duke's room - one last look at the nursery

I feel like I've entered some sort of post-nesting phase these days.  As Duke is now getting bigger (and let's not talk about it for too long or I'll start pondering really huge life questions and the tears will start pouring out), we're needing to make some changes to our home.

1.  The outrageous amount of toys in our living room must be dealt with.  I'm not saying it will be toy-free, but every inch of space does not need to be covered in balls, blocks, and stuffed animals.  We want to narrow it down to the toys Duke really enjoys having out most of the time.
2.  Because of #1, we need toy storage in Duke's room.  I've yet to find exactly what I'm looking for, so if you have any affordable and functional ideas, please let me know!
3.  With the changes in our living room, I wanted to move Duke's dresser (AKA changing table) in there.  The upside:  automatic space for toy storage in his room.  The downside:  no more changing table.  It's not like we need a changing table.  I mean, the kid is almost 2 and soon enough, I'm going to be changing wet underwear and running to the toilet every time he shows an inkling of "I need to go potty."  So, no more changing table.

Which brings me back to the whole thing of not crying because Duke is so big.

Anyway, I'm such a nutso person and I wanted to remember his room exactly like it was the day we brought him home from the hospital for the first time.

(Well, maybe not the first time.  ONSIES EVERYWHERE.  Things were still not really in place because for some cute reason, I didn't feel the need to rush around and get things ready when I was 39.9 weeks pregnant.  ((Which is NOT my personality at all.  I'm still confused as to how/why that happened.))  But after a few weeks of getting settled in, Duke's nursery was perfect.  It was just what I had envisioned for him, perhaps better.)

In an effort to capture the baby-ness of Duke's room, my sweet friend (who is trading photography at the drop of a hat for a discounted piano lesson price) came over and snapped some shots.  The last photos I shared were from the final product back in February 2012.  So here are some updated pictures of Duke's little space before the big boy makeover abruptly stomps its feet into my life.

Of course, I couldn't do a whole post about Duke's room without including a picture of him.  What sweet memories this nursery will always hold.

Photos taken by Makenzie M Photos

nm - final product

Wow, it only took 4 months for me to get this post up.  Welcome to having a baby.

After months and months of preparing and looking for just the right things, Duke's nursery was finished.  Luckily, it was done before he arrived on his due date.  It was definitely a close one though. 

 My parents gave this to us and we love it!

 

 This changing table/dresser is one of my favorite pieces in the nursery.

The photo on the top left is a picture of Colt on a horse as a little boy.  Jill, my mother-in-law, gave that to us along with the one right below it, which she did herself.  I thought grouping these 3 things together would be fun.

And there it is ... the corner where I spent a LOT of time the first several weeks.

Love this little thrift store find!

This is the toy chest my dad made for me.  And now, it contains all of Duke's toys. :)

And yes, all of these quality photos were taken with my iPhone.  It's real life, people.

To see the step-by-step progress, check out the other Nursery Makeover entries.

Well, as I listed in the first Nursery Makeover post, my goals were to:
1.  Create a space that our boy will enjoy for many years before he thinks it's stupid.
2.  Create a room that I enjoy being in/looking at because, let's face it, I'll basically be living there for awhile.
3.  Make it cute and cheap!

I love his room and I love the thought behind every little trinket and purchase. "Rustic, vintage, western, and cowboy" were the words I used to describe what I was going for.  I think I accomplished that.  And I did it without Woody from Toy Story, denim, and Texas stars.  :)

nm - sneak peeks

Okay, it is almost done, folks!  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh?

Here are a few snapshots of some of my favorite parts in the room.

The full blown final edition of the Nursery Makeover with pictures, descriptions, and other ramblings you may or may not care about is next!

And based on your predictions, I should be having this kid soon ... keep your fingers crossed!

nm - the rug and other accessories

Time for another Nursery Makeover update!  Here are the things we've added to the room in the past couple of weeks:

I found these little cowboy boots at a thrift store for $3.60.  I liked them and thought they were in great shape, so he could actually wear them one day!

My parents got me this little wagon wheel (Hobby Lobby), the knobs (half off at Hobby Lobby) for the dresser, and our fun orange curtains (JC Penney).  Thanks, mom and dad. :)

We found this poster on Amazon and bought it for $9.73.  We needed something John Wayne in there and the fact that it said "Duke" on it was perfect.  (Oh, p.s. Duke is his first name.  The story behind his name is coming soon!)

We got a rug!  We needed one badly and I knew I wanted some kind of pattern, but wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like.  It feels like we searched forever for a decent sized rug that wasn't expensive.  Leslie suggested I try Garden Ridge and she did not lead me astray!  This rug is 5 x 7 and it was just $54.  Everything else we were looking at was well over $100, which was just not okay for me.  It's grey with a little cream-ish design running through it.

Soon, I'll put up some pictures of the entire nursery once everything is picked up and put away ... which needs to happen fast since he can pretty much come whenever he wants at this point.  :)

nm - the crib

Ohh, the horror stories I've heard about men assembling cribs.  I've been excited about this moment, but also dreading it.  I never was sure what all the hubbub was about, but I had braced myself for what the evening of "Let's put the crib together" had in store for us.

I knew I shouldn't be in the room when the assembly was taking place.  I ask too many questions and want to know too many things.  I told him that I'll cook dinner while he puts the crib together.  Both of these things are the kinds of tasks that neither of us want opinions/suggestions on, so this worked out well.

So, Colt spread everything out on the floor.  (There were no missing pieces, which was another fear I had.)  Then, he read the manual and put it together.  I know, it's so anti-climactic.  A big, dramatic, hilarious story was not in the cards for us.

So, here it is!

We bought our crib at Babies R Us for about $195.  It was one of the cheaper ones there and we liked the simplicity of it.  There are a lot of things we can use second-hand or buy at thrift stores, but many sources told us not to take shortcuts on this purchase.  After all, the baby does lay in it. :)

Coming up next:  the rug and other accessories ...

nm - items here and there

My mom and brother came over a couple of weeks ago to help me make some headway on our nursery while Colt was at work.  I felt stuck since I couldn't necessarily move things around and get them situated.  So, although our guest room now looks ridiculous and will need lots of attention, our nursery is actually coming along!

Here are the newest additions:

This dresser used to be in our master bedroom, but after lots of cleaning/re-organizing, we emptied it of Colt's clothes and will use it in the baby's room.  We will most likely be painting it ... but we'll just see if we can get around to it ... :)

I found the globe at a thrift store many months ago (maybe even before I knew I was pregnant) for about $2.

   

These frames will eventually have some purpose, but there are too many ideas floating around in my head for me to decide at this moment.  I found them at a thrift store and each of them were $3.  I just really liked their look and thought they would add something fun to the room.   I'll let you know what I decide to do with them!

Doesn't everyone need a musical washboard?  Eh, not really.  I just thought it was fun and a great color for the room.  This was a thrift store find for $3.

My mom and I got this old peach crate at a thrift store a few days ago for $2.50.  Our plan (for Colt) is to put something flat on the top to make a little side table out of it.

And last, but not least, this fun little light fixture just stole my heart when I saw it in a thrift store one day.  We're debating between a few different ideas on how to use it and where we will put it, but it will be going somewhere.  I love it and it was only $4!

This room finally looks like it has a little purpose now!  My latest challenge has been finding an affordable rug.  So, if you know of any great places or great deals on large rugs, please do share!

Crib pictures coming up next!

nm - dresser/changing table

Well, we found a great piece to start out our nursery makeover.  Several weeks ago, Colt and I were driving and saw a bunch of furniture out on someone's driveway.  We stopped by and actually found out that they were just pulling things out and trying to get organized for their garage sale the next day.  They let us take a look at their stuff and we found something we loved!

It's on its side right now, which is why it looks a bit funky in the picture.

You can slide this little guy over and there are more drawers behind it.

This is going to be our dresser/changing table.  It was only $25!  We can't wait to see what it will look like in his room.

Today, we crossed a couple things off of our list:
- We grabbed some paint chips at Lowe's.  We're not sure what we're painting just yet, but we wanted to have an idea of the color scheme for the room.
- We bought our crib!  (That exclamation point symbolizes excitement with anxiety all over it.)  Man, oh, man.  There really is going to be a little baby in that thing, huh?  Pictures coming soon!

nursery makeover - the beginning

And so it begins ... the creation of the nursery.

Since the Suarez fam was living with us, I haven't had the opportunity to start on this.  Honestly, it was kind of nice.  Now, I love rearranging, decorating, creating, painting ... I do.  But, knowing that I couldn't do it was a bit of a relief.  It gave me time to focus on other things these past few months.  However, now the room is looking at me in the face, screaming for help (and some kind of rug to get rid of that ridiculous echo).

Our theme?  In one word - rustic.  In more than one word - rustic, vintage, western, cowboy.  When people ask though, I always say, "Rustic."  Something odd happens when you say things like, "Cowboy," or, "Western."  People either start thinking OSU cowboy, which is a terrible idea, or Walmarty denimy cowboy, which might even be worse.  'Rustic' leaves it a little open ended and mysterious.

My goals for the nursery are to:
1.  Create a space that our boy will enjoy for many years before he thinks it's stupid.
2.  Create a room that I enjoy being in/looking at because, let's face it, I'll basically be living there for awhile.
3.  Make it cute and cheap!

We've spent time looking at estate sales, garage sales, and thrift stores and will continue to do so until this room is complete.  I'll keep you posted on all of our finds and progress with the room!