July 15th, 2011 @ 9:53am
First of all, if you missed my first three posts, make sure you catch up! This adventure has been a blast taking care of getting the old purple playroom into something that is more suitable for a newborn baby boy. I would first like to thank Chase for creating a campaign that allowed us three bloggers to take $2000 and budget it into the baby room.
Now on with the show!
Here is the room PRIOR to the makeover. It was Charlottes play room and was done in purple and hand painted murals (that I did) and of course, an abundance of toys…
I have left you with many, many questions. From chair rail to murals, which route did I go? I think showing is better than telling.
So TADA!!!!!!!!!!
My Baby Boy Beach Nursery
Is that a makeover or WHAT!~
Now let me break it down for you.
I changed the nursery first by finding the crib. Once I had a crib to center the room around, I found custom made beach bedding which set the colors and tone of where I wanted to go, which prompted a painting match. Next, I found the surfboard fan, which I was afraid would change the entire feel of the room, but has actually been a very welcome piece that keeps the room cool and brings in a wooden element.
From there it was about incorporating some elements that would bring the room more personalization. I had this vision in my head of huge pictures the baby would see when he woke up (of family) and took some pictures and had them framed in large black and whites in the wainscoting-esque frames. Then I added open shadow box shelves and started shopping and collecting seashells and other trinkets from the local area. It was very important to me to have some artisan work from our own coastline artists, so I used the “Pensacola Pelican”, which is an icon around here, some glass pieces from the beach shops, and even a beach car that I got right at a gas station.
Now the palm tree picture on the dresser is actually from Mexico. That was all finger painting if you can believe it!
I also picked up items that you can’t see very well like a seashell nightlight and pewter covers for the light switches that are engraved with beach life.
Originally I had picked up that rug randomly trying to break up some of the beige in the room and once I got it in I was unsure….I decided to keep it and feel the room out and once the mural was on the wall, I just really loved the way it all came together. Last but not least, I added a baby hamper and a small storage and sitting bench where I could put toys, stuffed animals, or right now before he can reach it, baby supplies and shoes.
Chase
I had originally planned a beach theme, a beach theme that included soft sands, and soft walls, and white furniture, and I am still going that way. But I keep finding adorable items that end up more on the “tiki” or “surf theme” and while they both include water, they totally clash.
Lets start with the crib.
We finally got that crib up. Happily, the crib was the easiest thing I had to do! Even though I went with a white crib which can traditionally be thought of for a girl, I love how the lines on it are all straight across which give it more of a masculine feel. My daughters crib was all fancy and curvy, and also white, but they are so different that it still works for me and this theme.
This crib is in Vanilla and you can see that I have laid in my starfish bedding and organic cotton sheets. My only disappointment was that as much as I liked the crib, and liked the bedding, they dont seem to go together. You cant see the lovely ruffles on the bottom of the bedding set, but they seem to make a great hiding place for the cats!
Also, my daughter Charlotte has started to get into the game and surprised me with a few additions of her own on the walls, including this seahorse I found taped in the room today.
I do believe I will frame it for his room from his big sister.
Now with the walls, going from that dark purple mural to blue was quite a treat. It made my daughter cringe a bit since this was her playroom, but ultimately I do believe I achieved a beautiful wall color that is pleasant to the eye, not too soft, but also dark enough to feel like the ocean.
My thoughts from here were to put wainscoting on the walls and really give it a finished look, but would you know after buying $200 in wainscoting and chair rail, driving it home w/ the hatch up on my truck, and dragging it up the stairs, and I thought iw as far too stark next to the white furniture?
So of course down the stairs, back to the truck, back to the store.
And back to square one. My new thoughts now are to perhaps get a mural. I just emailed them today to find out how long it would take to ship, but I do believe it might really finish the room behind the crib.
Right now I am considering this “Florida Skies” mural, which I believe may compliment the color and theme of the room and also give the baby something soft to look at when he wakes up:
If for some reason that would take a few months and I cant get it in time (can you believe the baby will be here in 12 weeks? EEK!), my back up plan is paint a stripe around the room to separate the top and bottom, so thats also still a possibility.
I have looked at a ton of “wave” rub ons and even sayings like this one I found, but overall making a commitment has been so hard!
One commitment I have made that I do love however is my glider. I didn’t get that with Charlotte, so I wanted to make sure I had a place to rock the baby for the middle of the night feedings. I absolutely fell in love with this Glider in this soft cream and matching ottoman, where I can rock or kick my feet up. It just feels so lush and when I sit on it I can almost imagine looking out over the Ocean.
Come to think of it, that reminds me, I totally have to find some ocean sounds to play!
From this point forward, what I have to do is decide between a mural or stripes, or even leaving those blue walls the way they are. I have to get in some of my left over furniture like Charlotte’s old nursery dresser and start fixing up some shelves. I also need to clean out the excess toys from the closet and figure out some real storage.
In short…I have to do everything still!
