Claire's Room

I shared the mural I painted on Claire's wall a few weeks ago, when that was all I'd done in the nursery. Now it's pretty much all together, and I feel like we're ready to bring her home!

Before sharing pics, though, I wanted to get back to something I mentioned in an earlier post: decorating/redecorating a nursery on a budget. What's the secret? It all comes down to the sheet.

Complete nursery bedding sets can cost $160-200. (And that's at Babies R Us, not Pottery Barn, etc.) That's crazy, especially when you consider that SIDS-prevention recommendations prohibit use of quilts and say bumpers should be removed once baby is rolling over. All you really need is the sheet, and for decorative purposes perhaps the dustruffle and window valance. So, for both Kate and Claire, once I realized all this, I started my planning by looking at the selection of individually-sold sheets. For Kate, I liked a multicolor polkadot sheet, painted her name letters and some artwork to match, and ended up buying a few pieces from the coordinating collection a la carte.

For Claire, I liked a sheet with birds lined up on branches.

That sheet inspired the colors for the room and the mural I painted. I bought plain curtains at Target, and am reusing various things we already had for Kate's nursery and elsewhere in the house. Put them together, and they make a whole new room!

This is the view from the door, as we're walking by toward our bedroom—it makes me smile. I went with light and sheer for the window treatment, and I like it, nice and ethereal. I would love to find a garland of pink flowers and green leaves to drape across the top.

I found this little birdhouse in the dollar bin at Michael's when I was checking out with the paints and other craft supplies, and painted it to match.

To the right of the window is a little bookcase with baby toys and the few books I thought Kate could part with. I got the artwork on Etsy—the white text in the upper left is Psalm 139:1-18.

I hung the shelves myself the other night, kneeling on the dresser with a power drill. It was one of those "don't question a nesting mama" moments. It looks a little plain right now, but I imagine various keepsakes and gifts after she's born will fill the empty spaces.

I'll probably paint the wooden "C" so it stands out more. The marble owl was part of my grandmother's owl collection, and the pink hanky was hers too. They've just been sitting on my dresser for a while, so I thought it would be nice to have them on display.

I still have a few things to hang, like this peg board (which did have trucks on it and was in what is now our guest room when we moved in) and I painted to match the birds on the sheet, and the three-pic frame that still has Kate's newborn pics in it. 

So now we're just waiting around and wondering if she'll get to use this little "Baby's 1st Halloween" bib this year or wait until next year!