Nursery on a Budget

For anyone who has had a baby, you are probably aware of how expensive this little adventure can become. With us preparing for #3....we had to keep our cost down, especially since we literally had just sold the last of our baby gear. Ahhhh, the joys of life! Thankfully, I have an amazing girlfriend who was able to help me out with some serious hand me downs. The crib being the most expensive cost, was given to us for FREE! A huge sigh of relief when you start adding up the little things. I have scoured the kids swap sites with a vengeance, looking for second hand (inexpensive) replacements for the items we had recently sold or donated. I am pretty impressed with myself, and scored some amazing deals. Thankfully, I had held onto our dresser from our daughters room...and before that, our sons. It was never a color I wanted or liked, but I made the best of it. However, because I had unloaded the matching pieces to the set, I could now paint it and do something different. Out of sheer laziness, I decided to keep the room color the same, even though I desperately wanted a fresh coat of paint, I had to call it good and walk away.  The brown walls are too dark for what I want, but I decided to accent it with as much white as I possibly could. So, the dresser was going white! It started as cognac color. An orangey brown....I did not love. I was most definitely over the wooden knobs! So thanks to Ce Ce Caldwell, I was able to paint the entire piece with no priming or sanding. Whew....it was still a big job, just because I really wanted to cover as much dark as possible. So it took a bit more coats than normal. (and I'm a fuss-ass)

After a few coats of white and some light sanding, I finished with two coats of Satin Finish. I actually did three on the top, just to be sure we have a solid poop protection layer. I found the most amazing shabby chic knobs and I could not be more in love with this piece.
*After sealing with Ce Ce Caldwell's Satin Finish, you'll notice a "gritty" texture is left after drying. At this point you can use a superfine 600 or 400 grit sanding sponge block to buff it to a shine, or as I found out while doing this project, a superfine steel wool works AMAZING. Not to mention it's 1/2 the cost and will last you through many projects, unlike the sanding sponge. Just make sure to do it in an area where you can wipe the project down thoroughly, as the steel wool will leave behind some bits and pieces.

I found this little table at Winners of all places, and I simply fell in love. Sometimes, it's just not possible to find everything you want in the thrift store, and you have to buy vintage recreations. This piece had such great shape to her, I tried to walk away....but that shape of her body just got me! I found the little blue bird knobs at Hobby Lobby in the USA, for $2.50 each! I love that they are distressed and show some rusty metal through them. The table was originally a sea foam green, and didn't match the room, so I painted her in Johnson Daffodil. I LOVE it!

I reused the white frames that used to be in my son's room and dug out the piles of scrapbook paper that I have stacked all over my house.

I also picked up a handful of frames in various sizes at the thrift store for under $20 all together. I had found an old vintage book of nursery rhymes last year, and cut out this perfect Little Robin Redbreast rhyme, and tucked her in what used to be a hideous frame that I repainted in Ce Ce Caldwell's Vintage White. It cost me $0.50.

I found a really cute Cricut cartridge that had some adorable birds and owls, and went to work to create my own art for the room. Thanks to Pinterest, I found loads of inspiration!

My daughter has this identical frame in her bedroom, so when I found it at the thrift store for $5, I had to have it! I found this little bird on The Graphics Fairy, and I printed her on a piece of scrapbook paper that had a really great background. Simple...and cost me pennies!

I decided to stick with as many hand made pieces as possible this time. I had found a series of really cute mobiles that people had made and was able to score some serious deals after Christmas when the wreaths all went on sale 80% off. This was a hideous wreath that was regularly $33.00. I bought this and one smaller with my discount coupons and spent $14.00 in total with tax! Then using paper and ribbon I already had, I created this little mobile to hang above the crib.





















Because I was trying to avoid pink...the entire room has been taken over with blue. Had I gone with my instincts, the whole room would have been chiffon yellow, white ruffles and soft pink. Not to mention a big crystal chandelier. Not necessarily because I think it's a girl, I just really like the thought of my nursery feeling like a cupcake. Since I don't know what I'm having, I am trying to stick with a natural theme. If it ends up being a girl....her room will eventually be an explosion of pink, chiffon yellow and white ruffles....and a crystal chandelier.

The final task at hand was the curtain. I was trying to lighten up the walls with as many white accents as possible, and I had a vision of a ruffled shabby chic curtain against the brown wall. Now, I'll be honest with you, sewing is not really something I'm great at. I don't measure and I usually just eyeball things. By this point in the room...I frankly just wanted it done. So I'm much less concerned about the fact that it's crooked, and much more relived that it's finally finished. Don't judge me....

 My bestie had given me this white jaquard fabric a couple years ago, and I have been waiting for the chance to use it. I love that it was EXACTLY what I had in my mind for a curtain.  I went ahead and ruffled some white linen I picked up at Fabricland on sale for $6 a meter. This would be the covering for my thrift store lamp shape!

So there it is! Finished, stocked with diapers and wipes, and clothes are washed and hung in the closet. (Boy and girl of course)
Now we have 9 weeks (7 for my body) to await the arrival of baby Walker #3. Excited, nervous and anxious all at the same time.

I'll keep you updated on how the new arrival likes the room.....hopefully I can find time for that somewhere!