Color Vomit 2014

You can finally unclench! It's time for the update of Operation: Nursery 3.0.

Here's where i last left you:

I've since done some updating and it now looks a little more like this:

(This is a single embroidery hoop painted with Behr's Wild Watermelon - the same color i did the closet in - and tied off with a yellow ribbon.)

I got the paper lanterns from Luna Bazaar.

There will be an enormous letter on top of the left bookshelf. I have two already made, but i didn't include either in the pictures because we won't know her name until we see her scrunchy, old man face.

Baby Cam:

There'll also be something on the empty shelf on the right bookshelf, but i'm not sure what. Maybe a gun rack?

For her "artwork," i took a canvas and painted it in the Behr's Wild Watermelon (are you sensing a theme?) and added a small message.

Of course i made the curtains. It's the Fredrika fabric from Ikea at $7/yard, and i got blackout liner from JoAnn's for $3/yard with a coupon. Total cost: $30. For an uber-cute 108" blackout curtain panel! And you see that red clock above the closet? My sister picked it up for me on a thrifting adventure...it was originally gold, but some red spray paint spruced it right up.

I went back and forth with what to put on the broad wall. I'm over canvases, and both of my other kids love their memory boards so i decided to grab some ribbon and small nails and just give her a little memory wall.

I had some blue heart gems lying around (because who doesn't!?) and hot glued them to each of the joints. My older daughter has been populating it with her artwork...

Did you notice the fan? Our $25 builder-grade fan that Chris installed?

Finished product, that doesn't even knock around the paper lanterns as bad as i thought it would:

 I also made the two pictures you see above this bookcase:

(The frames were originally from the master bathroom and were there when we moved in:)

(Pic taken at walk-through)

But, moving on. I painted those frames in, you guessed it, Behr's Wild Watermelon, and began working on making stencils:

 Added glitter:

 Glued them on top of pretty cardstock:

Hung!

The mirror above her dresser was purchased for $10 off of a FB yardsale site. The color was all wrong, but luckily i had some spray paint left over from the outdoor light project. So what was this...:

...turned into this:

There you have it. The almost finished nursery. A few finishing touches here and there and i'll be ready to spend hours upon hours per night in here with my boobs out. We're all excited! All of us! Even you!

Once you go dark...

How i could not have put my biggest, most work-intensive project on the blog so far really speaks to how busy i've been. But at this very moment, i prefer to stay within walking distance from my son's room as he naps (i'm potty training him) since i can't really jet up the stairs at an incredible speed because pregnancy is awesome. The situation really requires me to lay in bed with my laptop. It's a hard life.

In short, here's your update.

I'm sure you remember my banister project in the old house that i thought was such a huge deal until i had to deal with this monster in our current house:

It continues up the stairs and then wraps around the entire hallway:

What had me deciding to start this project is that it was free, since i already had the stain and poly-acrylic on hand from my previous banister project. Plus, i'm very results-driven, and i knew this thing was gonna be a HUGE beast and the quicker i checked it off my to-do list, the better i'd feel.

Step 1: I lightly sanded the whole thing. By "lightly sanded," i mean i scuffed up the protective coat - i didn't remove it all completely. This took months because i had to keep taking weeks off due to crippling morning sickness. Have i mentioned how awesome pregnancy is?

Step 2: I taped it all off. Including the individual spindles, which was probably the most time-consuming part of the whole process.

Step 3: Stain time. I had to do it one section at a time since nap time is only so long. I double-gloved, then applied it with a cotton sock. I had the idea of just staining the balusters and the railing and leaving the bottom white, but i thought the contrast would go better with the carpet. So i decided to go with dark all around. I did two coats of General Finishes gel stain in Java. HIGHLY recommend this.

Step 4: Once the stain was completely dry - and i waited three full days - i applied the poly-acrylic. The reason i let it dry for so long is because the stain is oil-based and the poly-acrylic is water based. If there's one thing i learned about that oil fire in my childhood backyard was that trying to put it out with the hose was a bad idea. (We instead smothered it with my sister's sled.)* So oil and water really don't mix, which it turns out i was taught in school. It's amazing i've survived this long. ...Tangent! But it's cool once everything is dry - really, i promise. Come over and see for yourself. PLUS! Poly-acrylic doesn't yellow over time the way that polyurethane does. I used General Finishes polyacrylic in a satin finish, and i applied this with a sock as well. (I previously applied this with a foam brush but got too many bubbles.)

Before (wayyy Before...this pic was taken at walk-through):

After:

Before:

 

After:

Before:

After:

Oh yeah, then i did the basement one and it took two whole minutes:
Before:

After:

The commitment i put into get this project done over a two-month period (ha) goes unmatched. But like i said: Results.

*We lived in a town house! How did no one call 911!? 

"Tiny Adult" Room

My daughter has made the decision that she is an adult now and should do adult things...aside from changing diapers or doing anything that would remotely help me. Her excuse, while sticking to the point that she is in fact an adult, is saying, "I'm an adult, but i'm a tiny adult." I think she prefers it to "big girl" because i've recently started calling my son a "big boy" and, like most nice things, we can't have that.

So, she's a Tiny Adult. And as such, she can't be seen sleeping in a crib like some jerk baby. So she kicked her crib to the new baby's room, spit on it, and began working on her new bedroom.

Luckily,  my dad and stepmom did the majority of the furnishing. They gave us my sister's old twin bed, and two of their own nightstands that they've since replaced. I found the mid-century Basset dresser at a thrift store for $60. We got started painting them all to match.

I decided to chalk paint them, and i made my own by using 1 part plaster of paris, 3 parts paint, and water to mix. And i decided on chalk paint for two reasons: 1. No prep. Like, zero. and B. It gives a softer finish. I'd decided that the "distressed" look isn't for me, since that's the reason most people prefer chalk painting, but i still appreciate the chalky finish.

Now, the dresser is very lightly distressed. I'd made the decision that the distressed look wasn't for me after the fact. Ain't it always the way?

For all pieces, i used Behr's Ultra White in a flat finish for my DIY chalk paint. The dresser and the nightstands incorporate gray, which is Valspar in an eggshell finish which i also made chalk paint with. I got it in the Oops section at Lowe's for $5, and it's the same gray i used in the new baby's closet. I found that the flat finish was easier to work with than the eggshell finish. It also could have been the difference between Behr and Valspar paint, of which i strongly prefer the former.

After painting, i sealed everything with two coats of General Finishes polyacrylic in satin that i applied with a sock.

Here was her room before the transition:

We later on decided to switch out the drawers with the brown Malm dresser that was in the guest room, and it looked like this:

Here's the new Tiny Adult room:

 

I made her new tulle "poofs" to hang in her corner since she stood on the crib rails and shredded the previous tissue paper ones with her retractable claws. I feel like they're not big enough. Also, she'd want me to tell you that she picked out the drawer pulls. She went in thinking pink, but then she saw blue and had to have both. I would have went with a brushed nickel in a nice design, for what it's worth. ...Which is nothing, apparently.

Fun fact: My great grandmother made that quilt for me when i was a baby and now it's my daughters. Love.

Her bag hangs on her closet door, packed and ready to go to her grandparents' house at a moment's notice.

Her "office drawers" are a more preferable form of toy storage than one simple container.

She can actually see what's on her dresser. I will eventually get a large mirror to hang over it.

 I installed hooks in the middle of her closet door to hold her tutus, and her fancy princess dress hangs up a little higher so her brother "won't put his hands all over it."

That is what the room of a Tiny Adult looks like, in case you'd ever wondered.