Nursery Window Treatments

My latest nursery project is finding curtains. As you can see in the old picture below I've had blinds in the nursery for quite some time now. I've been going back and forth whether I'm happy with the birch finish as opposed to a white blind finish. But at this point in the game, it may be too late to change my mind. That and Jordan will think I'm crazy for wanting to switch them out now. 

Because some sunlight still peeks out the sides of the blinds, I want to find some curtains to hang to completely block out any light when needed. As you can see in the picture I had a curtain rod already hung from the pre-nursery days when the room was an office. I intended to keep this up and simply use it for the new window treatments. I had trouble finding ones long enough and when I did find cheap IKEA shears (which I wasn't even that crazy about), they took up so much space floor-to-ceiling that the wall looked crowded. So the curtain rod came down and the holes were spackled.

(nursery pre-glider)

I've been searching the internet for a few weeks and I've narrowed the choices down to two window treatments. 

Tadpoles Tulle 63" Curtain Panel from Toys R Us - $15.98

I love how girly these are and yet the white keeps them simple and not too busy. Plus, as I've mentioned before, I love ruffles. Since the window is small, one panel will be plenty to block the sunlight without crowding the wall. I'm just not sure how it will look when I want some sunlight in the room and I have to push the curtain to the side. Should I get a hook for one side, or just slide it over?

The other option is this one from Target:

Sailcloth Tie-up Shade from Target - $18.99

This one is an easy window cover that can be full-length or tied up to let sunlight in. I saw it in person and although I love the look of it, I'm not crazy about the fabric. It's sort of a stiff cotton, not as soft and "pretty" as I was hoping for the nursery. I searched the web for some alternative options at another store, but haven't had much luck.

I love these DIY ones from Cozy.Cottage.Cute

DIY Tie-Up Shade via cozy.cottage.cute 

but I don't have anywhere near the sewing skills to tackle this project. At least not in the 2 and a half weeks I have until her due date.

The DIY was actually inspired by this Pottery Barn version.

I'd buy them in a heartbeat, but I've searched and can't seem to find them anywhere. 

So back to reality. Here are my two options:

(Please excuse my limited photoshop skills, but you get the idea.)

I plan to make my choice soon and purchase this week!

Oh and in case you're wondering, I did order the mirror I mentioned last week. After I ordered it, the email said it would take 1-2 weeks to ship. Here's hoping it arrives before Lucy does!

Mission: Mirror - Success?

A few days ago I posted about a wooden lattice mirror that I'm loving for the nursery. 

via Shades of Light

The problem was it's $249 price tag. Trying to be the fiscally responsible mom-to-be, I decided I would need to search for the closest alternative and settle for a less expensive version. 

I've been scouring the internet for the last few days with the help of my mom who has been sending me links to mirrors she has found. Here are some of the alternative we found:

via CSNMirrors - $56.00 

(Target was selling the same mirror for $80)

via Ebay - $39.00

via Overstock - $105.99

via CSNMirrors - $125.89

I went back and forth and with Jordan's input, we decided to purchase two of the first mirrors from CSN ($56.00). Since they are only 2 feet wide we figured we could hang them side by side above the dresser/changing table. I almost purchased these mirror a handful of times in the last two days, but just couldn't get myself to do it. I wasn't 100% satisfied that I couldn't find something better or closer to what I wanted. I even considered buying the Overstock one and hanging it horizontally.

That's when I started looking around the internet again. I can't even remember what brought me here or what I googled, but I found myself on Pronto.com and somehow I stumbled upon this:

via Lighting Showroom - $180

Lighting Showroom has the same mirror for almost half the price - $180.00. The only catch is that this version of the mirror is an 'antique' aka distressed version. 

I'm not crazy about the distressed look for the mirror, but is it something I can tolerate in exchange for getting the mirror at half the price?

Ceiling Fan and SIDS Prevention

I mentioned on my 8 week Baby Countdown To-Do List that we wanted to install a ceiling fan in the nursery. (Note: as of tomorrow I am at the four week mark and haven't gotten as much done on my list as I had hoped. But I did get a few things taken care of. More on those later.)

While talking to a friend who has a 9 month old daughter, we received a lot of great advice when it comes to pregnancy, birth, and post-partum parenting. I took tons of notes from his words of wisdom and one of the things that stuck out to both of us was the idea of using a fan in the nursery to help lower the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Apparently the stale air of a room that isn't well ventilated causes a big risk for SIDS, and something as simple as putting a fan in the room can make a world of difference.

I did a little research online myself. If you are parent-to-be, check out the following articles I found:

Ohdeedoh

Parents.com

NY Times

When posting pictures of the nursery, I rarely take any high enough to see the ceiling of the room. As you can see below, we just had a simple light fixture. I actually really like the light fixture, so we may install it in the guest room, which gets little to no sunlight and is in desperate need of a lighting solution. But that will be a post-baby project.

The fan we chose was from Lowes. We checked out Home Depot first, but didn't find anything we wanted that didn't cost close to $100. We knew we wanted one that was flush mount to the ceiling, had a 52" span along with 5 blades. When we saw this fan for around $35, we knew we hit the jackpot. Since the room is small itself, I wanted something that was white and somewhat discreet that would blend into the white ceiling.

Harbor Breeze Armitage Ceiling Fan from Lowes


Yesterday afternoon, my father-in-law came over after work and helped Jordan install the fan.

These pictures aren't the best, but if I showed you the rest of the nursery you would see that the crib, floor, and every other inch of space was covered with boxes, clothes, blankets, a diaper genie, and other miscellaneous items that have yet to be put away from the shower.


I'll admit the room doesn't look drastically different from the last time I posted about the nursery here, but I have tackled some mini projects and do plan to do a few things this weekend. 

Picture Perfect

This will be one of the last nursery related posts for a while. Now that we have the main elements set in the room, I just need to add a few details and accents pieces before it is complete. Rather than update you with each knick-nack I add to the room, I decided I would rather halt all updates until I can do a final reveal of the finished room.

That being said, this past weekend, one of the mini projects I squeezed in between our very relaxing weekend is adding a gallery wall to the nursery. A mix of IKEA frames and my bargain Pottery Barn frame with a few thrift store mirrors I've collected (including one of the mirrors I scored on Friday). 

I was very specific in the way I wanted these hung on the wall. I arranged them on the floor and played with the design a few times before coming up with this final set-up. 

In order to replicate it on the wall, I laid a piece of Frog Tape across the length of the middle of my frame collage. 

I duplicated a piece of tape of the same length on the wall in the space I wanted to hang everything.

I made markers along the tape according to where each frame/mirror would be spaced out. After that I simply used the above picture of the frames and tape as a reference and hung the pieces on the wall according to the layout and markers on the tape.

I know it seems like a weird way to space things out, but it truly worked. In the end the layout was an exact replica of what I had planned on the carpet.  

I still need to decide what I want to put in all the frames since I only have one lowly sonogram in there for now. I plan to use the small square shadowbox from IKEA to hold either her hospital bracelet or some other memorabilia from the day our little one was born. Of course her first picture will end up in one of these frames, too. Other than that I may mix some personal and family shots or maybe even one of me pregnant when my belly gets bigger. 

Hope this keeps you satisfied on the nursery updates for a while :)

How To: DIY Pom Poms

In my previous nursery post I gave you a sneak peek at my latest DIY project. I wish I could say that I brainstormed these beautiful pom poms on my own, but I actually got the idea from a wedding blog. OnceWed.com features a DIY Wedding Pom Pom tutorial that I replicated (along with their color scheme - isn't it gorgeous and perfect for a little girl's room?). Since their instructions were a bit vague, I had to do a practice run and figure out some more specific details (size of lantern, size of circle cut outs, etc) on my own. 

Materials needed:

• paper lanterns (I used one 9" and two 6" lanterns)
• 2-3 yards of fabric per lantern (I used 3yd for 9" and 2yd for 6")
• glue gun
• ribbon
• a long weekend

Before I started, I printed out 3" and 4" circles and traced them onto cardboard to cut out and use as my tracing template. Once I had my fabric picked out I used my template to trace the circles along the whole piece of fabric. I was sure to put them as close together as I could so I didn't waste any fabric.  

With the 4" circles I was able to get 100 circles per yard and used a full 3 yards. Obviously you get more circles with the 3" template (but I forgot to count), and also use just under 2 yards. This is where you don't want to spend a ton of money on expensive fabric. You want something light that won't be stiff when you glue or heavy when hung. I used a basic thin cotton material that cost $3-7 per yard depending what you chose. I lucked out that there was a sale going on at JoAnn Fabrics along with a 25% off coupon I had, so I purchased my fabric for pretty cheap.

Once traced, I cut out all the circles. This is probably the most time-consuming and somewhat boring part of the project. It's good to just plop on the couch and stick in a movie while you do this. I watched a Jersey Shore marathon while I traced and cut. (T-Shirt time!) 

Once your circles are all cut you can begin to glue to your paper lantern. First fold the circle in half, and stick a dab of glue in the middle. Fold it in half once more to seal. Put another dab of glue at the bottom of the folded circle and attach to your lantern.

(these 3 pictures snagged from OnceWed since I had no free hands to photograph this step!)

You want to make sure you mix and match directions that you place the circles. 

Continue this for a loooong time until your paper lantern is covered.

(my work area mid-construction)

Once finished, it will look like this:

All you have left to do is attach a long piece of ribbon to the hook inside the top of the paper lantern and hang where you want. We picked up an inexpensive pack of mini hooks from Target that simply screwed into the ceiling. It took the two of us to tackle this step so that I could eye the spacing of the pom poms and Jordan could screw them into the ceiling.

Here is a close up on the ribbons I chose. They were each $1.00 for a mini spool at JoAnn fabrics. It took about 1 full spool per pom-pom (then trimmed for length). I chose teal, white and pink ribbons each with its own unique decorative detail to mix and match with the multi-colored pom poms. 

Once hung, just sit back and enjoy your pretty, whimsical decor!

Nursery Closet

The final steps in the nursery closet were completed this weekend. Take a look.

Last weekend:

This weekend:

And now it's officially time to start filling it!!

The paint color I decided to go with was Martha Stewart's "Enamelware."

It was between this color and "Artesian Well" (also by Martha Stewart). Because how busy the stripes make the wall in the room and the fact that the closet was going to be filled with clothes of various colors, I decided that the lighter of the two would be a better fit. It took three coats of paint for the color to be evenly distributed. Since one of the screws on the right side of the shelf was loose, we thought it would be best to remove the shelving, spackle, and re-install it after the paint was complete. Jordan was away with the boys all weekend and I'm too impatient to wait, so once the paint was complete I called my back-up plan - dad. He came over this afternoon and installed the shelf so I could start putting things away in the closet.  

I absolutely love it. What do you all think?