Wow. I really stressed myself out on this room but I'm so happy with the way everything turned out. It's a good mix of do-it-yourself projects, Craigslist steals, sentimental items, a few splurges and gifts from grandparents. The room was pretty much empty until I was 8 months pregnant. I probably won't ever do that again, but I didn't have much of an option this time around and look, everything still came together (that was me reminding myself it all worked out)!
There are a few things I kept in mind when brainstorming-
1. Budget friendly... I mean, Sean's in school and now I'm a stay-at-home mom so that's a no brainer. I combined coupons and waited for deals so even on full price items, I was able to get lots of discounts!
2. Gender neutral, but boyish, but simple (okay, that was like 5 points). I didn't want lots of loud colors. I knew the whole family would be in here more than any other room after he came and I wanted it to be sweet and relaxing. I also wanted to keep it gender neutral just in case another baby makes an appearance before we have to sell this home.
Crib was easy. I knew what crib I wanted and that's the first thing we ordered. My mom made the amazing swiss cross quilt! This helped me plan the room's color scheme. The animal and velvet pillows were other things I found early on. My mother-in-law gifted us with the darling mobile from Restoration Hardware. The rocking sheep is from Pottery Barn but I found it for a steal on Craigslist. I ordered black dot labels from Amazon and stuck them sporadically on the wall. Christian loves looking at them as he falls asleep for his naps. And I'm sure when he's able to stand up in his crib, he will try picking them off the wall.
I found the mid century dresser (and lamp) online at an estate sale for a serious steal. Yes, we bought dead people furniture and it was the perfect addition! At 8 months pregnant I SCRUBBED the insides of that dresser down with vinegar and then put it in the sun with baking soda in each drawer for 24 hours and then did that whole process again. I lined the drawers with liners and organized them with Ikea bins. We had a small amount of space to work with and I didn't see the point in spending $100 on a changing table when I needed it to double as some solid storage. I wanted a place to put extra diapers, binkies and all those baby odds and ends.
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Sean and I both love to travel and we hope Christian will love to, too! I wanted a map in his bedroom and I found this one on Amazon but I knew it needed a little something more so I cut and stained some wood panels and glued those to the top and bottom and then hung the final product on the wall with some black and white baker's twine.
Another really easy DIY project to help personalize his room was this C poster. I made it on my computer, sent it in to Costco and put it in an inexpensive Ikea frame. Voila!
Sean and I both love to travel and we hope Christian will love to, too! I wanted a map in his bedroom and I found this one on Amazon but I knew it needed a little something more so I cut and stained some wood panels and glued those to the top and bottom and then hung the final product on the wall with some black and white baker's twine.
Another really easy DIY project to help personalize his room was this C poster. I made it on my computer, sent it in to Costco and put it in an inexpensive Ikea frame. Voila!
The rocking chair was another generous grandparent gift! The bookshelves were the first thing I hung up in the room. I purchased books that looked boyish and went with the room. Have I mentioned I'm an OCD mess and even more so when I'm pregnant? I don't want to talk about it. I bought a couple books from Barnes and Nobles but most are from seriously the best website ever, thriftbooks.com. If you don't know about it, find out quick. It's the best (hint: cheap books and always free shipping). And of course because I'm a former elementary school teacher I already had about a gazillion more books that I now have stored in his closet. I loved unpacking them out of the boxes that my former students had labeled for me and knowing that now my own kids could read them.
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This is a print my mom painted with watercolors and it's hanging by his bedroom door. Sweetest quote and painting!
The closet is nothing fancy, but I did rediscover my love for bins and shelves! My mom also created some closet dividers for his clothes which are a huge help!
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crib | animal pillow | velvet pillow | rabbit pillow | bookshelves | black circle labels | map | mobile | (similar) animal rocker | books | dresser bins | closet shelf | closet buckets | closet dividers
DIY Projects: letter art, map, quilt (my mom), mountain print (my mom), crib sheets (my mom)
Thrifted: mid century dresser, mid century lamp, rocking sheep
Gifted: glider, ukulele, mountain prints, cross quilt, sheets
I love having Christian's little space all finished. We spend a whole lot of time in here so I'm glad I kept it bright and simple!
I really enjoyed the tour again of this beautiful room! Very clever with the map, love it all! At first I was a little disappointed with no bright colors for your little boy but this is better. He goes to his bedroom to sleep. Goodness know there are enough bright colors in their toys!
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