Sunday, November 16, 2008

Designing Woman

DH will be the first to tell you that I've gone a little crazy with decorating the nursery. I ordered prints from the UK as the focal point for the room's theme. When I was a child we had a couple of books by Cicely Mary Baker about Flower Fairies. The are from the 1950s so they aren't the cute-sy Disney style of fairies. I decided that if I was going to have a girl I would use that as the theme for her room. Good thing we ended up with a girl because I'm not sure what I would have done for a boy!

I ordered 6 prints and ended up getting them custom framed at Michael's. I was just going to have them matted to fit a regular frame but they were having a 60% off custom framing sale. See how much money I saved you, honey? Hee hee.



We picked up a rug off of Craig's List that is primarily lavender and green (with some cream and yellow) that is a perfect fit for the room and hardly used! The last two things I need to think about are fabric for the curtains and paint colors. My mom has graciously offered to sew the curtains so I'm trying to track down the perfect fabric. So far, after perusing 5 fabric stores I am not happy with anything. If anyone knows of a great online store that I can get samples from, let me know.

The pain colors are also throwing me for a loop. DH has said he is willing to go as crazy as I want and I'm thinking striped walls could be good. But perhaps too busy with a patterned rug? I know I have tons of time but I am the type of person who wants it done now. I will definitely post some before and after pictures so you can all marvel at the massive amount of work that DH will have done. As I type this he is re-building a custom built-in for the closet. It's so great to have a handy husband! I am more likely to outsource...

As I have been going through this process I do have to wonder, how much effort do people put into nurseries these days? I mean, aside from the ridiculous spreads in design magazines and the parents in Us Weekly. There is a limited life span to a nursery which means it will have to be done again within 10 years. If I hadn't focused on a theme I probably would have slapped some paint on the walls, arranged the furniture and called it a day.

All I know for sure is that we can't move for many, many years. I have several rooms now decorated and I refuse to start over again in a new location! Up next, our bedroom and bathroom...but that might be a lot farther out once the little one gets here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOVE the pictures! and the theme! and your blog, always! Altho wish you would correct the spelling of your profile "English" major. . .it's really not a good spelling for English majors! :)

Anonymous said...

Forgot to sign the comment--from your favorite grandmother!

Donna said...

I have to admit, I am a little jealous! Wish I had a girl to do the fairy theme. But I have to tell you the prints are great. Please post pics when the nursery is done.

Ye Hollywoode Troubadour said...

Ooh, I love decorating! What about lavender walls with a white chair-rail and crown molding?

Natalie said...

i have to say that i'm happy to see these pictures. when you first told me fairies, I was afraid this was going down a very frightening sci-fi route. I pictured unicorns and fantasy creatures like you read about all the time and I thought maybe it ahd gone to your head. but these are adorable and just perfect for a little girl's room.