Each time I feel little girl move, look at her bassinet in the corner of our room or see Austin's excitement I know all of this discomfort, irritation, and sleeplessness will be totally worth it. Now its just getting there....
In the meantime, Claudia's nursery is finished! I've been looking forward to sharing all the details for a long time.
The room that is now Claudia's nursery has always been my favorite in our little house. It was our guest room for the past few years and I always enjoyed it. As soon as we found out we were having a little girl, I knew we just had to paint the room pink. We headed to Lowe's and picked out a delicate, light pink paint called "Pink Whisper".
Mary and Austin painted the room, and as it was going on over the light brown, it looked like Pepto Bismol! It took most of an afternoon and evening, but it ended up looking great!
This is the before picture of the bookcase, which Mom sponge painted pink and white when I was a little girl. It originally belonged to my dad and was in his room when he was a little boy.
The after picture of the bookcase, all nice and white :-) I'm pretty sure this is the 4th or 5th time this bookcase has been painted during its lifetime.
My contribution to painting the room- painting the closet! So exciting, right? Once we moved everything out of it, the walls were really scuffed and it looked like a small child drew on the walls with crayons. Its amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do!
A few weeks after we initially painted the room, Mom and Larry came to visit to put everything together (the big elements anyway!). Mom has such an eye for detail and made sure the trim was perfect. She also repainted the ceiling so it would look even more fresh! This is the awkward transition photo, with the old bed and blue bedding and pink walls :-)
Late that evening, we moved all the old furniture out and all of Claudia's furniture in! Larry and Austin put together her crib and changing table. Mom made these adorable curtains and brought them with her from Atlanta. Its hard to see, but the fabric is yellow dotted swiss. Perfect for a baby's nursery! The combination of yellow and pink was Austin's idea.
Larry installing the hardware to hang up the canopy over the crib!
Mom also made this little canopy with side panels to go over Claudia's crib. She did something similar over my twin beds in my room in Georgia. I love the drama and elegance of it. Installing it was trickier than it looks!
Now, drum roll..... the finished product!
This is the view of her nursery from the hallway looking in. I love it! The only thing that isn't finished is there will be pale pink ribbons pulling back each of the panels. I'm going to let Mom do that when she comes for Claudia's birth. It will just look way better than if I do it :-)
Claudia's crib is the Jenny Lind Davinci in cherry. I had the older (and not up to safety regulations) version of this crib in my nursery. I just love the timeless feel of it and I love the color of the wood.
The bedding is the Pink Ruffle Collection from Pottery Barn Kids. I love how girly and simple it is! Don't worry, we will be taking the bumpers off once Claudia actually starts using the crib. But for now, its just so pretty to look at!
The view from the foot of the crib. Its hard to see (I apologize for the picture quality!), but Claudia's name is actually embroidered on the little pillow. Mom gave her a little Gund lamb that is also a rattle that is just waiting for her to get here!
The beautiful art above her crib was made by Austin's mom! We love the movie "Up" and wanted a nod to it in Claudia's nursery. I saw a piece similar to this using the buttons as the balloons on Pinterest and fell in love. Carol actually sewed these buttons on and embroidered the little house and I adore it! We knew we wanted it to hang above her crib! Austin says having it there will be like Claudia is floating off into dreamland. Here is a close up of it:
I love this part of the nursery! We had a lot of books from my childhood already (one of the benefits of having a little girl!) and Claudia has received many of her own books too! Austin and I hope to instill a love of reading in her. I've already been reading to her and look forward to making story time a part of our daily routine.
The beautiful mirror on top of the bookshelf belonged to my Grandmommy Noss when she was a girl. I've always loved the pink roses on it and the edging.
I found the rose prints on Etsy. I really wanted the nursery to have a vintage/shabby chic feel, with pieces that weren't too cutesy or specifically for babies. I want Claudia to be able to use some of this decor later if she wants to. I've always loved roses, and these prints remind me of the room I grew up in at my grandparents house in Paducah. The yellow rose has special meaning to Mary, who is glad that something the Lord uses to signify blessings in her life is present in her niece's nursery.
The toy in the corner was made (yes, made!) by my sister in law, Leslie! They are cloth rings made from cloth she has used to make dresses for our niece, Ailidh. I know Claudia will enjoy playing with it!
A view of the "reading corner" of the room. As you can see, the crib is to the left.
I actually had this pink chair and ottoman from when I was in high school. I love this style chair- Mom and I found it at an antique store in Georgia and had it re upholstered in this small rose colored gingham. Since Austin and I have been married, it has been hiding under a forest green slipcover. Not anymore! The only downside is that it doesn't rock, but we have a wooden rocker (that my Dad and me were rocked in as babies) by her bassinet and a comfy rocker/recliner in the family room. Our needs will be more than met with those items!
The sweet ottoman belonged to my great-grandmother, Chee Chee, who I remember well and lived to be in her nineties. I love having family pieces in Claudia's room!
The lighting isn't the best in this picture, but I love this part of her nursery too! The gorgeous chest of drawers belonged to Austin's maternal great-grandmother (Carol's mother's mother). The wood matches the crib and changing table perfectly! Its so special having it in her nursery. It's already full of her little clothes, socks, shoes, blankets and crib sheets.
My mom is making a yellow runner to go over the top (there are some scratches from a lot of love over the years), but in the meantime, I've put Claudia's baby book and my baby book/photo album on top of it. Austin gave me the willow tree figurine shortly after we found out we were expecting and that seemed like the perfect spot for it.
The shelf has no special significance- haha. I bought it from the unfinished wood section of Hobby Lobby for $8 and painted it the same white as the bookcase. I think it turned out nicely!
The two little dresses (one white, one pink) belonged to my mom as a baby. She used the white dress as decor in my nursery and my sister's nursery. I love how delicate and pretty the dresses are.
The glass baby bottle on top of the shelf also belonged to my mom when she was a baby and the beautiful yellow glass vase was my maternal great-grandmother's. The porcelain figurine of "Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton Tail" (Beatrix Potter) was mine when I was little. Mom found a little Peter Rabbit tea set that is up there too.
Claudia's changing table! The changing table is also the Jenny Lind Davinci collection in cherry. I really like the openness of it. As you can see, Claudia's bag is packed and ready to go to the hospital. We also have her Boppy and diaper bag on there for now.
The baskets are the same white as the bookcase and shelf and have liners that are trimmed with lace (sort of hard to see in this pic). I found them at Hobby Lobby and waited for them to be marked 50% off. The only problem was that these were the only ones left. I'm still on the lookout for two more. It was so fun organizing all of her practical items on here!
The piece above the changing table is my creative contribution to her nursery. I had seen something similar on pinterest, and wanted a place to put photos that we could change out as she grows (without having a bulletin board). So, I came up with this. I got an unfinished frame from Hobby Lobby and stained it myself (there's a first time for everything!). I got a yard of antique rose fabric and cut it into strips. Then I tied the strips onto pink ribbon. Once that was done, I hung both strands across the back of the frame and stapled them into place. Claudia's precious ultrasound photo is secured with a mini wooden clothespin. The fabric really ties in with the rose colored chair and I think contributes to the shabby chic/vintage feel of the nursery. Here is a closer picture of it:
This is Austin's creative contribution to her nursery! He found these little mini frames and canvases on clearance at Hobby Lobby forever ago and said he wanted to make something for her nursery with them. He decided on painting her initials and placed them above her door. He worked really hard on them and I think its really special!
Claudia's closet (with the door open, of course!). I love seeing all of her adorable clothes hanging there. I've divided them by size/month using wooden letter "O"s I found at Hobby Lobby, put scrapbook paper and mod podge on and then labeled with stickers (yet another Pinterest project!). They aren't the prettiest, so I'll just let you use your imagination.
My favorite part of her closet (besides her sweet clothes) is the wooden piece with all the colored drawers! It was made by her paternal great-great grandfather, Claude Ward (one of the men she's named after!). Austin and his siblings used it to store their toys when they were children, and now it holds Claudia's toys! I love that we have so many pieces with family history in her room.
Well, now you've seen her nursery! It was a process, but such a fun one! It's just missing a little girl now!
You can come anytime now, Claudia Grace! We're ready for you!
