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! 

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.

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!!