And then comes baby...

Before even knowing the sex of our expected baby, I knew I wanted a gender neutral palette for the nursery. Currently I am obsessed with gray and yellow so naturally those were the colors I wanted to do. I was recently introduced to Pinterest so that was where I started my inspiration for the nursery. I have approached this room differently than I did the rest of my house since I have never decorated a nursery nor do I have any furniture for a nursery so it was like a blank slate. This room is also different in that I actually did a drawing of my ideas and as I collect paint colors and whatnot I plan to put together a design board as if I were presenting the design of the room to myself. It actually has proved quite useful for organizing my design ideas and execution. My first project has been to get what I deem the three major furniture items necessary for the nursery: a crib, a dresser/changing table, a rocking chair. Furniture shopping is the most stressful thing I find about decorating because it can be so expensive and so hard to find exactly what you want. Due to this fact the furniture shopping portion of my decorating seems to take months of searching, shopping and agonizing over different choices. After purchasing a relatively inexpensive yet stylish crib and seeing nothing but very expensive choices for the dresser and chair I decided to find thrift store items and make them exactly what I wanted. I have found that with some time and elbow grease this option is exactly how people on a budget, aka real life, need to decorate. Now this did mean countless trips to multiple Goodwills, other thrift stores and trolling Craigslist until I finally found both a chair and a dresser that met my needs but I will now have exactly what I wanted for the space and for a fraction of the cost.

My first find that has actually been completed is the dresser/changing table. This was a lucky find as I have found that dressers in decent condition are hard to find at the Goodwill and are still a bit pricey on Craigslist so when I came across this dresser at a yard sale for $15 I could not pass it up.

 

The dresser is solid wood probably a mid-century piece from like the 60's with a medium finish and solid brass handles. Definitely needed some love as it was covered in scratches and dents. Luckily, I was wanting to paint it so the scratches were no problem. My good friend and sister-in-law Meghan was gracious enough to help me with picking up, moving and sanding the whole thing. However, in the excitement I did forget to take a proper "before" picture, sorry. After a good sanding with medium grit sandpaper and washing it down it was ready to be painted. I chose a light buttery shade of yellow in an interior low VOC paint with a semi-gloss finish so it will be easy to clean. Originally, I had thought I would paint it white but at the last minute went with yellow and I could not be happier with it. Color does not always have to be limited to walls or accent pieces, the right shade of a color can become almost like a neutral in the space rather than an accent. By painting a piece of furniture an unexpected color it adds interest to the space and brings the palette together. The brass hardware obviously clashed with the new shade of yellow so I spray painted them a cream that I conveniently had on hand from some other projects I have done. After three coats of paint and a night drying outside the dresser was done. 

 All it needs to be functional as a changing table is a changing pad and some baskets to hold wipes, etc. Total cost for the dresser was about $65 including paint supplies. That is about half the cost of most of the dressers a I had looked at and in my opinion much cuter!

Stay tuned for more updates on the progress of the nursery as I complete them.

And it begins with a song of rebellion...

By the end of January my life is going to change forever. My husband and I are expecting our first child and I will become a stay-at-home wife and mother. I am so excited to be able to stay home with my first baby as it seems to be more of a luxury than the norm in this day and age. However, it was never my dream to grow up to be a housewife or a stay-at-home mom. In fact, I had rather the opposite dream when I first discovered what I wanted to do when I grew up. It was in ninth grade that I found a passion for interior design and developed my dream to become an interior designer. At that time I decided I would someday become a rich and successful designer and my husband would be the one to stay home with the kids. Now life certainly made some serious changes to my plans and I could not be happier with the place I am at currently, but I still have longing to follow through with my dreams and be an interior designer. I may not have graduated with the degree I intended but I still succeeded in getting a degree related to design and I am constantly honing my craft of what I will now call interior decorating rather than the prestigious design. I no longer envision myself working for that big design firm but rather I design for real life; for what I know; for what I can afford. My goal now is to create an interior that is both visually appealing and functional as well as affordable. As I journey into a new chapter in my life I am proud to redefine myself as both a mother and an aspiring decorator. I have spent many hours decorating my own home and it is continually a work in progress. As I complete projects I will share them here and hopefully inspire others.