To be honest, this was one of my favorite parts of pregnancy. (I mean, how often is it that your husband allows you to completely transform a room from top to bottom?) I personally had way too much fun completely re-doing and designing a room, but we also did a lot of it ourselves (and together with family and friends), and on a budget. There are definitely lots of great memories in the time put into getting his room ready for our little man, and hopefully one day he'll appreciate the details. Probably not, but at least we had fun planning it all for him.
Trey's room is our front bedroom that used to function as an office. We combined the office with the back guest room and now we have a nursery! Check out the older post here on how we added crown molding, a chair rail molding, and painted. And this post details our fabric selection.
So, to give you the official online walk through... let's start with his door displaying this custom-made diaper wreath designed by our good friends Michelle and Collin Newberry, who knew we would love the elephant accent. I had no idea what I was going to do for his door art, and this was one of those perfect surprises that turned out far better than anything I could have planned. Michelle made it (with Collin's help) for our first baby shower back in March.
Here's the view when you first walk in. Our color pallet is gray, white, navy, and baby blue with chrome/silver accents. I think the fabrics are very sophisticated with the exception of the baby blue argyle, so perhaps it can best be described as a custom preppy baby boy look with a subtle aviation theme. The top half of the walls are gray with the bottom white, made to look like molding on the bottom which we never got around to installing after we realized how nice it looked just painted with the chair rail molding divider, and after we realized how tired we were after installing all the other molding. The ceiling is a subtle cloud blue. All very neutral, with the little boy accents making their appearance in the fabrics, window treatments, etc. Most of the furniture is also white or light blue, so we kept the basics (walls, furniture) very neutral.
Robert's mom made the bedding and window treatments. I love the navy panels with the cornice boards in argyle with the navy trim. She also made and monogrammed "Trey" blanket I have draped over the rocker.
I love, love, love this rocker and ottoman. It's the one item we really went all out on - no skimping here. It swivels, rocks, glides (the ottoman does the same) .... and is pretty much is the most comfortable chair ever, at least we think so. Which is a good thing considering we figured we'd likely be spending the majority of our time in it. We custom ordered it from Stockland Baby and Kids Furniture in Vestavia. It's the Little Castle Capri rocker/glider. We picked a nice neutral fabric with a subtle damask print. I really didn't want the rocker upholstery to scream nursery, so we picked something more neutral and sophisticated that we could picture using in other rooms of our house once our nursery days are over, primarily because this baby has a nice 10-year warranty. We paid extra to scotch guard the mess out of it in hopes we get all 10 years (if not more) out of this piece. It was probably our biggest budget item, but my parents also generously gave us some funds toward it, so in the end we felt justified in "going all out" on this one piece. Also, we saved in several other areas, and I'm really pleased with our decision making and how everything worked out.
This wall features the changing table, rocker, and his wall shelf.
Robert's mom made the changing pad cover with our navy minky dot fabric. The changing table we bought from the French Flea in Helena, an antique/consignment store that I think has since moved locations (to Pelham?). The owner has a great blog and does a neat job of refinishing antique furniture with a french country look. This is the only piece I didn't repaint myself. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to paint/sand/refinish while pregnant, but I did.) I first saw the piece on her blog, we went to take a look, and I loved it immediately. She gave us a great deal. It was the first piece we purchased, and has great storage underneath. It's a little shorter for a changing table but we're not tall people and it works perfectly for our heights.
I knew I wanted the furniture to have a custom, mix-matched look of re purposed, antique pieces. This is the most french country of all the pieces; the others are more shabby chic and are all white, but all of them blend with the various curved accents and other details.
You'll see the argyle paper on several pieces. It's actually wrapping paper ($2 a roll) I found at Tuesday Morning and realized it matched the argyle fabric almost perfectly. I used it on various container pieces (couldn't find baskets I loved) and other areas for a custom look. I had all intentions of papering the inside of the drawers of the changing table and side table with it but opted not too since I want these pieces to work for a little girl later (if one enters our family) and I was scared to brand it with the little boy argyle print by papering the drawers.
I was going to have Robert custom-make his wall shelf, but found this one at Hobby Lobby for something like $11 after using a coupon, so we really couldn't have made it for any cheaper than that anyway. I painted it white and replaced the wooden pegs with silver airplane knobs (also from Hobby Lobby). The family tree goes back four generations and details Trey's heritage on both sides and namesakes. I also found it at Tuesday Morning before we were even expecting. Kinda wish it was blue instead of green but decided to bring in a few green accents on this shelf with the airplane frame, pacifiers, and ribbon. They frame has an ultrasound pic of Trey we may soon replace with a true baby pic. The pacifier idea I stole from my friend Christina because I thought it was so cute. The small silver cup was Robert's baby silver cup with his name (also Trey's name) that his mom passed down to me. It was originally purchased by his maternal grandmother. The two "T"s I got at Hobby Lobby and spray painted silver to accent. The boxes were a gift from a co-worker and allow you to store his first tooth, lock of hair, and bracelet as keep sakes. The glass elephant I found with Trey's Aunt Liz at an antique shop in Lexington, Kentucky. Couldn't resist.
The smocked white infant John Johns I got from Zulilly. It was one of my first purchases for Trey. The metal "T" was a gift from mom originally for me but I decided to re purpose it for Trey's shelf. The 'It's a Boy" sign is for Trey's hospital door. I also stole this idea after seeing my friend Christina's sign for her son, Harrison. I ordered this online from Holly Days, based in Birmingham, and had her custom design the colors to match his room. Since my handwriting is so not cute at all (didn't get that gene most girls do), I've already recruited Emily to write in his stats.
The side table I found at an antique store in Lexington, Kentucky while shopping with Robert's sister Liz. It was a nice, solid mahogany piece that was stained which I repainted. I also sprayed the hardware in our silver accent paint. The small model airplane on top I also got at Hobby Lobby and spray painted silver. The lamp base we found on clear at Lowe's (silver/chrome matched perfectly) and I recovered at $3 thrift store lamp shade with his fabrics and trim. I used spray adhesive to recover the shade after googling several ways to recover. Figured the spray adhesive method would be the easiest, and it was pretty easy-peasy.
Got the moses basket for his books at Walmart since we don't have a bookshelf (no room in the room). But I also made sure to get a side table with a bottom shelf so we could store some of his books there. The cute elephant bookend is from some sweet college friends.
The far wall contains his crib. We actually purchased this on craigslist and scored a great deal. We touched it up just a little but overall it was in great shape. It's a convertible that converts to a toddler bed. I knew I wanted one with a solid wood back, and I really love this one and the way it looks with his cute, custom bedding.
This wall also has a window for some nice natural light, and for now we have his swing and bouncy seat situated in this one free corner of space, though I suspect they will probably end up in other areas of the house (wherever we are) once Trey arrives.
The burp clothe wreath on his closet door was made by a co-worker. It's too cute for me to yet take apart to use the precious monogrammed burp clothes. The big blue boy on the closet door handle is for our mailbox once Trey arrives. I got it from Homewood Antique Marketplace from a vendor called Spider Lily Designs who has a facebook page. This is just her basic baby blue boy bow but she does take custom orders.
And here are some close-up shots of the crib.
Right now we have the boppy and Trey's elephant from his Mimi in his crib. I absolutely love the bedding on his bumpers, crib skirt, and crib sheet - all made and monogrammed by his Mimi. I think the fabrics we selected really turned out so well. I honestly had no idea how it would all look together but I love it and think it will definitely grow up with him.
Here's some close-ups of the aviation wall art prints above his crib and on either side of the window on the far back wall.
We ordered these prints online from an aviation photographer (website here) who happens to be a private pilot like Robert and who had some of the best black and white shots we found after a pretty extensive online search. Robert wanted most of the prints to be of the P52 World War II Bomber (his favorite plane), and I really loved the way the grouping of the four turned out. I think these will also grow up with Trey. We know we wanted a subtle aviation theme (once we figured out we were having a boy) that was mostly classic and from there came the silver/chrome accents that are spread throughout the room. It's also a nice tribute to Robert and his love for flying. Apparently, several of our good friends had no idea Robert has his private pilot's license. He got it in college while co-oping for his engineering degree. He was working full time at the co-op and had some free time on his hands at night and decided to take flying lessons. We flew most frequently in college, on occasion renting a Cessna at the Tuscaloosa airport and going up for a fun flight over town. He took me up the night he proposed and we also flew to the Bama/Mississippi State game junior year. Lots of fun memories of flying, so I'm glad we could carry over the theme in Trey's nursery.
I love this armoire! It's one of my favorite pieces in the room. The detailing is so beautiful. We got it on craigslist and I completely repainted it so the dark detailing would shine though. I also distressed it a little. The precious owners used it for a TV cabinet and had already made the shelf. Robert lowered it for me so I would have more space for his cute hanging clothes (only the super cute ones go on display in here!) and also to give me the storage underneath. I paper the shelf in the argyle wrapping paper (after googling how to do that with Modge Podge) and love how it turned out. The hanging bar is original to the piece. I loved the curved accents at top and all the storage space it provides. We've got a mixture of cloth bins (from Wal-Mart) and papered cardboard office storage bins up top with his toys, diapers, etc. The Trey letters are from some sweet college friends, and I also papered these in the argyle to match. Again, this was one of those situations where I had no idea what I was going to hang on the wall above the armoire and his name letters were perfect for the space.
I didn't plan to but ended up storing his bumbo seat in the armoire since the color matched so perfectly. We also have all his monogrammed and hand-made blankets in there also with a prayer from my mom which she framed for him and his sweet Nike tennis shoes from David, Emily, Khalil, and Seth.
The chandelier and rug are both from overstock.com. I debated a white shag rug for months, wondering if it was crazy to put one in a nursery. But I ultimately knew that was what I loved and wanted most and so after reading some reviews on this one I went with my gut and purchased it. It is super soft, has been so easy to keep clean (so far), and I think will be great for playing on and tummy time when Trey gets a little older.
The chandelier I also love and is the only silver/chrome accented item in the room I didn't have to spray paint myself. (The frames for the aviation art are black wooden frames I got at Old Time Pottery and painted.) For that reason alone I love it. The ceiling medallion came with the house but we repainted it (and the ceiling) to match our colors in the room. They are not very expensive though and can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot and really make a light fixture standout. The shades I recovered in the argyle and trim and love how it all ties in. I was going to go with a white chandelier but think this silver one is so much more appropriate for a little boy.
And a final shot of the rocker because it's amazing and where I will be spending most of my time once Trey arrives. I'm not going to lie - I already spend a lot of time in it. Robert has caught me in Trey's room just rocking away thinking and praying for our son. I love his room so much already but really can't believe how much I already love him, and how much more the Lord loves him. Our prayer is that Trey would know God but most importantly be known by God.
