We've put in some serious hours in the nursery progress department recently. My parents recently came into town and per the usual, the days flew by. My Mom was here to attend my shower (which rocked) and my Dad decided to come along for the ride too, awesome! My parents were also game for helping us with anything we needed. What was on our to-do list this week? Nursery progress! So we all pushed back our shirt sleeves, did some serious shopping trips and got to work. Here's where we are now!
PS - I obviously need to clean the lens on my point and shoot. Please excuse all the small white dots all over these pics...heading to clean it asap!
Recent Nursery Decor Purchases:
IKEA
6 white frames (will go above green bin bookshelf)
Blue glider throw
Grey pillow in glider
Sheepskin throw for ottoman
Fabric covering for large canvas/art over crib
Window panels/curtains
Floor rug
Organizational baskets on either side of changing table
Large stainless laundry basket (between crib and desk/changing table)
Bed, Bath and Beyond
Two black storage ottomans (look below, my Mom is sitting on them)
Closet organization system (more on that in a later post)
Crate & Barrel Outlet
Green bins for low lying bookshelf
Pottery Barn Outlet
Organic crib sheets
Restoration Hardware Outlet
Crib skirt
Yes, we have a billion unfinished projects in each of these pics (more on that later) but let me remind you with some before pics of just how far we've come in only a few short days. When we last chatted HERE, the room was looking about like this:
After the paint totally dried from our chevron projects, Walt moved some of his furniture from our garage up to his room which was totally exciting! It was nice to finally see furniture in his lil' man space and just imagine where we'd go from here!
You already know that massive deal we got on our Restoration Hardware crib HERE, but I'll take some time to explain some of the other pieces too. Starting from the top picture, you see a low lying bookshelf that will totally be a perfect height for our little man. HERE'S the info on the low lying shelf and I think we paid about $3 for it. The floor lamp and desk were freebies that we mentioned HERE from our bulk pickup roundup in our neighborhood.
What else? That sweet wooden stool underneath our desk/changing table was actually given to us for free from the guy we bought Walt's bankers chair from...score! More on Walt's before/after bankers chair post HERE. As for that massive painting above his crib, that was from our own personal collection and used to hang on the wall in my home office HERE.
The glider we scored (brand new) on Craigslist for $200. It was listed for $250 and when we saw it, we knew we wanted it. I brought only $200 in cash with me, knowing that was our budget for our glider. It's the Little Castle Cottage SS Glider that retails for about $650, just for the glider...woah! Add $200 for the ottoman and we're way out of our budget. So we were happy to spy it on Craigslist (it was brand new because a home stager used it) and even offer $200 and have the furniture warehouse accept our offer. SCORE...a $950 brand new glider for $200, yes please!
So moving along, I'll be sure to tell you what grand plans we have for many of these pieces as we progress with the nursery. Oh and as for those plastic black bins on the low lying bookshelf...we were just trying to figure out what size basket/organizational component we wanted. Well, one trip to Crate & Barrel Outlet and we found those great bright green bins that will be much more durable than most baskets.
So my parents are awesome DIY doers just like us. You've seen them tackle their tiled kitchen back-splash HERE and they're always doing some new home project that always impresses us. It was awesome to have their help but the one thing I learned quickly was that my Dad and Walt are so efficient and work so quickly that I barely got a picture snapped. Note to self: make them slow down next time so I can have an accurate tutorial, ha! Read on to take a peek at some of the DIY projects my parents helped us tackle in 72 hours.
Creating the Perfect Fit for His Bright Green Bin/Low Lying Shelf:
When we first put all lil' bubs green C&B bins onto his shelf, it wasn't a perfect fit. Boo hoo is right because we thought we measured perfectly but we forgot that there was some overhang where the piece connected at the hinges. My Dad and Walt quickly realized they could cut off the ends of the middle shelf that hangs over (look at the image above, you'll see) and then the big bins would be a perfectly tight fit. They took the shelf apart, cut off the ends, used some nail glue to reattach/fix one of the braces and voila, we have a perfectly fitted and almost custom looking toy bin shelf for our lil' man!
Taking the shelf apart!
Bins and stuff everywhere!
The ends have been cut off for a super close fit...fingers crossed!
Using wood glue and nails to make sure one of the braces is solid.
Tah-dah! So proud of the after, it looks WORLDS better!
Repainting the Floor Lamp:
Annnnnnd, my Mom is the cutest, ha! The bright blue floor lamp just wasn't doing it for me/for us. We had some silver spray paint in the garage so my Mom volunteered to give that piece a new coat. Oh my gosh, it's so amazing what a new color palette did for the lamp. It no longer screamed BLUE, but blended in beautifully with the other decor.
Hanging Curtains:
My Dad and Walt also hung our curtain hardware which is always a huge help. I hate the job of being his assistant (even though he's really good to me) so it was awesome to show them where it should hang and literally come back minutes later with a perfectly hung curtain rod. LOVE IT! We put on our new IKEA curtains and the room really was starting to come together at that point.
And of course, no post would be complete without showing how much lovin' our lil' hairy angel gets from her Mimi and Papa. There is no deficit of puppy kisses when this duo is around, they love our furry baby.
PS - Also check out the side of our changing table/desk now. Walt and my Dad added these awesome and industrial looking organizational baskets that I grabbed at IKEA to each side. Oh how I love to be organized!
So are you wondering what's left to do on our to-do list? Well, here's an idea of where we're at and what we need to get done in the next week/this weekend:
1 - Hang the six IKEA white frames above the low lying book shelf with bright green bins.
2 - Add either shelves or a side table option to the left hand side of the glider/ottoman.
3 - Purchase this awesome cow print from IKEA when they get their new truck-load in next week.
4 - Iron/wrap/secure (maybe staple) the brown and cream IKEA fabric around large canvas that sits above the crib...can't wait to see that done! That'll be a quickie!
5 - Hem the bottom of the IKEA curtain panels.
6 - Add some sort of black out shade.
Phew, I'm tired after just reading this! We'll keep you posted on the progress and we know this is a rough update as so much is still unfinished, but we want to remind you that not everything is picture perfect over here at CasaCullen. We like to share the in-between phases too before we unveil the final pics. Truly, I think this is going to be such a work in progress that we'll be updating his nursery for years to come. Stay tuned and leave a comment on any great hints/tricks you have for nursery decor ideas, etc!
