It's not peacocks. Or owls.

So I thought I'd let you all in on one of the things that's been keeping me out of the studio - the nursery. And I don't mean that in a negative way at all. It's been a really fun project for Jon and I. Back in November - before Thanksgiving - and right around the time I was 3 months along - we went on our first shopping trip to get an idea about all of this baby stuff. Why so early? Well, as I mentioned yesterday, Jon is in 3 classes this semester so that he can finish his degree in April. Even 2 classes are busy so we knew how crazy 3 was going to be! As exciting as all of this stuff is, being the worry wort that I am, I knew that it was still early and I wondered: what if something goes wrong? Won't it be even more heartbreaking if we've already bought some things? I guess things can happen at any time, but the percentage of things happening early on is a lot higher. Plus, we don't know the gender yet. Isn't it important to know that (for the room that was already blue)? Okay, enough about that.



Even before I was pregnant - say if I was out shopping for a baby gift for a friend - I would make mental notes of the things I would want when it was my time. Oh, I just could not wait! So many cute things out there! Owls! Owls are very popular everywhere now! I knew coming across peacocks would be more difficult. And of course, I wasn't sure what Jon would like since he already teases me about the abundance of peacocks and owls in the house.



So our first stop was a local, independent kids store that has the reputation for the best furniture. Real, solid wood that will withstand the test of time (and kids). But, expensive! We found some things we liked but knew we were going to do more research. One of the things we liked however, was a particular bedding set. The thing that would set the theme of the room. And no, it wasn't peacocks. Or owls. It was cute giraffes, lions and elephants. And, it did not have a speck of blue in it. All along, Jon was intending to only give the room a fresh coat of paint - in the same color it already was. You can see what the room looked like before here - when it was my old jewelry studio.



We went home, did a little research online, and then headed off to Babies R' Us. As much as I like to support local, since our families are in other states, I knew I'd have to register at stores that are available to them. Lo and behold, there was that bedding set we liked in the clearance section - half off!!! They also had the matching mobile and valance so we jumped on it! I went back to the local store for the 2 pictures, so that I could still support them. But now Jon realized he would have to paint the walls AND the trim to match the colors. It didn't matter. At least I could help with the taping. And what was most important to me was that we picked it out together - and it's gender neutral. We picked an off white for the walls, and already had the sage green for the trim that we had previously used in our foyer. He even put a fresh coat of white on the ceiling (which we already had too) and we swapped out the old dated ceiling fan with a fresh new light fixture.



I was surprised, a couple weeks later, when Jon sent me an email with a link to Craig's List. He had been looking for cribs/furniture, and a beautiful crib had popped up in our area. We went to go look at it and bought it. It's a beautiful wood, in the color we wanted, and it transforms into a day bed and then into a twin size bed (which I guess is the big trend now). My other big find was an area rug in the sage green color from Target. I thought at $39.99 it was a good deal. But while looking in the Black Friday ads, I saw it was down to $19.99! A quick price adjustment at the customer service desk was easy! Things were coming along!



We both had 2 weeks off at Christmas time, so that is when the actual painting and putting together of everything happened. Since the room previously had blinds on the window, we opted for sheers to go with the valances so that required a trip to get those and the hardware to put it all up.


The other event that happened while we were on our break, was that we had our ultrasound to find out what the gender was. I think I mentioned in a previous post that it is a boy, but probably didn't give the announcement the hoopla it deserved. I will remember that moment - and that day - forever.


So without further ado.... here is what the room looks like so far!

Of course, I can still find some peacock toys!

When we were putting the Christmas decorations away, Jon noticed these large paper mache animals I have had for years. I got them really cheap at an after Christmas sale at a store that had used them for displays, and have used them in the past for a Gingerbread setup I do once in a while at Christmas. But he suggested we use them in the nursery. I agreed, but said they needed to be painted to match the colors. So here they are before:

And after. I already had bottles upon bottles of acrylic paints, so this was a no cost project!

We are so happy with how things have turned out thus far. I love the fact that we have mixed new with old and used for a budget friendly room. (I didn't take a picture of our changing table yet, but that is an old dry sink that was my Grandma's). This is pretty much the idea of our entire home - mixing new with old. I enjoy repurposing things and owning things that have a history.

Now, we will wander into the room every so often and just look around. Jon will start up the mobile from time to time. It's all anticipation from here on in.