Well I am officially terrible at keeping up with this blog. I put the finishing touches on the nursery weeks ago and am now finally getting around to blogging about it. Growing this baby really has made me lazy in the last few weeks but I guess this is the last time in my life when I can afford to be this lazy, so I will give myself a break.
So without further adieu here it is:
The nursing/reading corner was completed with a yellow chevron pillow I bought from Hobby Lobby, a yellow and cream printed ottoman from Target and a homemade valance. For the valance I bought a yard of the chevron fabric and simply sewed up each edge to make it look finished and then used Velcro to attach it to the wall. Velcro works best for me because it is a huge pain trying to install window treatments in my house especially on an exterior wall where I would have to combat both plaster and brick construction. Also, it makes it super easy to change down the road or remove to clean. 
For the crib I decided to be simple and just have the plain yellow sheet and the adorable grey chevron blanket from Target. I was going for a modern clean aesthetic so simple just made more sense. The mobile I made using felt, ribbon and buttons on the elephants and dowels and string to hang it. I had made a very different looking one with the elephants hanging in a circle and wrapped with ribbon but decided it didn't go with the room so I changed it to what you see now. Balancing the different tiers proved to be quite difficult and still is not perfect but I think it turned out very modern and I like it. The movement is also nice as opposed to my first attempt, now the elephants kind of dance around when the air or fan is on.
The changing table turned out great. All I added was the changing pad, which screws into the back of the dresser so it won't fall off, and a basket to hold wipes and diapers at easy access. The storage provided by using a dresser as opposed to a traditional changing table is the best part. I was able to put all of her clothes, extra sheets, towels and other miscellaneous things for her hidden away in the dresser. There is a closet in the room but it is being used for mostly other things and I for one am not going to hang a million onesies.
And here is a full view of that side of the room.
And finally a quick tutorial on the chevron wall pattern I painted. I selected two paint colors for the room, one very light grey and the other a slightly darker shade of that grey. I bought a full gallon in eggshell of the lighter and a quart in satin of the darker. Eggshell is my favorite finish for paint because it has the least amount of gloss without being matte, I can still clean it easily without my walls being shiny. I chose the darker in a satin just for a little extra contrast as it will be slightly glossier than the eggshell. In the end I don't think it made that big of a difference since the colors had enough contrast. If you wanted an even more subtle look for your wall pattern you could use the same color but one in high gloss making the pattern only noticeable in the light.
First, I painted the entire room in the light grey. I bought Frog Tape for this project and was very pleased with the results. Taking the time to tape all the trim was well worth it and using the more expensive tape saved me from having to do any touch ups and I didn't have to be super careful when cutting in. I let the room dry for a couple days, one because if you tape and paint on a freshly painted wall you run the risk of ripping the paint off the wall and two because I painted an entire room by myself and I was exhausted and needed a break.
Next, was the taping that was very time consuming but well worth it especially since it was only one wall. Adding the pattern to all of the walls would have been busy and overwhelming causing the room to look very small. Being a small room to begin with that would not have been good, so I just did the one main wall as an accent. It adds visual interest to the room and saved me from having to come up with some large scale art project or something to fill that wall. A wall pattern like this did involve some math to figure out where to tape, so being a visual person I drew up several mock walls to make sure it would look how I wanted it to. After measuring the length and width of the wall I broke it up into the number of columns and rows I thought would be appropriate. Taking into account my tape was one inch wide (I bought that tape on purpose knowing I would want one inch lines) I drew on paper my design and the measurements needed to achieve it. I don't remember my exact measurements or the process to get them (I made it much more difficult than it probably needed to be but my brain is not working properly so give me a break) all I know is do it on paper and check it on the wall to make sure it works out the way you want. The most important part of the process is the taping so make sure the measurements are right, the tape is straight and the edges are sealed (just running my fingernail over the tape several times sealed it quite nicely for me, no extra paint required.) I taped all the verticals first and then went back and taped all of the diagonals. Once taped I painted the wall with the darker grey and then removed the tape slowly while still wet. Using good tape saved me from any touch ups so I couldn't be happier with the result. Just remember taping is hard tedious work but well worth the time and effort you put into it, sloppy taping will create sloppy work and more work in the end to fix mistakes.
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| All taped up. |
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| End result. |
Ok so maybe not such a "quick" tutorial but it was a key feature of the nursery I needed to share. And now the nursery is finished. From here on out I will be blogging about the past projects completed on my home or even perhaps quick projects to help sell your house. With the market returning my husband and I have decided to look into selling this house to move on to a bigger house in a more family friendly neighborhood. I love this house and the things I could do to it to make it my dream home but unfortunately the neighborhood that was great for us when we were young is less desirable as we welcome a child into it. I will keep you posted on the decisions we make in the upcoming months and of course once little Ada comes to enjoy her brand new nursery.
