May 9, 2010

John's Nursery

This weekend my sister is coming over to help plan and design the new nursery and change John's room into hig 'big boy' room. My sister is an interior designer (check out her designLIFE blog here!) so I am really excited because I know the rooms will turn out great. I decided to reminisce a little and share how we 'remodeled' and decorated John's current nursery.

{SIDENOTE! :) So, my sister helped me a tad with John John's nursery. As in she helped hang the drapes. So I am making a note of full disclosure that if you think the nursery isn't at a 'professional level' it is because lil ol' me did it...not an interior designer! Want to see what my sister did with her baby's nursery? See her post here! She used way more fancy stuff than I did!}

Back on track now...

When we moved into our house, this room was a kid's room. It had some weird chair rail that was super high (do you even still call it a chair rail when it is that high!?) and I didn't like how the room was painted. We made it into our guest bedroom for a little while before we really knew what to do with it.







The summer before I got pregnant, we decided to start 'remodeling' the room so it could still be a guest bedroom but also ready to be a nursery when we needed it. We took off the chair rail, baseboards, and trim around the doors and replaced it with wider baseboards and prettier trim. That was not fun since most of the walls weren't straight so Brad had some choice words when trying to get the baseboards up! We also added beadboard which was also a not-so-fun project since you had to nail each indvidual piece to the wall. Talk about major headache! After going back and putting wood putty over all the nails and sanding, we were able to paint the trim and beadboard an off white color.









We decided to paint the walls green so it would fit for a boy or girl nursery. How cute to have a blue and green room or pink and green room! Unfortunately, I HATED how it looked and secretly knew I would ask Brad to change the color once I knew if we were having a boy or girl. :)

So, once I was actually pregnant and found out I was having a boy, we repainted the walls a light blue to match John's bedding. I LOVE how the color turned out. So much better than the ugly green! Brad was so sweet to repaint it while I was at a football game with my cheerleading squad.





My biggest issue with the room was the window. The window is huge and is rounded at the top which made buying anything pre-made very difficult...and expensive. Also, since the window is so long, it was hard to find long enough drapes. My sister helped me take pre-made drapes from Restoration Hardware and make them look more custom-made. Even though they were a tad pricey, I love the drapes because they are a neutral color and are black-out lined which is perfect for a baby's room. And actually, these drapes aren't quite long enough, but we were able to hide that fact with the 'custom' valence. Brad made a box out of wood (that my sister designed and gave custom measurements for) and hung it from the ceiling. Then my sister and I used the premade valance to staple it to the box, creating a box pleat in the front. I love that it wraps around the drapery panels and it makes the window look so big! We also later hung sheers behind the panels going across the window for when I want to pull back the drapes to let light in. Those sheers are super cheap from IKEA, but also are not very pretty. :) Oh well- no one will be examining my sheers anytime soon!





For the wall above John's crib, I got letters from Michael's and painted them to match John's room. Of course, after I painted them, I started entering the blog world and read how to decorate letters using scrapbook paper and modgepodge which probably would have been way cuter than how my letters turned out!



Throw in a crib, dresser, super awesome swivel rocker chair, rug, bookshelf, special artwork from grandpa, and some garage sale prints and you have yourself a nursery! I love how the room turned out and am sad that John is already old enough to need a new room!



























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23 comments:

  1. I know you're sad to change the room, but we'll make it into something even better for John and baby B! I can't wait!!
    And thanks for the sweet words about Bella's Room and the links to my post. :)

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  2. What a great transformation! I think those letters look awesome, way better than just using scrapbook paper. Stopping by from Marketing Mondays!

    Anna

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  3. Following from Trendy Treehouse’s Marketing Monday to say HI!

    Please stop by and enter my giveaway for Eco-Friendly Peter Rabbit Gift Set for Children:
    http://extremepersonalmeasures.blogspot.com/2010/05/eco-friendly-peter-rabbit-organic.html


    Love your blog and make-overs!

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  4. Wow. Looks like something out of PB.
    Saw your post on girlcreative.
    Good job!!!

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  5. This is absolutely GORGEOUS!
    Its so SO pretty:)

    Following now from trendy treehouse.
    xoxo
    bB

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  6. This is so wonderful! I found it from a link party and was wondering if you would be okay if I featured it. Let me know! (You usually can just send me an email from this comment)

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  7. Very pretty! And the letters look awesome...hand-painted is better in my book. Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

    Ginger
    SSB

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  8. Much snazzier and more coordinated than my little man's room. We're about to change his room to a "big boy room" too, so I'm looking forward to your ideas! Although, we've got number two on the way, so all the current nursery stuff is just moving to the next room, so not so sad...

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  9. What a fabulous room! Love the curtains and colors you used. Simply gorgeous! Can't wait to see what you have planned! Thanks for stopping by and joining the Sunday Showcase! I greatly appreciate it. Hope you have a wonderful week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

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  10. OH MY! What a calm clean BEAUTIFUL room! I AM IN LOVE! Thanks for joining us for Anything related!
    ~Bridgette

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  11. love the curtains - they make the room! thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday! Mandy, www.craftedition.blogspot.com

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  12. The room is adorable! Great job. Decorating for boys can be tough, there's just so much more out there girls, but you did a great job! Visiting from Night Owl Crafting.

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  13. I love how stinkin' cute John's room is! You girls and your husband did a fantastic job. Thanks for linking it to Hoo's got talent!

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  14. That is just the cutest, most adorable nursery ever. Love it!! Every details is perfect.

    Thanks for sharing with us and linking to Woo Hoo! Wednesday.

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  15. It looks amazing... I especially love the crib skirt!

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  16. I think it is a GORGEOUS room!

    Thanks for linking up with What are little boys made of?

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  17. Looks fabulous!!!

    Following from New Friend Friday!! Stop by some time!!
    http://blogginmommadrama.blogspot.com

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  18. What a fantastic job you've done! Love it!

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  19. Very Cute!!
    Hi, following from Follow Me Friday at Trendy Treehouse!!

    www.justtryingtosavemoney.com

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  20. WOW! Looks great! Stopping by from NFF - nice to meet you :)

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  21. Beautiful Spa like comforting room.. I prefer those to the bright boldness of a nursery. There is plenty of time for bold colors as they grow.
    Well done!

    ~Rainey~

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  22. I love the calm blue, spa like feel to your nursery.
    Well done!

    ~Rainey~

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  23. I am totally and completely jealous!! My little guy's nursery needs to look like this. So adorable! I would also love for you to link this up with our Baby Week Linky Party (I have someone who linked up a baby girl nursery, and would love to show a baby boy nursery too!!!). Here is the link:

    http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2010/05/baby-week-and-link-party_05.html

    Have a super weekend!
    ~Alison

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