Nicholas' Nursery

I'm about six (or seven) months late in posting this, but I wanted to share some pictures of Nicholas' nursery.  I'm pretty confident in the kitchen and I happily experiment in the garden, but decorating... well, frankly, it intimidates me. That's not to say that I don't have my own personal style, but I just don't spend a lot of time  pondering paint colors, imagining ways to rearrange my furniture, or conjuring up the perfect tablescape. Likewise, I was never someone who daydreamed about decorating a baby's nursery. When we found out we were pregnant and moved into our current house, I literally had no idea what I wanted to do with the nursery. After we found out we were having a boy, I remembered an old Babar movie poster that I took from the entrance of the Paris metro when I was studying abroad during college and had saved all these years. Bingo! Babar was my jumping off point.

The only other idea I had was that I wanted to paint the room yellow. After some discussion, Jason vetoed yellow in favor of blue, and I figured it was probably in my interest to let Dad have a little bit of say in some of our baby preparation decisions. But, then, the dilemma... what shade of blue? After perusing several sites where I could select fabric and design my own custom bedding (also vetoed by Dad... OK, fine, so it wasn't exactly budget friendly), I found a crib sheet in a jungle pattern that included both elephants and an appealing shade of aqua blue on the Carter's website. From there, the rest of the room came together pretty easily. We went with a similar shade of aqua on the walls, and then used navy accents throughout. My goal was to keep everything in the room as budget friendly as possible (props to Target), while still winding up with a cute place for our little boy to sleep and play. I think we succeeded.

As you enter the room (the door is on the right side of the picture below) and look to your right, you'll find our awesome glider, gifted to us by Jason's thoughtful mother and sister. I have logged more hours in this thing than I ever could have imagined, and it's amazingly comfy.

Sitting in the glider and looking to your left is the crib. It's from the Baby Cache line at Babies'R'Us. It was easy to put together and has held up great so far (although, to be fair, Nicholas isn't giving it much wear and tear yet.)

Above the crib is my one crafty contribution to the nursery. If I'm not a decorator by nature, then I am most definitely not crafty. But I'm pretty proud of my mobile. I was looking for an elephant mobile on Etsy and found several like this one that were selling for $85-plus. I thought, "I could make that!" So I did. It took a little trial and error, but after several trips to Hobby Lobby, a lot of felt, some spray paint, and the first three seasons of Breaking Bad, I put this mobile together for the low, low price of just over $30. Not bad. And I like how it helps tie together the crib sheet with the other Babar elements.

Looking from the crib over to the right, you'll find Nicholas' dresser and changing station. The dresser is a vintage piece I bought at a used furniture store right after I graduated from college. It came with a beat-up paint job that showed some light blue under the white, so after I purchased it, I added to the distressed look by sanding down all the edges to show more of the blue. As it turns out, it matched the shade of blue we chose for Nicholas' walls perfectly. The top is a little narrow, but we've made it work as a changing table.

And above the dresser, you see the Babar movie poster. I have some slight hoarding tendencies, so even though I compulsively save things, I'm not always sure I'll find a use for them in the future. But my inability to throw anything away paid off this time. I've been carting this poster around from apartment to apartment since I graduated from college, always thinking maybe someday I would find a home for it. And now I have. I had it matted and framed at Hobby Lobby and I love how it turned out. I hope it's something Nicholas will enjoy in his room for years to come... or at least until he hits junior high and wants to replace it with a Megadeth (or the 2025 equivalent of such) poster.

So there you have it... Nicholas' room, only seven months late. I'll close with a shot of the little guy lounging in his bed. I think he's happy with it.