The Nursery, part 1

As I've mentioned, Andy is very, very motivated to make progress on the nursery in any way possible.  I figured that to help with the process, I would keep you all informed about said progress :-)

First, the plan.  I had decided long ago on a jungle/safari theme with a lot of greens and browns.  Gender neutral, but nowhere near pastel or yellow or anything like that.  Bright and fun, that's how I like it!  I found some adorable TY beanie babies (remember those??) at my store and bought them up last fall.  They're called Beanie Boos and they are stinking adorable.  Look it up.  Seriously.  Go Google it now, I'll wait for you to get back.

. . . 

See?  Aren't they cute?!  I got the Lion, Monkey, Giraffe, and Elephant.  I'm still contemplating whether or not I want the zebra.  Anyway, they'll probably sit on a shelf with some canvases that I will make with letters to spell Baby's name.  So that was the entire foundation of my idea for the nursery.  Pretty loose concept, right?  The next thing we did was buy a glider with matching gliding ottoman.  Yeah.  We were at a thrift store and Andy spotted it in their tiny little furniture section.  He had me sit in it and I nearly fell asleep.  It was just that comfortable.  So we bought it for a whopping $13.  Plus tax, of course.  When we got home, we did a little research and found out that it is a nearly $500 Dutalier glider and ottoman set!  The cushions need recovered, but mom is taking care of that for us.  Thanks, mom!!  The wood was also a very light shade, which really did not fit my taste.  See?

Not the prettiest thing ever, but definitely the comfiest!

It was then that we made the next big decision about the nursery design.  We wanted to buy the crib new, so that it would meet all of the current safety standards, and decided to go with white so that it would be easy to match other furniture to.  For the rest of the furniture, we're going with used.  We won't be getting a changing table because we decided to use a dresser and one of those changing pads on top.  We were shopping around on Craigslist and found a set of dressers that were in good shape and could easily be sanded and painted white and they were even a reasonable price!  However, they were way too big for in a nursery.  And they came with a queen bed frame, headboard, and footboard.  Not really something we needed for in there.  And then it hit me.  Upgrade our furniture and then use ours for in the nursery!  Since getting married over three years ago, we've been using a hodgepodge of furniture from our childhood bedrooms and the frame that our mattress came with.  It's about time for an upgrade.  So we bought the new furniture and moved it in and we love it.  Maybe we'll refinish it some day too, but for now it's perfectly functional they way it is.  

So we took the old dressers down to the basement with the chair and Andy got right to work.  

The dresser that was in my bedroom growing up.

He sanded down the chair and the low dresser that will be the changing table.  We decided not to use the tall dresser (that was his) because of some detail work that didn't look like it would sand very well.  Instead, we will be using the wardrobe that matches my old dresser.  It's a beautiful old waterfall set that we are all sure will look just lovely in white.  The wardrobe is currently still living at my parents' house, so it hasn't been started yet, but that's ok.  The rest is making wonderful progress!  

The 'painting room' makes the basement looks like the scene of an alien autopsy!

Painted chair parts

The ottoman is completely done and the chair is almost there.  After that, it's the dressers and after that, we're stuck.  You see, here's the nursery . . .

This will be the nursery.  Minus the horses, of course.

Unfortunately, that's not the house we currently live in.  So, aside from little decorative projects here and there, the rest will have to wait until we move.  The hope is that the timing will all line up perfectly, but the realist in me knows how unlikely that really is.  I'm trying not to think about it so it doesn't stress me out.

One last picture and I can take very little credit for it.  This is the quilt that my mom made for the nursery.

I can't wait to wrap my munchkin up in this beautiful, snuggly quilt!

Isn't it fabulous?!?!  You can see her entire post about it here.  I've been in love with the animal fabric for years and my mom, my sister, and I spent a few hours in Joann's one Sunday afternoon picking out the rest.  I haven't even seen it in person yet, but I absolutely adore it.  She'll be making more to go along with it, including a diaper bag, a cover for the car seat, and the rest of the bedding for the crib.  I can't wait!  Everyone is working so hard to make a beautiful home for this baby to be born into, I'm just so overwhelmed and grateful.

That's what we've got thus far.  I'll keep you updated as more exciting things happen!