My Favorite Room In The House

Baby Z's nursery is finally done. So now she can show up whenever she pleases!

*You hear that Baby? You're officially 1 week overdue and your mom is terribly uncomfortable. Any day now would be swell!

The nursery has become my favorite room in the house. Not just because of the fun colors and patterns, but because so much of it is handmade. Every piece in the nursery has a reason and a meaning and Chris, my mom, and I worked so hard to bring it all together. It's great to be able to look at a room and know how much love was put into it. I cannot wait to see Baby Z grow up and play in this bright and beautiful room!

It's crazy to think that a room that started out like this:

Has been turned into this:

Now let's go for a little tour!

Here is Baby Z's crib, our Christmas present from my mom. The Ugly Doll blanket is courtesy of our friends, the Smiths.

Hung above the crib is one of the DIY mobiles I made.

On the wall above the crib, we hung the colorful collage that I made for Baby Z.

To the left of the crib, a little mushroom stool hangs out. My mom got if for us at Meijer, scored on sale for only $15!

In the corner of the room, we set up the reading nook. I made the wall decoration with phonic cards and clothespins and the forward-facing bookshelves are spray painted spice racks from Ikea.

The rocking chair is a $25 Salvation Army find that my mom painted white and re-upholstered with fabric that we chose from Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts. She used leftover fabric to add brown accents to the white roman blinds that we already had in the room. We were lucky to have a very sweet neighbor donate tons of books for Baby Z, and I stacked the extras behind the rocking chair in a brown bin that we received at the baby shower. The little guy on the chair is the biggest Ugly Doll we had. I got the brown footstool at Target on sale for $20 and it's currently hiding burping cloths and bibs. I figured it would be convenient to have those on both floors of the house, especially if I plan on feeding Baby Z on the rocking chair.

To the right of the reading nook is a little bookshelf area. The ABC poster was a gift from a friend and we bought the white bookshelf at Ikea. The bookshelf holds two more plush ugly dolls, some Ugly Doll figurines that used to be on my desk at work, a humidifier, and a frame that I painted at a pottery studio. 

We got the bins for the bookshelf at Target. Technically they are monkey bins, but I think that they look more like monster bins. Right now, we have Baby Z's rattle toys and stuffed animals in the bins. Later on, we'll probably establish a "once the bins overflow it's time to donate some toys" rule, to avoid a cluttered room.

On the right, below the larger window, we placed the changing table. The window has another piece of brown fabric that my mom added to the white curtains. The rug that we placed in the middle of the nursery was probably the biggest splurge, discussed during The Great Rug Debate post.

The changing table is actually an old dresser that we repainted. I bought a changing pad and cover and another brown bin for all of the changing supplies (can you tell I love bins yet?). The little knit doll was a gift from Chris' brother and his wife and we scored the little lamp from Ikea for just $5! We figured it would come in handy for late night changes that would require a little less lighting. Best of all, it's plastic! So if the little one accidentally knocks it over by kicking, there's no need to worry about broken glass on the floor.

Above the changing pad, we hung another DIY mobile to keep Baby Z entertained while we change her.

We hung the rest of the Ugly Dolls on the wall to the right of the window, using different shaped shelves I found at Target. They all look like they are standing on their prize pedestals and it makes me smile :)

The last part of the nursery is the closet.

I really didn't like the closet doors so I decided to remove them and replace them with curtains. They were just too bulky and curtains were a cheaper and better option than purchasing new doors. I bought a rod and two sets of white curtains and my mom helped hem the ends and add more brown fabric detail. We used clip-on rings for the rod so that if she ever decided to hang from the curtains, the rod wouldn't come crashing down on her head - a little bit of advice I got from Young House Love. 

And just to show you that I'm not hiding any massive messes in that closet, here's a glimpse of the inside once the curtain is pulled back.

On top, we have more bins for items like hats and blankets. I also put some of her other stuffed animals up there, until she is old enough to play with them. The tiny clothes that hang are separated by size with the help of these homemade closet dividers. On the floor is a blue plastic bin I picked up from Target for only $5. I plan on using it as her laundry hamper. It's not your typical laundry hamper, but I wasn't willing to spend $20 or more on a laundry hamper and figured it would do the trick while her clothes were still itty bitty. Other items like her activity mat and her backpack (a gift from grandma) have their temporary residence on the floor. To the right of those, I have several plastic bins that I picked up on super sale at Target. The large bin is for the clothes that people have been kind enough to loan to us. The smaller bins are for the other clothes that she eventually grows out of. Having the bins in the closet will force me to stay on top of putting things away once she outgrows them and that way I can make sure I return things to people in a timely manner.

One last thing: the little bird hanger that we put behind the door at "kiddo" level - a present from grandma from Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts. Once she's tall enough, she'll be able to hang her little things up there.

And that's it!

Now we just patiently await her arrival!