Modern Vintage for Baby's Room

So, you've seen some of our progress so far for the baby's room! One other thing we've been trying to accomplish is adding some "modern" touches that still work with the vintage influences in the room. I've bought two things that seem small, but I think will make a big impact. One is a set of three small touch lamps that are shaped like mushrooms. I first saw them on Ohdeedoh, and found them on Amazon for less than $20. Since there is no outlet in the closet of the baby's room, I put these on the tall chest in there and they are SO CUTE. I think the color and shape are modern, but speak well to vintage style, too. They give a nice glow and I think they will work well as night lights.
The other find is this set of "Vintage Alphabet Cards." Unfortunately, I can't grab the photo like I did with the mushrooms above (I'll photograph my own stuff once I get the room in better order) but I highly recommend you click the link to look at these super cute cards. They are pricey, but I was able to find them on one of the gazillions of discount mom websites (I think it was Zulily) so they were half off. Very very very worth it. They are adorable, and they will take up a great spot on one of the walls. I'm not sure where they'll go yet. I think I might put them over the crib, but I also might put them on the wall next to the mirror on the long low dresser. We have to push the mirror almost all the way to one side so we can fit the changing pad on the dresser, so it looks a little wonky. I'm thinking maybe the cards would balance it a little. Even though I think they look super cute hung on strings like in the display image, I think I might just use command strips to fix them directly to the wall in neat rows. I have a friend who has alphabet flash cards displayed like that and it is surprisingly cute and not messy. Of course, then I'd have to use a level... Ew. Maybe some twine and clothespins would be cute...

So now we are looking for one or two more pieces of cool art for in there. And a nice mobile. One of our favorite boutiques in town is running a half off deal through Scoutmob, and we really really tried to find some good stuff but couldn't find anything that was right. We were tempted by a Jonathon Adler paper lantern (like this one) but in such a tiny room, a purely decorative anything has to be a big important decision. Of course, looking at it again, I'm thinking maybe we really need it... Isn't it so pretty? We looked at Kudzu Antiques near us, too, but just couldn't find the right thing. We've got a few months though, and we're both happy with the progress we've been making.

The Chair is Here!

I'm so excited that the chair got dropped off today. I didn't get home from school until 10pm, so sorry for the dark photos.
I love these brass tacks on the arms. Unexpected, but very appropriate I think.
Here they are again on the front of the chair! Cute!
Side view. I don't know if you can tell, but the wood on the chair is almost exactly the same as the wood dressers. It's so nice when things work out like that...
Here's the side/back. I love this little piping detail. There are a couple of little flaws on the chair that are kind of annoying, but overall, it seems like the upholsterer did a really nice job. He fixed the springs that needed replacing, and the chair feels softer to sit in, so I'm assuming he replaced the padding/stuffing, too. I'm still knitting the pouf to use as a stool, but hopefully it will be done soon. I'm almost done with the knitting part, but now school has gotten back in, and I'm slammed.
Here's the chair with the best blanket ever tossed over the back. I'm officially in love with the brown and white and red. And the wall color with the red chair is really pretty, too. Things are clicking! Now we just have to find the baby's name...

Paint!

OK, I know these photos are going to be kind of semi-useless. Sorry. But we painted the baby's room this weekend. I'm so happy that we got it all done. We ended up using the "Vintage Taupe," and it is really fresh and clean feeling. It's not totally white white, so it's still kind of cozy feeling, but in such a tiny room that gets the least light of any room in the house (except maybe for the bathroom...) using a light color really was a good choice. The Benjamin Moore paint is all low VOC, so I could help Justin with it. The primer was a different story. Ugh, it was so awful! I helped a tiny bit with that, but not much because I started worrying I'd end up giving the baby another arm or something. All told, it took two coats of primer and two coats of the paint color. The trim could definitely use a refresher, as could the ceiling, but neither is glaringly awful, and there's just too much other stuff to do to worry about it.
Here's the closet doorway "before" with the blue on the walls (and clutter EVERYWHERE).
Another view of the blue. It was so pretty, but trust me, it was just way too dark. It had a lot of gray/black undertone, and it just made the room feel kind of depressing. Not what we wanted for a baby...
The current light fixture... Ugh. This is the last ceiling fan in the house. We are planning to replace it with something more fun (and not a ceiling fan, since it's just not necessary in our house and we have the awesome crank windows when we want circulation). We just have to find the right fixture.
Here's BooBoo watching us paint from outside. And yes, that is a giant tupperware of sand and sand toys on our stoop. It was my DIY/cheapskate answer to getting Roxanne a sandbox. Classy.
Here's the closet "after." The wall color you see is the final color. BUT, we did not paint inside the closet. It was already a slightly darker taupe, and not worth changing. This dresser will live in here, and we actually think we might leave the doors off (at least for now) because it makes the room feel bigger. We just need to get some storage bins for up top. All those delightfully bright plastic giant toys up there are for Roxanne's vast "Weeble Village" that my mom has helped me amass via thrift stores and consignment sales. Roxanne LOVED the Weeble toys, and I'm sure the new baby will, too. My plan is to put them in bins and just have one down at a time. Roxanne always had them sprawled over half the house, so we're trying to avoid that now.
In cleaning out this closet, which was full of thrift store and estate sale stuff still in bags (come on, you know sometimes you stash a bag or two of thrift store finds and forget about it... right?). I cleaned it all out, and found this super adorable vintage Playskool toy. I had forgotten about it! When you move the rings on and off the peg on the right, the bell rings. I love the colors of it, too. It looks like I paid about $2.50 for it. It's wooden, so I'm pretty sure I won't let the baby play with it (lead paint? can't be too safe) but for display, it's adorable.
Here's another view of the new wall color. This little wall is where the crib will go. I'll try and take photos in here soon that are better lit, but I can't figure out the best time of day to take photos in here. The lighting is just awful.

My rocking chair is supposed to be dropped off tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!

Topeka Lipstick

OK, so I spent over an hour this morning at the fabric store... ALONE. Justin bowed out gracefully, so I trudged up to Marietta by myself and wandered around looking at fabric rolls for what felt like three weeks. I cut lots of samples (probably 10?) but none of them were absolutely perfect. Like, none of them screamed that they were the right fabric. I took what I had and called my mom (duh). We talked about it at length, and she helped me realize that using a print had a LOT of drawbacks. I won't bore you with them, but for serious, it was a lot. At that point, my four favorites included a red and white print of chickens and chicks (which sounds crazy but actually looked sort of dutch and retro), a brown faux velvet (the only semi-plush fabric that didn't look really really cheap), a cool red and dark orange Moroccan style print (the same as the yellow one from last post, but in reds), and a yellow and white wide stripe with some brown polka dots along the white stripe. Each choice had drawbacks. The chicken print had the white parts, so would end up dirty and dingy from everyone's butts/legs/arms,etc., the faux velvet made me nervous because I didn't want to end up with a poop chair, the Moroccan print was two busy and read a little more pink than I liked, and the stripe had the same white issue as the chicken print. SO, after talking to my mom, I realized I really agreed that a solid was probably the best, and that one of the most appealing things about two of my favorites was the bright red. I went back to the torture chamber/gallery room and hunted for a true red (preferably velvet). I finally spotted Topeka Lipstick, a really really pretty cotton duck/slub fabric up on the top row of the red section. I cut a sample, took it outside to my car and held it up in the sunshine against the baby comforter and crib dust ruffle, and decided on the spot that it was perfect.
Here's the fabric sample in the middle. On the left is the crib dust ruffle (pleated, not ruffly) that my mom found at Goodwill. It's DwellStudio for Target, and $40 on eBay, but my mom got it for under $3. Score! The crib comforter is on the other side. One side is the dots and the other is the stripe. This is from the DwellStudio line that is *NOT* from Target. You can't get the comforter without getting the set, but the set is around $340 or so on Amazon. Yikes. My mom got the comforter at Goodwill for around $5 (I think...?). The two are not from the same set, but I think they are adorable together. I bought a white flannel crib sheet yesterday for $10 from Buy Buy Baby (the most appallingly giant baby store EVER at a mall in the burbs). I think this bright red is just amazing with this palette.
Here's a close-up of the chair fabric. It's a SUPER tight weave, and there's a slight amount of variation to it, so it almost reads like a chenille when you look at it from a distance. It's just such a pretty, saturated color. It was $8 a yard, and since I only needed 3.5 yards and got a 15% discount via my upholsterer's relationship with the fabric place, I spent $25 total on the fabric. Not too shabby!
Here's the sample with the knit blanket I talked about previously. I hope to keep it on the back of the rocker, and I think it looks wonderful with it! Another huge plus to using a solid. I could never have used that blanket with another pattern on the chair. Too busy.
Just one last view. I can't help it. It's just so good! I really couldn't be happier. I'm keeping my finger's crossed that I can use the turquoise fabric I bought first for curtains. I LOVE turquoise/aqua and red together. In fact, they were our wedding colors. We had a gently retro themed wedding (duh) and played only 50's and 60's music at our reception. It was so fun.

I've still got LOTS to do to finish my one last paper by early next week, but I'm having fun doing what I can here and there to work on the baby's room. Justin and I went by Ace Hardware this afternoon and picked up two different paint samples to try in the baby's room. Both are light and taupe, but one is almost totally white, and one is darker. We'll see how they look up on the wall... We learned our lesson about not trying a sample on the wall. I'm looking at you, mustard kitchen. Stupid, stupid mustard kitchen.

Lame

My rocking chair will not be getting my beautiful aqua/turquoise vintage fabric. Unfortunately, the upholsterer thinks it's too thin and will not wear well on the chair over time. On the one hand, I'm glad that he let me know so I the chair doesn't end up worn out in a couple of years. On the other hand, I really loved that fabric!! On the upside, I *think* I have enough of the fabric to use it for curtains. I think it would be great for that. I already bought some sheers from Target that have a Moroccan-ish diamond pattern on them, and I think the two textures would look pretty together.

Since I'm in the midst of a storm of end of semester papers and don't have time to drive the 45 minutes to the fabric store my upholsterer recommends, my mom is going to go for me tomorrow. I trust her, and the beauty of a camera phone is that she can send me some of the contenders. My mom and I send each other thrift store (or other) finds via picture text all the time. These days, she's able to do more shopping than me, so it's a little one-sided, but I really really appreciate it. She's found so many great pieces for the baby's new room. Some day I'll have time to do more thrifting, but in the mean time, she's been a champ. Most recently, she found a Dwell crib skirt for a few dollars. It's from a different line than the brown and white, but it will work fine.

So, if you want to weigh in and read this before tomorrow, feel free to chime in with some fabric suggestions! I'm wondering about doing a brown velvet or brown boucle, but I don't want the chair to end up looking "old lady." The fabric store is called Fabrics and Fringe, and the online selection is a little sparse, but there are a few samples I like. Oh, and we are buying from here because they offer a discount via our upholsterer, and because he can pick it up from them easily. If I bought online, I'd have to get it shipped to me, then shipped to him. No thanks. Also, this way my mom can see the samples (and feel the samples!) in person. Definitely an advantage. I know a lot of online shops allow you to get cheap samples, but then that's just even more time to factor in. Double no thanks. Here are some pattern samples I'm digging from the website.

The new baby's room

OK, I'm trying to get caught up on everything. Or at least sort of... My mom and I have been busy plotting out the baby's room, and she's been doing some fabulous thrifting. Don't worry, my husband has plenty of input, too, and we aren't railroading over him on anything. He does like having a say in decorating things. He has strong opinions about style. Seriously. Fortunately, ours are usually in tune.
Aside from the wonderful rocker that I'm still waiting on (the upholsterer has it, but I have no ETA for when I'll get it back. Does anyone have any suggestions about how long it usually takes to get a piece of furniture back?) these blankets are the base inspiration for the baby's room. They are from Target (duh) and I'm in love with the graphic patterns and the warm colors. And of course, gender neutral.
Don't they look pretty together? The blanket on the bottom is a knit blanket. I'm thinking maybe it will be used on the rocking chair as a throw blanket, or maybe as a "stroller blanket." But I'd probably be too worried it would get dirty. Sigh.
These receiving blankets are so neat. I love that pattern on the far right. I wish they were sheets or something more useful. Receiving blankets are great to have, but more from a utilitarian standpoint. They don't give tons of impact. The set is under $20, and it's very tempting to go get another set to have on hand "just in case..." Same with the knit blanket. That one is a little more, but I want to say it's maybe $16. Much much cheaper than the DwellStudio line that isn't associated with Target.
Speaking of DwellStudio, this is the "dream set." It's around $350 on Amazon, which is just never ever going to be in our budget, but isn't it lovely? The similar line that is DwellStudio for Target is not nearly as cute. The stripes are different, and the dots are just regular dots, so it looks more girly and babyish. It's also about $300 cheaper... After finding the blanket sets at Target (the ones I bought and love) I found this set on Amazon and sent it to my mom in one of those "can you believe how cute this is?" e-mails. So brace yourself. Not too long after that, my mom found the comforter FROM THIS SET at Goodwill for $3. Yes. $3. Granted, it's only the comforter, not the bumper or crib skirt or sheet, but it's definitely from this fancy set. My dream set. It's the dotted comforter depicted above folded over the side. One side is the dots and the other side is the stripes. Isn't that the weirdest/awesomest/happiest coincidence? I think so.
Here's a depressing and weirdly dark photo of the baby's room. Sorry. I don't know why it came out like this. I think my camera might be on its last leg. As you can see, the room is teensy. And full of junk. We are still in the process of clearing Roxanne's toys out of here and finding new homes for them. It's not an easy process... The wall on the left features the amazing chest my mom found at Goodwill. It came with the amazing dresser on the right! Better pictures below, I promise. I just wanted to show what the room sort of looks like now. The chest will be put in the closet (which is also on that left wall, but out of this shot). I measured the room, and that spot is the only place where the crib will fit. The dresser will stay where it is, and we plan to put the changing pad on it. It's looooong. And lovely.
Here's the chest. If you can see it behind all of Roxanne's toys. See those legs? The laminate on both pieces needs a little TLC, so I'll need to brush up on my DIY tutorials and get them cleaned up at some point. But neither is that bad, and they are sturdy and solid pieces.
Here's the dresser. The mirror is pulled over the left because we need to have room on the right side for the changing pad. And for the lamp collection... We're not going to keep all of them. We're just trying to decide which ones we should keep. Isn't this gorgeous though? From what I remember, the two pieces together cost around $115. Cheaper than the one IKEA dresser we were considering, and a zillion times more sturdy. My mom has a great eye.
This is what the center knobs look like on the dresser.
The handles on both the dresser and chest feature this carving detail. Amazing, right? We were trying to figure out the era that this set probably dates from. No firm conclusions yet...
The set is by Bassett, as evidenced by the stamp inside the drawer of the dresser. The back of the set is marked "Pageant," so I was hoping I could find some information about this line somewhere on the interwebs, but nope. Either way, Bassett is a great company, and this furniture is fantastic.
I'm hoping this stool will work with the rocker. I spotted it at Goodwill but talked myself out of buying it. My mom ended up going to my Goodwill the same day I found it to do me a favor and look at a daybed I was having second thoughts about not buying. I didn't end up getting it, but she helped me realize that this stool and the cute nursery lamp that I had her look at while she was there were worth buying. This stool was $8 and the lamp was around $5 I think. I originally planned to have this stool recovered in the extra fabric from the rocking chair, but then I realized we were using a lot of brown, and I decided to keep this fabric on the stool for now. It has a pretty deco charm.
The one on the far right is one I just recently found at Goodwill. It was $8, and is a fakey kind of wood. I like it, but I think it's too much wood/wood-look in there. The one in the middle is my favorite. My mom found it at her Goodwill, and I think it was around $11. It's a lovely shiny lamp. And I like that it's a lighter brown. The nursery lamp on the far left is super super cute. But it's also kind of tiny on this dresser. And I'm not sure if the colors will be OK.
Here's a close-up. Cute, right? It's a little broken, but I still think it's adorable as is. Sorry the image is blurred again. My camera and I are not big buddies at the moment.

OK, that's all for now! We still have lots to figure out, like if we are going to paint (Justin wants to, but I still kind of love this wall color) and what will go on the walls. I'm really hoping the rocking chair gets done soon. I can't wait to see it all done!

Mid-Century Motel

This past weekend, I took Roxanne for a mommy-and-me trip to St. Simons Island, Georgia. It's not too bad of a drive, and there are some inexpensive options for lodging (under $70 a night!). My family has been going to St. Simons for a very very long time, and so I always feel comfortable navigating the beach and the restaurants, etc. It's low-key, too, even though things have been changing there for a long time. Just the usual progress from sleepy beach town to vacation spot replete with lots and lots of fancy condos and villas. But, there are still plenty of charming mid-century and older beach houses and buildings that fit in so nicely with my memories of St. Simons (disclaimer, I was born in 1983, so I'm merely pointing out that the fancy architecture didn't really pick up speed until I was a teenager, so all of my little kid/toddler memories are of the low profile buildings). There's something about cinder block and Spanish Moss adorned live oak trees that just works. Trust me. So anyways, our family used to always stay at Queen's Court, which is right next to "the village" and had the most lovely layout ever. It's three buildings shaped in a "U," with a pool right in the middle. As you can see from the photos, there are beautiful established trees and other landscaping placed all around to make the grounds seem lush and fancy, even though the rooms themselves are comfortable but definitely not luxurious. Not that I'm complaining. The sad part is that the motel has been used as staff quarters for one of the nearby luxury resorts for the last few years, so it's not available to stay in anymore. It kind of boggles my mind that they could take such a perfectly located property and turn it into "staff quarters" in an area that again is not quite as ritzy as Hilton Head, but is certainly a nice beach community. Location-wise, you can walk to all of the best restaurants, as well as to certain public access beaches. Prime real estate! That being said, at least the building is still there. I always worry that someday I'll come back for a visit and find those lovely white concrete boxes and their cheerful green trim all torn down, replaced by something that looks gaudy and Italian or French (yes, that does exist in St. Simons, and personally, it gives me the creeps). But this trip, I tried to snap a few photos. Just in case... These buildings date from around 1948. They've still got it.
Look at the greenery! Gorgeous! And don't you love the stairwells? Although you might need to click the image to enlarge to really appreciate/see at all. And the windows... If I remember correctly, I think the stoops have always had astroturf on them. Perfect for getting the sand off your feet...
Just to point out; I'm not against growth and development. I think there are some really lovely new construction projects in St. Simons (and a few that really don't fit, in my opinion). I just hate that the general public (i.e. my family) can no longer enjoy Queen's Court. I fondly remember knitting lessons in my grandparents' room across the courtyard from ours. And sneaking Little Debbie's cakes out of the kitchenette where my bedroom was when we were lucky enough to be in one of the "suites."

On another note, my fabric came in, and it's lovely! The upholsterer said he'd pick up the chair on Friday. Let's hope so! He first told me Monday or Tuesday of this week. Sigh.