two week room

 

 

I'm a project person, by nature.  Steve and I both are, actually.  We have different methods and strengths, but we both love a good project. 

 

So it comes as no surprise that I would want to do a ton of projects to prepare a room for our first child.  I could have worked on that room for months, easily.  But due to the uncertain nature of adoption and my own super-cautious nature, I couldn't bring myself to start on much of anything months ago. 

 

 

So I started about two weeks ago.  You know- around the same time we were buying luggage and shopping for plane tickets, because it seemed pretty certain at that point that we'd be getting a child.  Any sane person, knowing they were leaving the country in three weeks, would have bought some furniture and curtains and things for the walls and called it a day.  I kind of toyed with the idea of doing that. 

 

 

But then I accidentally had some coffee late one afternoon and spent the entire night with my mind racing as I tried to sleep.  I thought up project after project that I really really really wanted to do.  Really.   

 

In the morning, when I was thinking more clearly, I told myself that I should pick a couple projects out of the seven or eight I'd thought up and just focus on those.  But even as I told myself that, I also knew that wasn't what I was going to do.  I was going to do every last one of them. 

 

 

Some things, like the curtains and the fabric bunting and the framed book pages, took just a few hours.  Others, like refinishing the dresser, bookshelves, and wall shelf, took days. 

 

If I had more time this week, I'd love to give you detailed instructions for each project.  But I need to pack and clean the house and do other responsible things, so I think I'll just have time to go into serious detail on the bookshelves.  

 

 

One thing that I am especially excited about though and just have to share is the re-upholstery I did on the chair.  This chair has been in my family since before I was born, I think, and has been mine since I was in high school.  My parents even let me get it re-upholstered at that point and I picked a sensible navy blue.  I have never regretted that decision. 

 

But once we put it in the room, I felt like the navy combined with the dark wood was just too dark.  I wanted to make new covers for the cushions, but needed to keep it both cheap and very child friendly.  So I bought a 6' x 9' canvas drop cloth from Lowe's and was able to cover both cushions with plenty left over!  I love the color of the canvas, it's plenty sturdy, and super washable.  Depending on how messy this kid is, I may end up doing something similar to our sofa cushions. 

 

Here is a quick list of everything I made/updated and a few sources:

 

Curtain: made with fabric scraps cut into 6" wide strips and sewn together

Bunting: same fabric scraps, cut into triangles and sewn together

Wall Art: pages cut from one of my childhood books, put in white frames we already had (Target), purchased charcoal mats at Michael's for $2.99 each

 

 

Mirror: used unframed mirror we already owned (Lowe's).  Bought two 1' square sheets of small white tiles for $2.55 each and one tube of silicone adhesive for $3.48 (Lowe's). 

 

 

Wall Shelf: used wooden shelf we already owned.  Used leftover milk paint and stain from dresser project.  Bought two pieces of scrapbook paper for $.12 each (Michael's), cut to fit, and attached with spray adhesive. 

Chair: used chair we already owned.  Covered cushions with $13 canvas drop cloth (Lowe's)

 

 

Dresser: see this post

Bookshelves: more details coming later this week

 

 

What have we learned here?  Mainly that I am a force to be reckoned with when I set my mind to something.  And possibly that I have trouble showing restraint when it comes to home décor projects. 

 

I'll be back later this week with more details on the bookshelves- they were an Ikea hack that I'm particularly proud of!