Floorboards and Caulk

Hands down the worst part of a project for me are the little details.

I spent yesterday on my hands and knees filling nail holes in the trim and preparing to paint. My Ikea chair (an $8.00 thrift store find) is my first and only piece of nursery furniture. The rest is still to come. I've been emptying the room slowly to get ready to start putting it all together. I can't wait to start!

Cheers!

Craigslist Score: Baby Things!

We've been tossing ideas around about how we want to deal with the sleeping arrangement once the little guy is here. Originally I thought we could just move in to the guest bedroom for a few months (it's right next door to the nursery). Then, as I was sitting in bed worrying one night I casually mentioned to Daniel that I didn't know how I was going to be able to sleep without constantly checking that he was still alive. Daniel thought it might be a good idea to room in with the baby.

Of course that lead to all other problems of logistics. Do we buy a bassinet, a pack & play, keep him in a hamper on the floor. Luckily Craigslist to the rescue!

One rainy drive and $40 later it was mine. I'm in love. It is the most quintessentially baby thing I own (besides onsies) and it is just so adorable I could die.

Did you get a bassinet? If I had to pay full price I probably would have just sucked it up and dealt with my separation anxiety but for $40 I don't mind that it will only get 4-6 months of use. 

Cheers!

Nursery Walls: This or That

Decisions, decisions... 

Do you like it better with dark walls?

Or a dark ceiling?

The dark walls contrast nicely with the floors and give a good grounded feeling to the room but... the dark ceiling would look fantastic with the brass chandelier and gold stars I was originally envisioning.

Think this room with a dark ceiling instead.

Stair Upgrade

One of my goals before the baby comes was to get my stairs painted and carpeted. Happy to say, I did it!

And I even managed it before Christmas came.

It was a bit of a bear of a project, requiring quite a bit more carpet that I expected. In total I used four 2x8 foot runners to go the whole length of the stairs.

It was the turn at the bottom that really did me in. Lots of cutting and piecing together to make it work. So worth it in the end though. The stairs stay cleaner (though I have to vacuum them now instead of sweep) and the carpet muffles our steps which will be great once the baby is here. No errant steps waking the sleeping beast!

I used the classic, staple as you go method, which is holding up quite well. The key is using as many staples as you can to hold everything nice and tight.

One project down!

Cheers!

Nursery Inspiration

Nursery planning. Probably the things I've been looking forward to most since learning that I was finally pregnant (besides, you know, the actual baby part). These are my favorites.

1. Birch and the Bird 2. Dahl House 3. The Hand Made Home 4. Elie Hails Interior 5. Woodside-Homes 

DIY Advent Calendar

Christmas is upon us! This year things are a little tight but I managed to get our Advent Calendar up and ready before the first.

I went with a simple, colorful design this year.

Each Advent is a scrap of 3" scrapbooking paper that I had, with a blank back for writing our sentimental sentiments on them. I decided against our usual advent to make things a little easier on us. Just a simple note each day. These are they types of advents I cherish the most.

Aren't the little clothespins the best?

The name of the game this Christmas is easy and fun and I think this meets those requirements. I'm still coming down from a delicious Thanksgiving with family but I'm looking forward to getting more Christmas up and out this week.

Cheers!

Sherwin Williams- Color Visualizer

Paint and I have not been friends this year. It isn't that the colors look bad, they just never seem to be exactly what I wanted. However, I will not be deterred! I have things to paint dammit! Lots of things. The stairs are my next victim.

Now that we have beautiful floors downstairs my stairs were really looking bad. And I mean BAD. 

When I painted them white I foolishly thought "but we don't wear shoes inside, they will stay clean." Obviously that was a lie. While we don't usually wear shoes inside, we do a lot of construction- which clearly leaves a lot of dirt. The scrubbing was getting old.

We finally found a runner that I liked (this one from Urban Outfitters) so the paint was all that was holding me back. Do I try to match the floor color? Do I go bold? Black? Gah! Technology to the rescue! 

If you've never used Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer tool it's a pretty simple thing. You upload a picture of the space and use the capture tools to select the bits you want colored. I started with this picture of the stairs with the runner placed on them.

Then, I used the tools to try out two colors: Caviar and Fiery Brown. I'll let you guess which was which. 

Obviously it is not something I'd hang on the wall, but it does give me a good idea on which paint color I like better. Fiery Brown reads more rustic and old world to me and Caviar is more modern. Caviar is my top choice but my mind isn't made up. 

Have you used the color visualizer? Or something like it? I feel like it would be great for big blank spaces but it would be a bit choppy around furniture and what not. I still plan on getting paint samples before biting the bullet. I just don't trust my computer screen that much.

Cheers!