Dino Boys' Room

After being in our new home for almost a year now, the boys' room is nearing completion at last! I let the boys choose the theme for their room and then created an inspiration board from there.

The only project we have left is the stenciled accent wall, which I'm hoping to tackle this week or next. I'm trying to knock out as many projects as we can before little Hadley arrives in November!

Thankfully, this weekend we were able to finish the gallery wall above their dresser!

I had already purchased the stuffed dino head and T-Rex string art from Target a few months ago. The letters for the boys' names were from their rooms in our first house and just needed repainted. So, I set my hubby up with a drop cloth and some spray paint we already had on hand and he took care of that for me!

The square photo frames were also in storage, so I just had to figure out what to put in them! I debated ordering some prints from Etsy, but the in the end, decided to attempt a little dino DIY project with some dinosaur tracks and an easy-to-draw Triceratops.

The boys loved the finished product, and the stuffed dinosaur head remains their favorite part of the whole room!

By reusing items we already had and creating a little DIY artwork, I was able to save quite a bit of money! Total amount spent for the entire gallery wall: $32! Next up is the large scale geometric accent wall. I already have the huge wall stencil, and I can't wait to share pictures of their finished room!

It's a Big Boy Room!

Planes, trains, and cars, oh my!  Blake's getting a big boy room!  When I designed his nursery, I kept everything very simple and classic.  At two years old, Blake has many things he loves, so I wanted to incorporate those into his new room.  He actually sat right beside me and helped me design this inspiration board.  He LOVES the alphabet print, clock, transportation prints, car pillow, truck night light, and roadway rug. 

 

As always, we're on a tight budget, but I think we'll be able to create a fun and functional space for our little guy who is so full of life!  And I actually convinced my hubby to take me to Ikea next week!  Woo hoo! ;)

Designer Inspired

 

I love designer fashion, jewelry, home decor, you know name it!  And then there's reality.  I'm a stay-at-home mom with two kids.  We buy diapers and wipes.  We pay for college classes and books.  We have a mortgage and a car payment.  Like most people, we live on a budget.  And, honestly, I don't think I could spend $1,000 on a purse anyway. :)  However, what I love to do is draw inspiration from high-end designers and brands.  When we found out we were expecting, I started browsing Serena and Lily, Restoration Hardware Baby and Child, and Pottery Barns Kids for ideas.  I came across this room from Serena and Lily.

 

 

 

 

I loved the navy and white stripes with the grass green accent color.  I felt like it was a great crisp, clean look that was all-boy. :)  So, I totaled the cost of the bedding for the Serena and Lily room.  Just the bedding - duvet, pillows, sheets, etc.  This price does not include any furniture or decor.  And the grand total for this look was $836.  Gorgeous, but waaay out of our budget! :)

 

 

 

 

And this is a shot of Cole's Serena and Lily inspired nursery.  For the fabric backdrop, I found this rugby stripe shower curtain at Target for $15!  I ordered the letters from an Etsy seller and painted them with Serena and Lily paint in Grass green (Serena and Lily paint sample, $6).  For the pennant banner, I ordered free fabric swatches from Serena and Lily and bought the other fabrics at Hancock for $3.  I ordered the crib sheet from Serena and Lily when they were having a 40% off Nursery event, and the crib skirt was another DIY project ($6).  For the green accent pillow, I covered a pillow I already had with an old cable-knit sweater I didn't wear anymore (FREE)!  So, the grand total for all of Cole's bedding and crib wall decor came to $97! :) 

 

 

 

 

Although I couldn't afford to order all of the items straight from Serena and Lily, I was able to create a similar look for a fraction of the cost.  I'd say our motto around here is design on a dime, but it's actually pretty on a penny! :)

 

Do you guys have any awesome tips for creating high-end looks for less?

Cole's Navy and Green Nursery

Cole is two months old today, and I'm just now sharing his nursery!  Better late than never, right? ;)  This room was done on a major budget and with the thought that we would be trying to sell our home soon.  With this in mind, we opted to paint the nursery a neutral color instead of navy blue, and also did a removable accent wall instead of painting stripes.  Of course, now that we know we'll be here a while, I'm kicking myself for not painting it navy!  Oh well, we're pretty happy with the way it turned out anyway. :) 

All photos by Brandi Hunsicker of Immeasurable Moments Photography

Like her page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/immeasurablemoments.

{THE DETAILS}

Crib - Carter's Lifetime Convertible Crib

Crib Sheet - Grass Trellis by Serena and Lily

Bed Skirt - DIY using Blake's crib skirt and adding ribbon from Hancock Fabrics as a border ($6 total)

Pennant Banner - DIY using ribbon, Serena and Lily fabric samples, and fabric form Hancock Fabrics ($4 total)

Striped Accent Wall - DIY using particle board from Lowe's cut to size ($5) covered with a Blue Rugby Stripe shower curtain from Target ($15)

Letters above Crib - Etsy seller going gaga, painted Serena and Lily's Grass Green, sample size ($6)

Brothers print - Etsy seller Nella Designs

Jesus Loves Me Print - DIY using Microsoft Publisher

Airplane - Walmart craft section ($1), hand painted

White frames - Michael's

Chevron baskets - Target

Birth announcement - Shutterfly

Paint - Benjamin Moore Silver Fox

Total Cost (not including items I reused from Blake's nursery such as the crib and rocker) - $167

Cole's Nursery Sneak Peek

So, I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I've been a little busy! ;)  I'm absolutely loving being a mommy to our little boys!  They are both just too sweet for words!  Blake turned two today, and his little personality is out in full force now!  He is such a fun, happy little guy!  Cole is six weeks old now, and is a very calm, easy-going baby who loves to sleep and eat!  These two little men bring so much joy to our lives!  I could literally write a book about how much I love my boys, but I'll stop here for now. ;)  Anyway,  I have a few pictures of the nursery from our recent photo session that I thought I'd share with you.  Brandi from Immeasurable Moments Photography (be sure to check her out) always does such an amazing job!  Needless to say, her pictures of the nursery are way better than mine, so those are the ones I'm sharing. :) 

One of the most exciting things about this project is that I spent less than $200 total on his nursery!  $167 to be exact! :)  My frugal (nice word for cheap) husband was very pleased with that fact. ;)

I'll be doing a post soon with all of the pictures and details! :)  But for now, I'm off to bed!  I need to get my rest because I'm exercising tomorrow.  After all, shopping is cardio, right? ;)

Sneak Peek

Ok, let me preface this post by saying that we are definitely not done yet!  We still have work to do, but we have made some progress, thank goodness!  We're down to two weeks until my due date, so we don't have much time left! :)  Here's a glimpse of the guest bedroom:

and here's the bookshelf on Cole's side:

Well, that's all for now, folks! ;)  Hopefully there will be more to come soon! :)

Caution: Wet Paint

The nursery has finally been painted!  My sweet sister Chelsey did all of the cutting in and Daddy and Grandpa finished the rest. :)  Blake also used his mini roller to "help" work on his little brother's nursery. ;)  Such a great helper already! :)  This is the original color, Benjamin Moore's Nantucket Fog, which we really liked.  However, it didn't go with the new scheme for Cole's nursery. :)

After much deliberation, we ended up choosing Benjamin Moore's Silver Fox:

Here are a few pictures I snapped today while the room was still torn apart. :)

Right now this bookshelf is loaded down with goodies from the shower, but this won't be the permanent decor. ;)

The paint is a wonderful "greige", and as you can tell it looks a little different in each picture.  Sometimes a little more gray, sometimes a little more beige.  Silver fox is definitely an appropriate name. :)

We love the new paint color, and I can't wait to start decorating this week! :)

Nursery Progress

So, we made some progress today on the long list of items we need to accomplish in the next 4 weeks!  We returned Cole's crib and ordered Blake's toddler bed.  We also finally made a decision and purchased paint.  We ended up deciding against the navy and going with a neutral.  I know, boring, right? ;)  But I think it will look great when it's all done!  One of the main reasons we decided to go neutral is that we plan on putting our house up for sale in August, and thought the neutral would be more appealing to potential buyers than navy.  Also, the nursery is not a huge room, so the dark paint would have made it appear even smaller.  Anyway, once we decided to go neutral, I browsed some of my favorite neutral nurseries for some color inspiration.  I finally narrowed it down to four choices:

(Benjamin Moore Pashmina)

(Benjamin Moore Silver Fox)

(Behr Wheat Bread)

(Benjamin Moore Sailcloth)

(All photos courtesy of projectnursery.com)

Which one is your favorite? :)

My wonderful sister, Chelsey, is coming in tomorrow to visit and is going to help Josh paint the nursery!  I can't wait!  Hopefully I'll have a few pictures to share by Saturday! :)

Nursery Update

So, we haven't made nearly as much progress with the nursery as I would have liked at this point.  However, on the plus side, the three of us have been enjoying great quality time together, which we really needed! :)  We've made some changes to the original plan for the nursery.  The original crib I ordered, seen below, is being returned.

 

Instead, Cole will be using Blake's crib and Blake will be getting a matching toddler bed.  Cole gets a much nicer crib, Blake gets a big boy bed, and their beds will match if they ever have to share a room. ;) 

Josh and I felt good about this decision, but it raised another question.  Should we still paint the nursery navy?  I'd say about ninety percent of all the navy nurseries I've seen have white furniture.  Thus, the never-ending paint dilemna continued.  But, alas, we have finally decided on a paint color, and painting will commence this weekend.  Hallelujah! :)  I'm going to leave the rest of the plans a secret for the moment, but I will say the paint color will be one of these three:

I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow, and my mom is coming over to watch Blake for me.  When I get home, we'll be working on sorting, organizing, and setting up Cole's closet.  And as soon as I have pictures, you'll see them right here! :)

Breaking Free

Yesterday I put together this collage for my facebook page.  Notice a theme? :) 

As you can tell, I like blues, browns, and neutrals.  Maybe a little too much! ;)  And although some may say the "brown and blue" fad has passed, I still love the color scheme.  Always have, probably always will. :)  However, I am determined to break free from my addiction as I decorate Cole's nursery! ;)  I just keep looking at pictures of great navy spaces to bolster my courage, like this one from Rikshaw Design:  http://rikshawdesign.blogspot.com/2011/06/rikshaw-navy-nursery.html

I think I can, I think I can! ;)

Thursday's Featured Nursery

This nursery is perfect for a little boy, and will be so easy to transition to a toddler room and even a big boy room!  I love the striped accent wall, the subtle transportation theme, and the color scheme!  Perfection! :)

For more pictures and details, visit: http://projectnursery.com/projects/connors-nursery/.

 

Thursday's Featured Nursery

I love this adorable nursery with a subtle transportation theme...and so does Blake!  He's pointing and yelling "CAR" when I found these pictures earlier tonight. :)  I guess we know what to do when I redecorate his room. ;)  There are a ton of budget-friendly DIY projects in this room, including the gallery wall of transportation art from istockphoto hung in inexpensive Ikea frames.

But my favorite project has to be the wainscotting, which is actually just strips of plain MDF topped with casing, nailed and glued to the wall and then painted white.  It's an inexpensive way to add an expensive, custom look to the room.  What a great idea!  Now if I can convince Josh to try it in Cole's nursery...I mean, wouldn't it look amazing with the navy walls? ;)

For more images and details, check out Janette Droust at http://janette.drost.ca/2012/03/calebs-nursery/.

Wednesday's Featured Space

I love this room!  It's simple, classic, and perfect for a little boy!  And it's definitely confirmed my love of the navy/green color coimbination.  That and the hubby deciding that he doesn't like aqua for Cole's room.  At least one of us can make decisions. ;) 

For more pictures and details, visit: http://projectnursery.com/projects/blue-and-green-big-boy-room/.

Aqua vs. Navy

I am terribly indecisive.  I'll openly admit it. :)  My husband says I "think everything to death."  Well, that's one way to put it, but I prefer to think of it as being thorough. ;)  Anyway, painting the navy sample in Cole's nursery has made me even more indecisive.  Now I'm wondering if we should paint the room a muted aqua.  I love, love the color and it goes well with the green I plan on using.  So now, the question is whether to do the nursery in aqua and green or navy and green.  I'm hoping you all can help this crazy lady decide! ;)

Aqua and Green

VS.

Navy and Green

May the best color win! ;)

Monday's Featured Nursery

I love everything about this clean, classic nursery for a little boy! :)  However, it's making me have major second thoughts about painting Cole's room navy.  Oh, well, I love it anyway!

For more pictures and details, visit: http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Nurseries/Baby-Js-Nursery/detail.esi?oid=13994398.