Archived From CHICKENS CHALKBOARDS // MARCH 22, 2016We are still loving our nursery and baby Danny is enthralled with our DIY wallpaper. I never considered how he might love gazing at it, but they say babies like contrast so it makes sense. He seems to have a thing for polka dots, so he's got the right room. Of course I still want to tweak things here and there, but I figured I'd better share it, because who knows when I will really call it complete. The room is so happy, bright, and youthful. These pictures just make me smile. The changing table is one of my all time favorites. It was being sold at a local garden store as a potting table and my mom had the great idea to use it as a changing table. It reminds me of the old wagon we had as kids and is perfect for our nursery. I mean, can you get any cuter than that?! I used some pails that I ordered to store q-tips, and a cute sweater looking bowl stores lotions and diaper cream. In the tray beneath are disposable and cloth diapers, wipes, and trash bags. Everyone told me I'd want a much bigger trash can for dirty diapers but this compost pail has been just fine. I wasn't into the idea of a huge pail with diaper sausages fermenting for weeks. We used a bigger one for the newborn weeks, but he was in our room in the bassinet so we still didn't need one for the nursery. Danny replaced the shelves in the bookshelf, since the other ones were warped, and I got some navy baskets to store things. Eventually, I'd like to add a pipe bar (like our pantry) to hang shirts, but the shelf is doing fine for now. Thanks to dear friends I had plenty of cute things to decorate the shelves with. The blocks and frames were the perfect addition (Thanks Sarah). Yeah, he has a shoe collection Of course living on a farm means you need some classic farm toys. I love this book my grandma found. The baskets store puzzles, extra linens, toys, and whatever else needs stored. The white built in still has the original warped board on top which is quite heavy to open so thats where old baby clothes are being stored so I don't have to worry about smooshed baby fingers someday trying to get toys in and out. The red storage bench will hold frequently used toys someday that he can easily access and have safe fingers. Since my tailbone is still bothering me, the original rocker for the nursery was too uncomfortable for me to sit in so it has been moved downstairs where it can get broken in. The plan was to eventually move it back up when I could use it but my grandma recently found this wonderful white rocker, so we will probably leave things how they are. (Danny enjoys using the rocker downstairs) The crib is another favorite of mine, the one we all used as babies when I was a kid. It took quite a bit of elbow grease to buff the brass and get all the dust out of the details, but I love it. I originally thought I was going to have to do blue polka dot sheets but Land of Nod just happened to be selling blueberry crib sheets in their Farmers Market collection, which really made the look. Aren't those blueberry sheets adorable?! And of course that baby too! I hung the mobile, which baby Danny loves, and it looks so cute. Unfortunately, I didn't hang it so it can turn but he doesn't seem to mind. The original canopy my mom had didnt make it through 25 years and 3 kids and was thrown out a long time ago, so I had to make my own. I can't sew a stitch so I had to make due with some scissors, ribbon, and hemming tape. The canopy is actually a twin bed dust ruffle that I cut down to size and is similar to the one I remember my mom having when we were kids. It turned out okay but this is where I keep wanting to tweak things. I want to add some big blue fabric bows to the top of the canopy and maybe do some gathers in the center so it doesn't hang so flat in the middle. Of course my dresser is perfect and I love how I see it when I come up the stairs. It is one of those pieces that I can honestly say I am really proud of my work. It looks amazing! I meant to order blue gingham curtains this winter and completely forgot, so that is still on the list to be done before next winter. I'd love to someday have a cushion for the built in bench. Ideally, I'd like it to look like a Hudson Bay blanket, but Ill have to figure out how to DIY a cheaper version because I know that is not in the budget. The nursery has a great view of the field behind us and is perfect for watching thunderstorms. In the morning you can hear the chickens clucking and demanding to be let out, and late at night you can hear the chirping of the tree frogs. I can't wait to open up those windows and let nugget enjoy the country sounds, and I can see myself snuggling up in there someday. If it wasn't for my walk-in closet I might make the little babe trade rooms with me. Check out those chubby legs! Despite the frustrations along the way, I love how the nursery turned out, and looking at where we began really reminds me how far it has come! Here's some Before and Afters:
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by Chickens Chalkboards // September 14, 2015When at out apartment Danny and I had three dressers, but when we moved we found our bedroom was too small for any of them and since we have a walk-in closet we could kind of go without. However, the two additional bedrooms in our home don't have closets, so knowing we were going to eventually need those dressers down the line they have sat neglected, waiting to be cleaned out and refinished. I decided to give the baby Danny's old dresser because the size was nice, my old one has an annoying drawer that sticks, and I hated the finish on his so I felt I wouldn't ruin it. It had been in the garage being used as a kitty climber by the cats for the past year and definitely needed some help. The dresser was already a navy blue, but it looked as if it only had one or two coats of cheap paint. The color was thin, uneven, and the dresser itself still had that rough unfinished wood feel. Since I was using a lot of navy in the nursery I decided to try using the dresser to my advantage and milk paint over the blue, hoping the paint would chip a bit, revealing the navy underneath in spots. I was a bit worried the paint would stick and not chip, since the dresser had no finish, so I took the time to rub beeswax where I knew I wanted it to chip, focusing on the edges, around the knobs and spots on the top and bottom where it would make sense to see wear and tear. I then covered it in several coats of Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint in Linen, really trying hard to make sure I applied it smoothly without bubbles, crumbles, or unevenness in the color. When using the paint I have come to learn that I cannot seem to be able to use the very last part in the bottom because the color is always a bit yellower. I try to keep stirring it, but after having to repaint the top two drawers due to a coloration difference, I find it is easier for me to just throw out the last little bit. (Also not painting at night would have probably helped me catch the color difference sooner). Once the paint dried I finely sanded everything to get a smooth finish and remove any small bubbles or crumbs and then began to try to get it to chip. Thank goodness I decided to use the wax, because I had to sand it just as hard to get down to the blue paint as I did to get to the bare wood on the highchair. Although I put the wax in various spots, the only place I could sand down to the blue was the edges. Had I not used the wax I probably would have gone straight down to the wood. The paint stuck even better than I expected, refusing to come off in any other spots, but I did get a bit of a crackle look when you see it up close. The final step to the project was using pictures from the book Blueberries for Sal to help tie the dresser in to our nursery theme. I disassembled a 1 cent book I purchased on amazon and began trying to piece the pictures on without it looking like a hodgepodge mess. I knew the look I wanted but Im limited with my ability to visualize things and was really was struggling getting it. Thankfully my mom can picture just about anything and everything and helped tie my favorite pictures in using the landscape pages so it had a nice flow. What I couldnt figure out with several days work, she got it all figured out in about an hour and it looked great. Once I got the look I liked I cut out the illustrations and used Mod Podge to attach them to the drawers. Ive always struggled with getting that nice, smooth, bubble-free, wrinkle-free look when using Mod Podge and after several frustrating attempts to remove the bubbles and get a smooth finish, I found nothing worked better than a credit card. Once the pieces were glued down I gave each drawer 3-4 top coats to seal it so the pictures now have a nice glossy protective coat from the wear and tear of a baby. For now I attached the same knobs, although I still cant find two because I hid them from Otis who kept stealing them, but I think I would rather have them navy so they blend in, drawing the eye more to the illustrations. Once I find the final two Ill eventually get to painting them, but for now it still looks cute and is functional. Even with the brown knobs, I love how it turned out. It is perfect for the nursery and I never could find anything like it in a store.
It feels good to be able to check things off our to-do list, no matter how small, and I can finally say that Baby Kelley’s mobile is finished and ready for the nursery. When I decided on having a Blueberries for Sal themed nursery, I knew that meant I would have to DIY a lot to pull it off, since most people have never heard of the book, much less designed a nursery after it. Last fall I saw these cute felted black bear ornaments at the Country Living Fair and snatched three of them up for “someday.” I made the ring using some wire we had, wrapped it in white yarn, and added a white, grosgrain ruffle. The blueberries came off of Etsy and I attached them and the bears with fishing line. I toyed around with the idea of adding a pail, which is very true to the book, and Danny and my mom both thought it would be the perfect finishing touch. After a few different ideas, I decided to hang one in the center and hot glued the leftover blueberries inside. As always, I have to give Danny credit for helping me with the math part. He stepped in during my frustration, helping me figure out how to evenly space everything, and he will be helping again when it comes to hanging it, so it balances correctly in the crib. I must say I’d really be pretty helpless without him. I love it and can’t wait to have it hanging above the crib and out of Harvey’s reach.
The curious little guy really wants to eat the blueberries and enjoyed the multiple times blueberries went rolling across the floor while I was working. I think he is preparing me more than anything for the baby. |
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