Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Baby Room Progress

The three day weekend was supposed to involve me doing a lot of homework and also getting a lot done in the baby's room. The baby's room won though. Oops. In any case, we got a fair amount done in the baby's room. Some of that was washing, sorting and folding baby clothes, which is not exciting in terms of decorating, but important to get done. We still have some more things to do, like buy the crib, but it will wait. As most parents know, you don't use the crib right away anyways, so we have a little time. We plan to get the IKEA Gulliver crib in white. We tested it out at the store, and it's actually very sturdy feeling. Yay for European safety standards! OK, time for the photos. By the way, there are a lot, but only because this room is insanely small, dark and hard to photograph, so I had to do lots of angles to try and show how everything links up.
I moved the chair and side table to in front of the window for now. The crib will go here eventually, but in the meantime, this is a nice spot to sit and it makes the room seem less empty to have the chair here. Also, I can prop the laptop up on the dresser across from it and watch the X-Files while I fold baby clothes. Which is what I did for several hours this weekend...
Here's a badly lit photo of this same spot, but I tried to get the curtains in for perspective. I finished the left panel on Saturday, and Justin and I both love these curtains. When closed, they actually block quite a bit of light, so the room stays pretty dark during the day. A little depressing, but good for naps.
Here's a close up of the curtain fabric, just because I love it. And the way it looks on the wood grain of the dresser. So nice!
And here's what it looks like next to the sheers. I still like the mix of the two textures. If I do say so myself...
For a sense of size, here's the dresser across from the chair. I'm telling you, this room is LITTLE. But cozy. Also, I have plans for the heinous ceiling fan to get out soon. I hate it. A lot. I think we have a few extra IKEA fixtures we can look at putting in it's place. I'm at that point where a bare bulb would be preferable. You can't see here, but there is blue floral stuff on the glass globe, and one of the dongles (technical term) that hangs from the chord is a tiny birdhouse. Not our taste...
I was trying to get a better angle of this dresser, but I was wedged into the closet as far as possible, and this was the best I could do. Use your imagination please.
I love the way this changing pad cover that my mom found compliments the designs on the pulls of this gorgeous dresser. I know both this dresser and the one in the closet need some cleaning up, but I'm not messing with all of those chemicals in my current state. Maybe in a few years... Also, that cover is soooo soft. Baby stuff is often ridiculously comfy and cozy. It seems a little unfair.
This is the "gallery" wall over the changing table. I've had these red frames around the house in different areas for a while, and never could seem to make them look like I wanted. They are all just thrifted wood frames that I painted, but I think they are working pretty well here. They compliment Roxanne's artwork so well. All of these drawings were done in the past month or so, and I figure we can rotate them out every once in a while. These are all animals and people that Roxanne draws. She LOVES drawing and painting. If you click on the image, it will get bigger and you can see her "guys" a little better. Justin's favorite is the blue guy on the bottom left. I like him, too, but the little one is my favorite. It looks like a big kid standing with a baby. So Roxanne and I decided it's her and the new baby. I know these look a little (or a lot) scribbly, but it's her current style. She likes her guys to have curly hair and she tends to draw several guys on a page so they blur a little. Justin and I just love looking at her artwork, and figured it would be perfect to put in here. She was very proud when I showed her this wall when she woke up on Monday morning. She did a deep gasp and said that her pictures all "looked great!"
Moving to the other side of the room (my back was to the corner between the window and dresser/changing table), you can still see some clutter. Sigh. On the wall is one of my favorite providential things. When I was taking the red frames apart to put Roxanne's art in them, I took out some Charley Harper flash cards that had been in there. I had cut them in half, but I was VERY careful to save all of them. I realized when I got the box out that the flip side of the flashcards made a "floor puzzle." Well, two actually. One was this lovely sea anemone image. It's about 16x28 inches, and I mounted each small square with Command tape. I'm not sure if it translates in pictures, but the blue/green in the image matches perfectly with the curtains. It looks small and lost with the baby piano under it, but I think once we move the chair back, it will be lovely. And yes, that closet is a mess. All of the visible toys on top I am hoping to put into some bins, but I haven't found the right ones (especially at a decent price) yet.
Here's the other dresser, complete with some of my favorite vintage toys on top. And the mushroom lamps! I love them! They have the nicest soft glow.
Here's the knit part of the pouf I'm making for a stool for the rocker. I have to stitch it up and stuff it, but look how long that thing is!
I think the red of the chair and the red of the knit is a great match. Phew.
And last, here's me in a wonky photo. 33 weeks pregnant. And very tired. Gah, that mirror is dirty. Another thing to clean...

7 comments:

  1. Awwww, you look so cute! And so does the room. I absolutely love that you framed some of Roxanne's pictures for the baby's room. That is sooooo sweet. Big Sister is already helping! I'm so impressed with your knitting and cant wait to see the finished pouf.

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  2. Wow, I am loving the dressers and you've done well with working with the space you have. Hang in there girl, you've only got a few weeks to go!

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  3. Love the gallery! AND the little red piano!

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  4. lmao@"dongle". Yup, that's a word I use. :)

    The room looks so warm and inviting, and you look adorable!!

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  5. Dana: Thanks so much! Roxanne really likes helping with decorating. She always asks where we are putting things and if she can help hammer nails in the wall, etc. etc. And I'm really excited about the pouf. The knitting went fast since I used such large needles and super heavy yarn, it was just an issue of having time! Hopefully I can get it stitched up this weekend. I hate that part of knitting projects.
    Retro Restyling: Thanks! My mom found these dressers at a Goodwill up in the burbs. When we were moving them into the room, there were tons of personal documents from the mid-90's stuffed into the long one. Christmas lists, checkbook registers, bank statements, etc. etc. I admit I enjoyed looking at the Christmas lists, that included items like "track suits," "Terminator video," and "sweatpants." Ah, you have to love the mid-90's...
    Stephanie: Thanks so much! I love that piano, too. It was thrifted for about $30, which felt like a lot, but I later realized they retail for much much more. I think around $90. Who would get rid of such a cute little thing?!
    1950'sARH: Dongle is one of the best words ever. I'm positive of it. And thanks for your kind words! The room feels cozy when you're in it, and I was hoping some of that would transfer to the photos. I can't wait until it's all the way done. Hopefully in the next few weeks... If I let it go too late maybe I can get some sympathy points from friends and get them to come over here and work on it while I direct in a hugely pregnant (and sympathetic) state. You have to milk it while you can...

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  6. I love those dressers! 33 weeks, you are getting close now! Lucky you. I'm just beginning the preggos journey.

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  7. Rhan: I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!

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