 version and am now deathly afraid of ordering a cheap one after my experience (let's just say it involved goat urine.  yeah that happened), I had to give up that dream. I also ordered a cool coffee sack pillow that I thought gave it an ethnic vibe, but that too didn't pan out.  I won't give you the boring details...I did however create this cool (if I do say so myself) Chinese lantern, pom, and lace lantern mobile and order this beautiful print from Jones Design company--all of which I think contribute to an ethnic feel.  And the Dena Fishbein print which was the entire inspiration, is one of the beautiful prints in her Kumari Garden collection which invokes an ethnic bohemian vibe. I also used her Tarika in gem as well as the Sujata in pink prints.

One last note and then I'll shut  up!  One of the most fun things about this room was doing it on a budget (Not as super tight as Genevieve's nursery but not nearly as expensive as many of the nurseries I ogled on design blogs).  Many of the items in her room came from thrift stores, yard sales, and even the side of the road.  I loved upcycling the changing table and painting the $20 yard sale dresser a cheerful yellow.

So here are some photos for your viewing pleasure (sources for almost everything at the very end)...

One of my absolute favorite features!  Lantern and pom mobile inspired by hers and hers.

Natural wood shelves-- styled but functional.

So Nadia is 5 1/2 weeks old and yes, the nursery is still progressing.  I have a few more tasks to accomplish.  But just so you don't think I'm lying about it, I figured I'd post this photo that Melanie of  Simply Mella was kind enough to take when I wasn't even looking.  I love all of these elements she captured and if I could have chosen three items to take pictures of in a room full of stuff I would have chosen these three!  So take a look...and I promise a full nursery reveal is coming....

 1.  Inspirational Print.  2. Fun chandy. 3. Lantern and Pom cluster (to be detailed in a later post :)

For Genevieve's nursery, I went with an old dresser (see this post) and loved the idea of repeating that for Nadia's nursery.  You can usually find something less expensive and with a bit more character and better quality than one you'd find at a furniture store or even a box store.  In a happy coincidence, I found the matching dresser to the one I bought for Genevieve at an antique store.  It was exactly the same down to the adorable heart cut out at the bottom, but was small enough to fit in the room with the changing table.  But when I went to the store the bottom drawer wouldn't open and I knew that would drive me crazy.  I was so sad but in the end this other number was cheaper and actually works perfect with the space.  It's not quite as high quality- it's basically one of those affordable pieces you'd find at an unfinished furniture store like a the mill store.  But at only $20 at a yard sale, it was good enough to do the trick. 

So now that I'd found the piece it was time to choose a color.  The primary colors in my inspiration 'piece' were yellow, blue, and pink.  I knew I wanted a cheerful yellow.  I'd gone back and forth about painting a jenny lind crib a bright yellow (see this post) and love the look of yellow against aqua or pale blue (the color of her walls).  Since in the end I decided I didn't have the stamina to tackle a crib project, I figured I could get the same effect with the dresser.  I picked the happiest, truest yellow I could find and went to town.  I ended up doing a couple of coats of primer (tinted for the last coat) and then two coats of the yellow paint.  For finishing touches, like in this project, I skipped the pricey anthro knobs for Hobby Lobby ones.  And they were on sale!  This project cost a total of $52.  That's a fantastic price for a decent quality dresser, especially after adding unique touches in a fun paint color and 'custom' knobs).

I've included before and after pics, as well as a couple of my inspiration pictures for the dresser.  Even though I'm a big fan of paint, I'd never gone with such a bold color so it helped seeing someone else do it with such success.  I LOVE color so I don't think I'll tire of it and I could totally see it growing with Nadia or in the girls' playroom later on for extra storage.  (uh because right now, we don't have a playroom, or wait, are toys strewn about the house considered a play room because if so, than yeah, we totally have one).  I also included the 'better' pics I promised in this post.   Oh and please ignore the super close up off center photography. If you want the honest truth I was zoomed in so tight so that I wouldn't have to sweep the trash up around the dresser.  Yes I was that tired, exhausted, busy, lazy.
As you can see, I've had a ton of fun pulling together old and new pieces for her room. So far, the magazine rack was from the side of the road, the dresser from a yard sale, and the changing table from a thrift/antiques store. Totally loving the re-use, re-purpose, recycle approach to design!



What do you think?  Have you painted any furniture (or anything) a bold color lately?  Do share!

The biggest project I accomplished during my week of vacation was painting the changing table.  This project was a little scary for me.  First of all, it involved real paint, not spray paint.  Secondly it involved an antique dry sink.  Yes, rather than purchase the expensive changing table I'd been eyeing, I encountered an incredibly talented saleswoman at an antiques/thrift shop who suggested the dry sink as a changing table.  I suppose in hindsight I wasn't really a tough sell.  I was in awe of everything in that store and wanted desperately to buy something.  We'd found out new baby was a girl and the modern changing table I wanted fit better in my 'boy' room--the one I'd been unconsciously designing in my head while convincing myself I wasn't convinced that it was a boy. :)  Anyway, I loved the idea of using something completely out of the ordinary and I loved the price-- $80 which I bargained down to $70.  Apparently dry sinks are one of the easiest "antiques" to replicate and fake so I have absolutely no idea if it's a real antique.  Lucky for me, I don't really care.  But the fact that it was this knotty pine and had a...country look to it was the scary part.  I'm all about modern, or shabby chic, or even contemporary/traditional, but "country" is the one style I am not a big fan of.  Since I constantly am perusing etsy and various design blogs however, I saw it's potential to be more shabby chic or even farmhouse chic.  [Note to self: anything sounds cooler with "chic" added to it].  I also have been desperate to try distressing furniture (I've always loved it, but my recent obsession is mostly due to these gals. Check out better pictures of their stuff in this post over at HowDoesShe) and thought this would be the perfect piece to try that on.  A fun color, a little distressing, and a cool anthropologie knob would do the trick right?!   

Hobby Lobby Version

Anthropologie Version

To Do:


Paint samples in Genevieve's room-- I have all but dropped G's room off of my radar but I did get this done.  I can't wait to re-do her room and show you what I've copied come up with!  It will be so cute...but not just yet.  I can only do so much and things are dropping off of my list at an alarming rate!

Paint rocking chair for Genevieve's room-- posted about here.

Make lantern mobile-- I've gone back and forth between a couple of different types but can't actually make this until the room is partially put together... more to follow!

Sew changing pad cover-- I actually did this! I am very proud of myself.  I didn't end up doing it as described in this post with that crappy machine but I did end up sewing not one but TWO of these babies!  Will post soon...

Paint changing table-- have this post all written- just need to add photos!  Definitely my proudest project!!

Paint magazine rack-- posted about here

Finish painting lamps--one of the few things on the list that has nothing to do with the nursery.  I LOVE how these turned out! Stay tuned...

Paint frame for baby's initial-- can't do this until the room comes together...not sure what color to go with just yet!

Paint side tables for living room-- one of the things that totally fell off the list. Not likely to happen any time soon!

To Buy:

Dresser for new baby's room- got a lovely little dresser at a yard sale and will post about it soon!

Dresser for Genevieve's room--still looking for this one.  I want a good quality wooden dresser with nice lines for less than $50 (of course I plan on painting it).  Is that too much to ask?!

Curtains for new baby's room--thinking of going with the drop-cloths-as-curtains trend...more to follow!


PS-these nurseries are just eye candy- not anything like new baby's other than blue walls...and pink elements (of course). Picture 1 from here.  Picture 2 from here.

Random thought: I find it funny that my posts used to center around clothes and shopping and now they tend toward children and babies.  I guess it's just a natural progression.  I'm also guessing most of you don't care about the latest in maternity wear anyway. ;) Hopefully regardless of where you are in life (single [free], married no kids [fun], or a full brood [um, fulfilling?]) you can find something interesting or fun or useful for now or the future.  And if all else fails maybe you can laugh at me for how ridiculously obsessive I get over whatever phase I am in-- clothes, kids, shopping, decorating...  Regardless of one's lot in life, I'm all about living it as taste{full}y as possible...Now, on to lighting...