Newborn Digs: Step 2

Now that I conquered softening up the pack and play and making it much more our style, I placed it where it was destined to go next to our bed.  However, there were a couple problems:

1) I had to create an area that would serve for the middle of the night feedings and changings, but wouldn't wake us all up completely.

2) The central air vent hit directly on where my newborn baby girl would be sleeping- obviously not ideal.

3) Figuring out where is the best place (easiest access) for supplies when you are half awake in the middle of the night trying to change the diaper on a hungry baby.  Why should I have to bend down to find everything when I could theoretically have everything right within my reach and enabling me to never take my eyes off of my daughter?

4) We need something special with our new daughter's name on it.                                                

5) Doing all of this and still trying to keep our room looking nice.

I was super inspired by a soft white starry look, so I began my projects:

- Small lamp with super soft light and easy to access to on switch
- Starry mobile to distract baby from crying during diaper changes
- Canopy to block the draft from the central air
- Shelf with supplies right next to changing station
- Basket with baby girl name on it
- White ribbon, silver and shimmer details will keep it perfect for a little girl, but still within our decor

Since I have already included my canopy How To in another post I'll spare the details, accept that we made another trip to ikea, got the same hardware I mentioned before, painted it white and attached it to the wall.  We added simple white curtains without blackout liner because it isn't necessary yet- the purpose is to block the draft.  We installed the baby cam and since we were happy with what we had, I was able to then judge what else do to with the amount of space left.

I tried getting some diaper organizers but they didn't look very nice and cheapened the look I was going for, which lead to the shelf and basket idea.  I went to Pier 1 thinking I could get a really nice basket and ended up walking out with the perfect lamp.

I had to get a pretty white shade on this beautiful lamp which has such an unfortunately ugly shade.  I even got it on sale in the store for only $20! Thank you to their daily deals coupon on facebook!

After a trip to Target we got this shelf, lamp shade and a basket- my vision was finally coming together: 

I wanted to hand make her a mobile that went with the look so I went to A.C. Moore and was able to find all the supplies I needed to make the mobile: Felt glitter stars, silver beads, and a loop.  At home I had silver paint and clear fishing wire so as soon as I got these things I got started. 

Unfortunately the only smaller stars they had that were paper or cloth and came in 2 sizes were white glittery felt stars which came in packs of 3 colors, so I had to get a couple to have enough stars.  I picked out the white ones and based on how many I had made piles of 3 and 4, and distributed the silver beads to match up.  We also started painting the loop silver since it would need a couple coats and it dried while I was stringing the stars. 

I threaded a needle with the fishing wire and tied a double knot at the end.  I put it through the center of the stars and added a bead after so as to weigh it down. I measured 6 inches between stars and created 10 strings with 3 stars (1 larger one, 2 smaller ones), 5 strings with 4 stars ( 2 larger ones, 2 smaller ones) and the center string with just 4 larger stars. 

We strung the now silver loop with the fishing wire and started tying the strings of stars to the mobile, obviously starting from the center one, and working out way out.  I was very careful to stagger them so that the middle one was longest. I originally wanted to use white ribbon to hang it up, but ended up using fishing wire because it looked nicer.

I moved on to painting her name in wooden letters in white, and adding a shimmery sparkle coat.  I used my trusty hot glue gun to glue the letters to the basket and added white ribbon bows to the ends. It was the perfect finishing touch for our newborns digs!  Here is the finished product:

Since I took the pictures with my phone (while storming outside) it doesn't really do it justice, but in reality it really gives off the perfect serene feeling you want to bring home your baby girl to.  If I have a chance to take some better pictures later I will surely post! 

Blackout Wall Canopy: How To

For those of you who want to know how this idea came to be, feel free to read up on it at Blackout Wall Canopy: Background.

Now, let's get into how it is done!

Canopy Hardware:

This costs $49 from Restoration Hardware:

This costs $5.99 from Ikea:

You can't get this online from their website, but there is a picture from the store as proof that it exists! It is supposed to be used to help you organize pans such in your cupboards, but works great for canopies as well!

Blackout Canopy:
This costs around $100 for each panel from Pottery Barn Kids:

Because of the width of curtains, you would need 3 to cover the entire area I was looking for.  However, if you get ruffled shower curtains, you only need 2 and they are much cheaper.  The only issue with this is that you need blackout liner still.  However, as long as you have some pins, an iron and a sowing machine, you can add this yourself quite easily.  Again, I have no formal training in ANY of this stuff.  I literally saw a sowing machine on sale one day in college and thought, "that would be useful to have around."  So thanks to the kindness of people on YouTube and How To's, I was able to learn how to use that machine.
This costs $17.99 each from Walmart + $5.95 per yard of blackout liner for each panel:

+          

Total price for 2 Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn Blackout Canopies:  about $750.

Total price for 2 of my DIY versions (including gas for my SUV): about $150.


I followed the instructions on this fantastic blog on how to make the curtains myself, only using the above mentioned materials:  http://www.betterthanicouldhaveimagined.com/2012/05/diy-blackout-curtains-they-are-finally.html

Then we spray painted our Ikea buy to make it the beautiful white canopy hardware we wanted.  This dried outside in a couple hours, but we waited until the next day to hang the curtains on it.

We screwed it to the wall with anchors since the blackout canopies are heavy and they have stayed up perfectly since August!  We use them every day and my daughters naps have been luxurious and last usually about 2 hours!

Now my daughter has her toddler rail and the canopy still makes all the difference.  Here are some pictures of our set up:

Open and closed canopy with the toddler rail

  

Don't worry, we are still keeping our eye on her with the hidden baby monitor!

I really like how they turned out :)

Good luck in creating your canopies!!!

Wasted Space Becomes Closet Space

Our apartment has a strange layout where there are these unusually long hall areas that lead to the very large walk in closets.  However, the closet in our daughters room is being used as more of a storage area and  has stuff in it we definitely don't want them having access to on a regular basis.  So, until now we have simply been putting all Emilia's clothes in her chest of drawers.  Now that #2 will have clothes we need to accommodate as well, we needed to review our options.

I didn't want to buy more furniture because it would just take up their play space and using their closet was also something I did not want to do.  So, I turned to the hall leading to this closet and thought, "Let's just turn this into a closet!"

I started by finding some pretty hanging closet dividers and was luckily able to find some great ones.  Since this project was looking possible, my husband and I went to the local hardware store to see what we could find to hang a rod from a wall with.

Originally I wanted to hang it from the ceiling, but our ceiling is concrete so that was not an immediate option.  We were able to buy these plant brackets and spray paint them white so they were not so obvious.

We hung the rod from the brackets with some beautiful pink ribbon I got and have used around the room to accent things.  It looks great and works so well if you don't have a closet!

We also went ahead and put up a pocket shoe organizer on the wall and are using it for all sorts of things besides her shoes- burp clothes, combs and brushes, hair bows, nail care stuff.  The possibilities are endless and it is a really easy way to organize things for kids.

Below the closet are storage bins for all her toys.  I have them separated into a bin for balls, a bin for soft toys, and a bin for everything else. Why you may ask?  Because my daughter loves to hide my keys and this way I can shake the bins and if I don't hear them in the first 2 bins then I only have 1 bin to look through!

We have had this area like this since July and it had worked out perfectly.  It also contains the mess a lot and forces my daughter to put things back if she wants room to play with new things!  She hasn't taken to just moving everything over to the big space in her room, but I'll let her figure that one out on her own, lol.

Sofia vs. Pack and Play: Making our Pack and Play beautiful

Many of you may also be torn between the functionality and ease of a Pack and Play, yet wanting to keep a sophisticated look while your newborn stays with you in your room.  This is how I solved that problem:

Normally I would probably try to sow something myself but I was impatient and just ordered two bed ruffles for a twin bed.

When I got them, I ironed them and tied a knot so that the cloth would meet and I could fit it around the Pack and Play.

Since the first fit easily and looked good I repeated with the second and then clipped the bassinet portion over ruffles to keep it in place.

 With this small upgrade I was able to really change the look of our Pack and Play and I am much happier bringing our new daughter back to this sophisticated and functional option.

 The only question left is if I should add a canopy... a very good question indeed! :-)

DIY Scrollwork Mirror & Cork Board

I absolutely love the antique hand crafted frames Restoration Hardware Baby & Child had put in their catalog.  They make a kids room look so much more sophisticated as you can see below:

However, the cork board costs $299 and the mirror runs at $399, not something I was hoping to have to pay.  My first thought was to check out ebay and craigslist for people selling frames and painting them the color I wanted.  However, it wasn't much better there!  Everything ran at about $100 each- again I was sure I could do better.

So, with a turn to my new favorite store Ikea, I got lucky.  For only $39.99 I found the UNG DRILL mirror pictured below- you can pick this up at most Ikea stores around the world actually.  Sure, right now it doesn't look very nursery friendly, but with a little spray paint you can see it transform yourself!  

  

We started with some primer spray paint because the frame is plastic and black.  Then with some flat white spray paint we finished it off so it would look less plastic looking and more like wood.  It took quite a few coats but I was determined!

Next I wanted something large and rectangular to make the cork board with.  However, I had no such luck anywhere.  The only option I could think of was to buy a cork board and turn to the local hardware store to create it myself.

At Home Depot I was able to pick up a variety of molding accents (like the ones pictures) and used a combination of them to create the look I wanted.  I ended up spending about $60 on this project between buying the cork board and the combination of accent moldings.  It was a little more than I wanted to spend on something that could end up not working out, but it was a huge cork board and I decided to move forward with it because I had no other ideas.

 

By using a combination of wood glue and my trusty hot glue gun I was able to create I frame I was thrilled with.  

Since I wanted a really sophisticated look, I used a coat of primer then painted on top with white paint.  In the end the cork board came out fabulous and was totally worth it!  

Here are the finished products in their room!! 

  

Blackout Wall Canopy: Background

*For instructions please see Blackout Wall Canopy: How To

For some people adding a canopy to their bed is a luxury. For us parents who are willing to do anything to get a couple extra minutes of sleep, the idea of a blackout canopy is genius.  So, how do we make this idea a reality? Let's start by going over the fact that I could not find ANYTHING like this anywhere.  No one uses canopies around their children's cribs to keep out light, this seems crazy to me as so many people use blackout curtains in their nurseries and rooms.  So, I needed to draw inspiration from the looks I love.

 Love this room from Restoration Hardware's Baby & Child :

 

The bassinet from Babies"R"Us is close, but these curtains from Pottery Barn Kids are perfect:

Only problem is that to completely surround a crib, you would need 3 of the Pottery Barn Kids Ruffle Blackout curtains which at $99 each, puts you at over $300 with shipping for just 1 crib.  As I mentioned before, I am preparing a nursery for 2 girls under the age of 2 so canopies for both would put me at $600 for just curtains. Let's continue though, I'll get to the total price break down in a second. 

The obstacle: 

For some reason, our ceiling is concrete.  My husband tried drilling into the ceiling and broke the drill bit he was using.  So, we need to hand this canopy off the wall. The only wall canopy I have been able to find that is remotely sensible is this following one from Restoration Hardware's Baby & Child: 

Surprisingly enough, this is only $50, which is just a fraction of the other wall canopy hardware you find out there. 

So, if I used the products from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child and Pottery Barn Kids, I would find myself making 2 blackout wall canopies for $700 plus shipping, so probably around $750.  While I would gladly pay this for the extra sleep I know this will afford me, I just had to see what I could do about it.  Paying this much for some fabric and a twisted pieces of metal just seems absurd when you aren't sleep deprived and  can think clearly about it.  

Lucky for me I was able to do the below for under $200.  My next post will explain how:

Newborn Digs: The Plan

I am currently 8 months pregnant with our second daughter (yay!) and am coming to terms with the fact that even though our first daughter is not even 2 yet, most of what we have is either out of date, or just not my style anymore.  Does it bother me enough to go buy new things?  No.  However, it does frustrate me enough that I want to invest in a little updating where I can pull it off.

My latest dilemma is surrounding the bassinet.  When we had our first daughter, we thought we were incredibly clever by purchasing a 3 in 1 bassinet that had a changing table piece you attach on top so we could save space.  However, when you are up for weeks with no more than 2 hours of a sleep at a time from nursing around the clock, have a crying baby, a husband who seems to sleep and snore through anything, and are trying to juggle that and putting your changing table up with only 1 hand, you suddenly don't feel so clever.  It was a great idea in theory, but not for us.

We ended up getting a pack and play with a changing table that is already attached at the end once our daughter got too tall for the bassinet and it was like heaven- the beauty of hindsight!  We had our daughter in our room with us until she was 6 months old (as recommend by the Pediatrician) and plan to do so again with our second, so last week I had my husband pull it out of the closet so we could start arranging the room and prepare for our second little bundle of joy.

This is when I think I actually looked at it for the first time- oh my.

Surely I had better taste back then, it was only over a year ago that we purchased it!  The colors, the patterns, the look and design...I couldn't help but want to pout.  Functionality wise, it is still everything I could possibly want or need.  But is it fit for my second precious little girl?  No. Well, not yet anyway- I have a plan!

Since I have basically have no time to sow something myself, which I am seriously tempted to do, I had to settle for finding a more creative approach.  I want to essentially create a cover that will go around the pack and play and hide the design so it matches the decor of our bedroom.  After toying around with several ideas and some price comparisons, I settled on ordering 2 wrap around bed ruffles which I will be attaching to the pack and play, then adding a canopy on top.  So, I get to keep the practical and add a much more sophisticated look then you can even buy.

So stay tuned for Sofia vs. Pack and Play, I will post the pictures of my process so I don't leave out any gory details!  

Introductions are in order!

Every time I flip through a new catalog or scroll through a favorite website I wonder what those rooms look like after a month of use, or with real toys or kids playing. Would it stand the test of reality?  I feel as though most of these staged ideas would miss the mark and leave moms like my self in morning of our beautiful rooms, and with quite a bill to pay.  This blog is about a regular mom with no formal training, but a love for the stylish and crafty.  With kids, animals and limited space to contend with, I hope many can find inspiration in my unstaged solutions. 

That being said- Hi! I'm Sofia, thanks for reading!