The Nursery

The fun thing about setting up the nursery is that the pregnancy becomes more of a reality.  It's finally a physical acknowledgement that this baby is coming (other than the big 'ol belly)! Plus it's heartwarming to watch the hubs put together furniture :)

We wanted to go neutral with our nursery, and we also wanted it to stay in the theme of the rest of our house.  Some nursery designs scream 'BABY!!!!!' and that just wasn't our style (although I've seen some SUPER CUTE ones).  We kept it neutral for two reasons: 1) we didn't know the babe's gender, and 2) we wanted to be able to use it for a future baby OR to grow with the babe as they got older.

The hardest part was picking out the wall color.  You can't imagine how many grey options there are!! We narrowed it to 4 and purchased $2 test tubs from Lowes.  I painted test patches around the room to see how they looked in different lights.  Some grey is blue, some looks more green, some end up looking beige, and some turn a room into a cave...  

We settled on Dorian Gray - the 3rd one down.  The irony of using Dorian Gray in a baby's room was not lost on us. It wasn't too dark, and didn't seem blue or green to us.  We used a no-VOC paint so there wouldn't be fumes. We also ran two HEPA filter fans for 48 hours to get rid of any non-baby friendly air. It never smelled like a freshly painted room - that was good peace of mind.

Our nursery is technically an office, so it has french doors that we leave wide open (except for naps and bedtime).  Here's the right side of the room (there's a closet behind that door):

...and here's the left!

Here's a full view of the nursery (with notes below)

1) There is a beautiful ink drawing by my sister, and lots of pictures to help learn family members

2) Custom artwork I made that chronicles all of the special places to me and the hubs

3) A clock that can be seen from the chair - to time feedings

4) A stylebabyLOG book to track feedings/diapers

5) A custom Bumbo cover to match the room (also a HEPA filter fan stayed in the room)

6) A lamp who's base lights up as a nightlight (don't want to turn on the overhead light for night feeds)

7) 2 hampers and a trash can hidden in a corner

8) mom & dad looking over a sleeping baby :)

9) a mini-crib to take up less space - converts into a toddler bed and a headboard (hooray for multipurpose!)

10) hidden burp cloth stash and bottles of water

11) amazing chair referenced in this post

12) Boppy with homemade cover to match

13) rug that will be comfortable when the babe starts crawling around (also hides stains)

And yes, we have a TV in the nursery.  It was helpful for those hours-on-end sessions when the babe just didn't want to be alone.  It's also nice to have something on in the background when we're playing on the floor.

We figure the dresser, the TV/book stand, the rug, curtains, and the shelves can be used well into teenage years (or sent to other rooms in the house).

DIY tutorials coming soon on the custom pieces!!

What is your favorite part of your nursery? Do you have any super-personal touches?