Yea, I know you have been waiting a long time for these pictures...so I won't delay you any longer. Here is Daniel's nursery: 

This post will be short and sweet, as my time is not my own anymore. But someday, I will talk more specifically about things. Oh, and just for the record, I already have plans for changing a few things. Such is my life. Nothing is ever safe from being moved, rearranged, or changed :) 

Little One's Nursery: Part 3 -- Paint!

Well, it has been awhile since I blogged about little one's nursery. When we last left off, we were talking about inspiration for a boy nursery and a girl nursery. After a hesitant ultrasound tech revealed that he thought we were having a boy, we decided to roll with it. Both of us felt, in our hearts, that is really was a boy...aaaand now we have another ultra sound to confirm it. 

Anyways, about two weeks ago, Jonathan did a whole bunch of work in the nursery while I was on vacation visiting my family in California. He is just so sweet isn't he?! It was wonderful to come home to most of the hard work done. We He still has a few more things to do, but it is definitely looking a whole lot better and different compared to this before picture above. 

Behold our paladian blue nursery: 

And check out the amazing ceilings that we decided on as our 'wow' factor. Don't they look phenomenal all whitewashed and with a bit of cove added to finish them off? Oh I cannot WAIT to get a light fixture up there!

Things are starting to fall into place for sure!

We still have a lot we need to do--buy a dresser, purchase decorations, figure out a rug--but I'm just happy to have freshly painted drywall in there. It means one more room is "crossed off" our to-do list.

I'm sure we will be back with more updates eventually, but y'all are going to have to be patient as we figure out and purchase the rest of the stuff we need. We aren't in any hurry ;)

What do you think of the color? I'm in love.

Little One's Nursery: Boy Inspiration

In yesterday's post, you were able to see our ideas for a little girl's room. Today it's onto the boy side of things. I have to admit, designing a boy's room was a lot harder than I anticipated. I had a very distinct look that I was going for, but couldn't find the products to back me up. In the end, I'm not entirely happy with the overall look...I was going for a more vintage travel feel. But I think if we end-up having a boy, I may be able to pull it off with a few tweaks and DIY'd projects. 

Our Little Boy's Nursery

The main colors in our little boy's nursery would be palladian blue (the background color), a light tan color, and possibly accents of various bolder colors. Thankfully, like our little girl's wall color, we also have this blue paint on hand. My parent's had about two-and-a-half gallons of a darker blue paint (that they used in their living room), which they tried to lighten for use in another space.  Well they ended up going with a different color and thus, we were given the leftovers. The result of the lightened paint was something similar to palladian blue...a color that I had already picked out to use in our house, in the future. Score!

So our paint color, combined with a bunch of white accents, and still going for the vintage feel I mentioned yesterday, should bring out a very cute and dapper little boy's room. Again, I have so many ideas, it was just nice to get some of them out and put together. On Tuesday we will have an official "go" as far as which way we will be decorating. That is when all the real decision making will start to happen :)

Let's get down to the details:

1. Do you know how hard it is to find a neutral quilt for baby bedding? I really wanted something with a vintage feel in very muted colors, but couldn't find anything. This quilt from Pottery Barn Kids was the best that I could do for the moment. Honestly, I will probably end up making a quilt for our little boy based on the fact that I couldn't find something I like 100%.

2. Even though I had a hard time designing a little boy's nursery, this idea has me very excited. How fun would it be to find a bunch of vintage maps and lovely frames and create a whole wall covered in the beauty of our world. I think it would be the perfect combination of educational and decorative. Plus, I'm pretty sure my carpenter would love it too.

3. Just like yesterday, the plans for the ceiling are the same. Check out this post for more info.

4. I also decided to keep the same dresser for our little boy's room. I like the versatility of a basic white dresser and honestly, that is usually why I buy a piece of furniture. If I know that the piece I'm considering would work in multiple rooms of our house, it is a serious plus. That way, if I get tired of it being in one room, I can easily switch it out to another room without spending a thing!

5. This rug seems like the perfect addition to this room. It brings in the light tan color I was looking for and seems like it would be soft, yet durable enough, for little one's room. I love the idea of having an oval rug, so I decided to stick with that idea for both a little girl's nursery and little boy's.

6. Again, thank you to my aunt for the wonderful crib! It would blend in seamlessly in this space too.

So there is our little man's room! Not as exciting as I hoped it to be, but maybe y'all can get a bit of my vision. I'm just getting very, very excited about finding out what we are having and truly digging into decorating. Ahh! I can't wait!

Side note: You guys can all expect a post on Wednesday announcing the gender of our little one. Our sonogram isn't until 6:30 pm on Tuesday, so we will probably spend the rest of the evening celebrating and calling family. We will just plan on announcing it on the blog Wednesday morning, probably. 

Happy Thursday all!

Little One's Nursery: Girl Inspiration

I'm back today with a bit of inspiration for our little one's nursery (Wow! I posted three days in a row?! Yea, don't get too excited...I'm not making any promises :) ) . Y'all know I'm not patient enough to wait until February 26th, when we find out little one's gender, to decide on the look of our nursery. Plus, making a mood board is so much fun! It allows me to get the thoughts out of my head and see them in "real life." Then I can mull them over and decide if I like my ideas or not.

So let's dig in. Shall we?

My idea for both rooms is to keep things decently neutral, so that we can switch accessories in and out to change the theme, versus changing wall color, furniture, etc.  In general, I love the idea of accenting with old pieces and creating a vintage feel. I'm not one to buy all things new. And if I do buy something new, it usually feels old. So, with a combination of new things that have a vintage flair and actual vintage pieces, our little girl's room should come together nicely.

And without further ado:          

Our Little Girl's Nursery 

The main colors would be gray, white, pink, and green. The background color of the mood board is the paint choice we would use. It is Benjamin Moore's Marina Gray and we used it in both our kitchen and bathroom. We have another gallon-and-a-half left over and I thought it would make the perfect backdrop to little one's room. I might have it lightened a bit, but other than that, I think the color would work nicely.

To accent the gray, and help the room feel light and airy, I chose to bring in lots of white. You will notice that I did this by white washing the ceiling, bringing in a white dresser, and picking white window coverings. Let's get down to details though.

 *Oh disclaimer: most of the stuff in this post is very expensive/not exactly what I would purchase. The goal was to do this fast and get my ideas onto virtual paper. Inspiration people, inspiration*

1. The bedding is from pottery barn kids. I ended up loving the colors of the Savannah Nursery Bedding set.

2. Yesterday, I mentioned our ceiling idea. That will really balance the gray well. Plus it adds to the vintage shabby chic feel.

3. I chose a basic white dresser that will also serve as our changing station. I would love to find an old dresser already painted white, or one that we can easily paint white. Then I would find some beautiful knobs, like these from anthropologie,  to give the dresser a bit of color and make it look a bit shabby chic.

4. You can see that I picked basic white valances for the two windows. We will have blinds on them that match the rest of the house, but I thought these cute ruffled valances would soften them a bit. I may be able to DIY something like these.

5. This rug from Sears has the colors I'm going for, but isn't the right size...oh well. Love the idea of a braided oval rug though.

6. We actually already have a wood crib. Thank you Aunt Wrena! My aunt was selling some of her baby things that she didn't need anymore, and we snatched it up before we even knew we were pregnant! I'm still trying to decide if we will paint it white, but the wood tone might be a nice way to bring our wood floor color into the space in another way.

7. LOVE this idea. Once again, Young House Love hits the nail on the head! A couple of vintage bird cages would be a very cute, unexpected accessory to the room. I'm thinking pink, white, and mint green though.

8. Can't remember where I found this darling lamp shade, but I loved that it was white with the pink and green accents. I'm thinking it would be fun to DIY something with ribbon. My mom made me a lamp shade with ribbon when I was younger...I could carry on the tradition! ;)

So what do you think? I also plan on having a bookshelf full of the best kids books for our little one to delve into when s/he is a bit older. And I'm sure there will be other personal touches added, but for now, this is what I'm thinking. Coming up with a little girl's room was fun!

Stay tuned tomorrow for our ideas for a little boy's room!

Little One's Nursery: Part 2 -- Our Eye Catching Idea

Well, as I mentioned two weeks ago, the carpenter and I really wanted to add an eye catching moment into little one's nursery. We thought that it would be fun to do something different and add a bit of visual interest.

We contemplated many things--well I did at least. There was the burlap wall idea. The slatted wall idea. I thought of murals, fun wall paper, and a host of other "wall" options. But in the end, it was Jonathan who came up with the idea.

Actually, the real story is that he suggested this LOOOONNGGG before we even gutted the room. But I poo-pooed it based on the fact that I wasn't seeing 'his vision.'

I think, he secretly thinks, that I wanted it to be my idea ;)

I, however, was too busy in my own little world, to realize that there is a hidden designer somewhere deep inside this carpenter of mine!

Anyway, we thought it would be fun to do something like this. I would say that The Lettered Cottage is infamous for their paneled walls and ceilings...and I think that they add the perfect touch to any room! (I have been slowly getting the carpenter used to the idea of having one in our bedroom someday.) I'm wickedly excited about having one, in ceiling form, in little one's room.

Here is a glimpse of the room as it is now. The ceiling has been installed and Jonathan has been hard at work finishing the walls.

New windows will be coming in next week and then we can start the painting process! The ceiling will be white washed so that the wood grain will still be able to show through. I like the idea of the knots in the wood adding more texture. It will help to draw the eye up as you walk in the room. The walls will be painted accordingly once we find out if we are having a boy or girl. (Posts coming tomorrow and Thursday explaining our ideas!!!) And as for now, the floor will just get a good cleaning and remain as is. We will be putting down an area rug once we get to decorating the nursery. The plan is to have everything painted and trimmed by the beginning of March.

Then at that point, we will begin to work on decorating the nursery. We have a few pieces of furniture that we will need to find, some decorating ideas to finalize, and bunch of miscellaneous purchases to make.

I can't wait to see it all come together!! :) Every day that passes brings on more and more anticipation. Both the carpenter and I have started working on things that we have been putting off for months. We are just so excited and want as much to be completed as possible, before little one arrives. It's almost like some very famous person is coming to our house and we don't dare welcome them in, with the house's current state.

Is this what it feels like to be parents? ;)

Little One's Nursery: Step 1

Well, I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my plans for the nursery. I'm flattered! :)

I have to admit, as of right now, they are just a bunch of crazy ideas that are floating around, waiting to be decided upon. I like to dream--and dream big. Then reality hits and I realize that a giant slide won't fit in our little one's nursery.

Wait, my baby won't come out wanting a slide within the first month? Oh. 

Thanks for being a kill-joy.

Anyways! Please ignore my craziness...let's talk about the realistic plans that I have. I only have a few ideas about how I want to nursery to feel--we are waiting to make any design decisions, until after we find out the sex of our little one. So once we have our ultrasound on March 6th, I will be able to give you a better idea of what we are going for. There may or may not be a mood board included. Now you have something to look forward to. :)

Ok, so down to the nitty gritty. Just in case you don't remember what our guestroom looked like before, here she be:

A few months ago, I cleared her all out (she was our storage room for a time being) and decided it was high time that we have a proper guestroom to welcome our, well, our guests to. I will miss having a designated guestroom, but you know what, I will enjoy having a nursery even more. Plus, next week I will show you the new arrangement we came up with, for our future visitors--because we definitely want them to be comfortable when they come. Hint: our new arrangement sort of resembles this again. 

So, first we emptied everything out of the guestroom. Right now, most of the stuff is stored on our porch or in our dining room. I'm currently working on designated places for everything that was in our guestroom, as none of it will be coming back in--but that has been a bit harder to figure out than expected.

After I cleared everything out, Jonathan proceeded to gut the entire space. We were anticipating a huge mess of plaster and lathe, but thankfully it turned out to be some-sort of thick cardboard that was on the wall. It made for an easy removal and quick cleanup. Plus, he also found this wonderful surprise during the process.

Not only was there a nice, old nest hiding behind the wall, but there are also 4 x 4's for studs. Definitely not necessary, but nice to know as we are putting the room back together.  (In this picture you can also see the cardboard...on the left there...see it?)

Jonathan then wired the room for better electric access. Before, the room had one outlet and a small wall light. (You can see the wall light in the picture above.) Now, the room has five outlets and an overhead light. Plus, Jonathan wired one of the outlets to a switch so that we can turn on a table lamp if need be. I thought this would be a good idea with the space being a nursery and possible future office. This way, if we just want a bit of light, to see what we are doing, without waking the baby, we have that option. Or in the future, the option of having a small table lamp and cozy chair would make the perfect little reading nook.

After a bit of wiring, up went plenty of insulation. The room had none before, but man can you tell the difference it has made! Our little one will be nice and cozy during the winter next year :)

And that is where things are currently. The carpenter said his goal is to have all the drywall up by this weekend. Then it's new windows, finishing the drywall, and we will be all set to paint! YAY! We probably won't get to that for a bit though. At least until we find out our little one's gender and are able to put together a better idea of what we would like to nursery to look like. 

So, in true Liz-has-to-talk-and-share-every-detail fashion, here are my simple ideas for what I'm looking for in the room. 

1) I want the space to be as simple as possible. I'm also looking for something that is gender neutral, in the sense that, we won't be picking out a paint color based on the sex of the baby. Rather, we will more than likely accessorize to reflect gender. 

2) I would love to have some kind of built ins. We have been discussing the idea of turning the one wall into a combination bookshelf/small closet/window seat area. Only time and availability of money will tell. We think it may be a great way to get the storage we need, without overwhelming the room. We would build something along the wall, with the window, in this picture: 

3.) Jonathan and I, both, want to do something special and eye-catching in this room. We aren't sure what that will look like yet, but we agreed that it would be fun to do something out of the ordinary. I'm thinking an accent wall with lots of texture. Maybe a burlap wall? Don't knock it till you've seen it. :)

So, what do you guys think? :) Are you as excited as I am???!!!!