One thing Chris and I both felt strongly about was making sure this room could serve its purpose equally well whether we were using it for girl or boy children. We wanted any touches of pink to be easily changed-out should the future need arise. We also wanted something that would flow well with the rest of our house rather than feeling like the set of some kids TV show.
All of this is a true testament to Chris being awesome, because he struggles to identify with my love of a "decorated" home. He's told me many times that he never put a single poster up on the walls of his cinder-block college dorm room... and he was as comfortable living there as he's ever been anywhere. He's had to stretch pretty far in our marriage to make compromises with me, as everything I want and love seems to fall into the category of "expensive antique." Oh, and did I also mention his second struggle when it comes to home decor? The "doing" part. He's never enjoyed DIY projects.
But thankfully, my dad (who also helped us with our dining room transformation) was willing to come pay us a Memorial Day Weekend visit and help us with the room, along with my sister and our good friends Larry and Angie Barnes. We couldn't have done it without them! No way no how.
Here's the room before. Pretty blah. Beige walls... and that's about it.
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Dad, Larry, and Chris quickly slapped up our chosen paint color... a soothing light gray, with a darker gray border on top lined with white molding.
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Angie, Mallory, and Chris worked hard getting our existing furniture painted white. It was a rather hot day outside so big thanks to these troopers!
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We also hung up some neat touches here and there... an antique mirror... a wrought iron chandelier/mobile... new curtains... a shelf... and a special "giant ruler" to measure Elsa's heights over the years (found that idea on Pinterest!)
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After everything was painted and hung, we were able to roll out the awesome rug I found on Overstock.com! It really was a special addition to the room and gave it an added element of pattern (I wanted to work in a lot of different patterns when I started bringing in the fabrics.) A month or so later... our glider arrived and helped add yet another elegant pattern to the room. I also hung the sweet "Elsa" banner you see in this picture. I had been wanting to find a project that incorporated her name... but because of lack of motivation and lack of ideas I was happy with, I just hadn't done it. This perfect banner was made by one of my sweet baby shower hostesses, Janice! Everything about it works with the room, the colors... the font... the fabric choices. I love it!
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Soon after, we added a bookshelf we found at an antique store and painted white. It's so nice to have a little place to store her books (and I love that it's low enough for her to see them and help me pick out a story to read when she's big enough.)
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And most recently we hung this white windowpane above her dresser. Now that I had the pressure off me to hang her name somewhere, this was a logical and perfect find to fill that empty space!
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Her crib sits across from the glider in the corner of the room. This picture is old... there's now a mattress and sheet in the crib and a changing pad on that dresser. But you still get the idea. And I'm actually keeping the crib bedding pretty minimal at first anyway. She has already received some lovely quilts and blankets from loving friends/honorary aunts... but those aren't really going to be in her bed for the first few months.
(Coincidentally, this was also MY crib when I was a baby! Cool, huh?)
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I'm really happy with how the room turned out. It is seriously one of the most soothing and comfy places to be in our whole house! I think Elsa is going to love it too :)
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