baby girl nursery inspiration

My streak continues! This past weekend we headed to our friends' baby gender reveal party... And, once again, my guess was wrong... They will be welcoming a baby girl in July! I'm absolutely thrilled for them, and can't wait to add another little girl to our growing play group.

I actually pulled together these baby girl nursery ideas last week, but the days got away from me and I never posted it. So as part two of baby boy nursery inspiration, I'm back with two nursery ideas for baby girl W.

There are just so many options for little girls, and I was torn between this gray, lavender & white room with pops of coral pink:

1. White curtain panels with coral pink pom pom trim

2. Owl baby mobile for over the crib

3. Babyletto Mercer crib

4. Set of alphabet & number prints (with adorable owls for O's!)

5. Lilac & coral pink ikat fabric for crib skirt

6. Owl lamp

7. Stamped Scallop rug in gray

8. White & gold dipped leg side table or dresser

{DIY project inspiration here}

Background: Benjamin Moore misty lilac paint for walls

 

And this fun, bright pink & orange room with tons of DIY project ideas:

 

 

 1. White floating shelves
{DIY project inspiration here}

2. Pink ombre felt-wrapped letters for over the dresser

{DIY project inspiration here}

3. Jenny Lind crib

4. Pink & orange ikat fabric for crib skirt & roman shade

{even more budget-friendly chevron print here}

5. Off-white rocker/ glider, found on Craigslist

6. Pink chevron rug

{DIY project inspiration here & here}

7. Orange monogram throw pillow

{DIY monogram inspiration here}

8. Orange lamp

Background: Benjamin Moore Love & Happiness paint (in stripes) for walls

 

Which one gets your vote?

baby boy nursery inspiration

Dear friends of ours are expecting their first baby in July.  They find out this weekend whether their baby W will be a he or a she!  In the meantime, I couldn't resist pulling together a few nursery inspiration boards.

I have a feeling that they'll be welcoming a little bambino, so I'm starting off with a baby boy nursery board.  (Although in full disclosure, I've been wrong on my baby gender guesses about 90% of the time, including my own!)

Outside of the crib & rug, this entire board is thrifted or DIY... Proof that a chic nursery doesn't have to break the budget!

Here is baby boy W's vintage car inspired nursery...

1. Set of framed vintage car prints for over the crib

{found on Etsy for $75, but I scored a set of 6 prints without frames at a yard sale for $0.50!}

2. Baby Mod ParkLane crib

3. Navy buffalo check fabric for crib skirt & roman shade

{DIY projects from here & here} 

4. Peg board for over dresser to hold diapers, spraypainted a fun color

5. Area rug, found at Home Goods

6. Vintage car club throw pillow 

7. Benjamin Moore Sea Salt CSP-95 for the wall color

 8. Leather rocker/ glider, found on Craigslist



new pillows

I was so excited that our new pillow covers for the living room arrived this weekend!  These new editions marked the second time I worked with Lauren at labdesigns.  She has an incredible Etsy shop and was so easy to work with, even with my custom requests.  The pillow covers are great quality and the best prices I've found for Schumacher fabrics!

I ordered two custom 20 inch pillow covers in Schumacher Betwixt fabric (in the water colorway) and couldn't be happier with the texture and color.  I also ordered one 18 inch pillow cover in Schumacher Imperial Trellis fabric (in the citrine colorway).

Before:

 After:

I feel like the new pillows give the room a more sophisticated and complete feel.  Can't wait to get the painted campaign dresser in here to finish our latest updates.  In the meantime, be sure to check out Lauren's shop!

the purple couch returns

One of our to-do list items for this weekend was to move the purple sofa out of the back bedroom.  This sofa has been shuffled around our house, listed on Craigslist and been the topic of much design discussion.

Bottom line:  I'm going back to my previous thought to include it in our sunroom.  Jeff & I set a goal to have the back bedroom cleaned out by this winter, as part of our overall goal to declutter the house.  And this room has plenty to declutter... The purple couch, campaign dresser, bookshelf, tv stand, dual recliner... basically everything but a bed.

Whether the sofa stays in the sunroom or gets listed on Craigslist for the third fourth time is to be decided. While we decide, I'm absolutely loving this inspiration for a purple & coral color palette...

{via}

If I go this route, I'm thinking a bright coral for the back of our bookshelf....

{Emily Clark}

{Little Green Notebook}

And some pretty pillows in a coral ikat pattern, like one of these...

{via}

{via}

For now (learning from my past mistakes), I'm just going to live awhile with the purple sofa. Do you want it for your house? What do you think?  Purple sofa for the sunroom or Craigslist?

*Update: Vote in our poll on what you think we should do with our purple sofa!

dresser as a tv console?

Once I get an idea in my head, there is usually no turning back (much to Jeff's disappointment).  Lately I've been obsessed with using a pretty dresser as a tv console.

Because let's face it, there is not much attractive about a tv stand.

But using a beautiful dresser?  Much better...

{via}

{via}

{via}

{via}

{via}

I also love that the dresser would add valuable storage for toys and other odd & ends once we have some wee whittakers in the picture.  But for now, I think I'm already sold... And making plans to paint our $25 campaign dresser this weekend for it's upgrade to the living room!

What do you think? Would you use a dresser for your tv console? Or do you like the dedicated space for equipment in a tv stand?

Considering...

A few months ago, I picked up this campaign dresser for $25 at our local Goodwill.  Not bad for a full-size dresser and considering that a refinished campaign dresser was recently listed on our local Craigslist for $300!

It's in need of some love, so I planned to give it a coat of paint and call it a day.  Similar to these...

{images via Lonny}

{source unknown}

But I've done painted furniture before (best instructions I've found for painting coming soon!)  And for some reason, I'm feeling a little over the painted campaign dresser.  So I'm considering going a different way...

{via Bryn}

{via Mr. Goodwill Hunting}

Surprisingly, I'm leaning towards staining the dresser a dark shade.  I wonder how difficult it would be to sand down and restain the dresser myself... Has anyone tried this before?  Any tips to share?

Two Weekend De-Clutter

Last weekend, I started the de-cluttering process by cleaning out my closet, dresser, and guest room closet (which was packed to the gills!)  With two huge boxes filled already, I hit the kitchen this weekend… I briefly considered having another yard sale, since we had so much.  But quickly realized many of the items were ones that didn't sell at our last sale in September (why did I bring those back inside?!)

So I packed up an entire car full (literally... including the trunk) and headed to Goodwill.  Needless to say, getting rid of it all felt great!

But what felt even better was moving out a few big pieces… Remember the china cabinet with kitchen items in our guest bedroom?  It found a new home at my in-law’s lake house, along with the yellow carpet that was in the same room.

I honestly really liked the china cabinet, but it was so out of place in a bedroom!  Especially given the fact that everything fit into the kitchen, with a little scaling down and sorting out.

By moving out the yellow carpet (purchased a few years ago at Habitat), we finally have a spot for the 8x11 rug that used to be in our living room! Yep, that baby has been rolled up and stashed in the corner of our bedroom for almost a year… True hoarder style.

With every room, I used the 'one-year' rule... If we hadn't worn/used/thought about the item in one year, it went!  All of the clearing out also got me thinking about 'cleaner' looking rooms... So stay tuned for a quick guest bathroom makeover (and paint job!)

Whew! Now on to the week… Hopefully picking out a paint color for the sunroom and getting at least a coat done one evening after work.

Pure Goodness

It was like a Valentine's Day gift from the blog universe... I literally just posted my rant & rave about coming up short in my search for a campaign chest.  Then I hit the thrift stores this weekend and...

Hello gorgeous!  Well, actually not so gorgeous now... But just oozing with potential!  Currently living in our kitchen, the hubby said to me at dinner last night:  "You do such a good job making the house look nice, but can you remind me why you bought that ugly dresser?"  Clearly, he is asking for a post on campaign dresser inspiration...

This piece was actually being used to store items in a thrift shop and didn't even have a price on it... So I asked the owner if she would consider selling it, then talked her down $15 from the original price!

I also picked up this lamp at the Sleepy Poet, on sale for $30!

I originally planned to paint it a fun color, but I am completely re-thinking that now.  I kind of like the gold and aqua accents... What do you think?

Definitely a fun weekend for finds!  Cannot wait to get started on that campaign chest...

A Rant & Rave...

To the person who snagged the FREE campaign chest off Craigslist before me... I hope you stub your toe on it... every.single.day.

I'm just kidding (kind of)... But I do find campaign furniture to be incredibly elusive.  I have been searching for a full-size dresser or small chest (like the free one from this week) for literally the past 6 months!

I have emailed 3 different Craigslist finds, only to have the item already sold each time... So tell me, how do I find one of these puppies?!  In blog land, it seems like everyone has found one (at a great price too)...

Bryn found this dresser on Craigslist for $50

Jessie also found her dresser on Craigslist... with matching nightstands! (check out the 'after' too)

And there's Jenny's amazing campaign dresser find (also CL) for $60

And now Mr. Goodwill Hunting has done an entire round-up post on all the bloggers with campaign dressers and chests... Including his own find.

I don't know if I can take it anymore... Oh and if you help me find one, I will love you more than my husband forever.

Super Size Me

We have a plan for Ellie's bed underway... But are somehow reconsidering the plan for our bed now too!  When we first were married, I put a ban on the king-size bed that literally took up the entire master bedroom.  But, in typical Catherine fashion, I'm reconsidering it. 

Pro's:
- Great reason to redecorate!
- Enough room for a particular spoiled pup who doesn't actually use her own bed at night
- Would be a little too large for our room now, but would hopefully be the right size in our next house

Con's:
- I love our current duvet cover, in Barbara Barry's Poetical (but it is a queen size)
- Would most likely have to move the smaller dresser into our room (and put the larger in the guest room)
- Would be a little too large for our room now, but would hopefully be the right size in our next house

As I deliberate, I can't help but brainstorm a few ideas for the king size room...

Any thoughts on queen versus king size beds?  Does anyone know if a queen size duvet would be at all workable on a king size bed?

YHL Kick

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been trying to make all our rooms feel fresh, uncluttered, and bright.  I'm calling it my Young House Love kick.

The guest bedroom couldn't escape.  With most of our immediate family in town, the room doesn't get much use... Making it the prime spot for us to throw things when we don't have a place for them right away. 

Example:  Jeff's younger sister came by a few weeks ago to browse through our expanding Goodwill pile.  She left with a side table, a nightstand, a set of curtains, 3 throw pillows, a wall clock, and an area rug.  All of which had taken over any available floor space in the room.  We are so thankful she has a place for everything in her college house this year!  (Although seeing it all loaded up made me feel slightly like a hoarder)

With the room cleaned out, we were able to get the space ready for our guests... Notice the beverage cart from the kitchen is now a nightstand.  Jeff is slowly getting used to my love for moving things around.  I kind of like the look in here, and the cart was too much for the small space in our kitchen.

This room is full of hand-me-down furniture... The bed is from Jeff's parents, the duvet set is mine from before we were married, and the beverage cart & lamp are from each set of my grandparents.

I love Amy's thoughts on keeping a guest room uncluttered.  Unfortunately, we have storage issues in the house and use this china hutch (also from Jeff's parents) to help us store our fine china and serving pieces.  I try to keep it as easy on the eyes as possible, since it has to be in the room.

Finally we have Jeff's old dresser in the room for out of season clothing storage as well as kitchen towels, place mats, etc.  I absolutely love this dresser, and I really hope to have it refinished one day.

You can notice our skinny, high windows here... We're hoping they'll go when we eventually remodel the front of the house.  I'm waiting until then to add some curtains to the room as well.

So now you've seen almost every room in our house... well, how they look for now at least!

Bedroom, part 1

It started out as painting 2 pieces of furniture, then turned into rearranging the room, then turned into spring cleaning, then turned into new spring bedding... And now we have a new look for our bedroom!

So to start from the beginning, I originally planned to paint our Ikea 3 drawer nightstand...

  With this as my inspiration, one of the best Ikea hacks out there...




I left the dark wood as is and just painted the fronts of the drawers Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace. I also used that color to paint our old yellow desk/nightstand.



I painted both pieces following these instructions from Bryn (if you have any furniture painting projects coming up, definitely check these out). I used a few different products, but most importantly ended up wiping on the poly, instead of using a foam brush, to avoid any brush marks.

Here are the finished products... The Ikea dresser is still missing these brass ring pulls, ordered this week (note that there is a 12 order minimum, so please let me know if you're interested in the 6 extra)


For the desk, I bought brass cleaner at the grocery store to attempt to polish up the hardware. It's not great, but I kind of like how it contributes to the look.

To File for the Future

I'm going to chalk it up to all the new or expecting mothers on my favorite blogs… But lately I have been seriously diggin’ some nursery designs. I love it when rooms don’t have a distinctive ‘hey a kid lives here’ look… No thank you to a matching set of pink, flowered, child-sized furniture.

So needless to say, I’ve been loving these rooms.

{image via ?}

This room is so sweet for a little girl, but it avoids being overly 'cutesy.' Don't you love the floor-to-ceiling chalkboard in the narrow hall? And, of course, the bed and chandelier.

 

{image via Angie Hranowsky}

A lot of the rooms use neutral wall colors, and avoid pastel pink and blue for the color scheme... I love the window treatments in this one. Plus the daybed with the cribe (you can just see it in the corner here, but it is beautiful and functional)

{image via Martha Stewart Living}

I've seen a ton of vintage prints like these airplanes, and love the idea! They are usually pretty affordable, especially the ones on Etsy. (on another note, definitely check out the entire NYC apartment at the Martha Stewart link... proof that kid-friendly is still stylish)

{images via Desire to Inspire}

The boys' room is one of my favorites, because of all the bold pieces of furniture along with the little table.

{images via The Estate of Things> & design by Rhoney Design}

Love this nursery! I am especially loving the use of a vintage dresser for a changing table. Then it can be reused in the room, as the little one gets older.

Erika's nursery on Urban Grace has a similar look with a table repurposed from her dining room... Definitely a must to check out! The colors and fabric for the crib are stunning. I could keep raving about every detail in this one, so be sure to take a look.

Disclaimer: To my mom, this post is in no way an indication of announcements to come.