Happenings this week....

This weekend Greg and I moved our guest bed and headboard into the front room.

Wow, is this room smaller! But, this is a blessing in disguise! We want to make this room super inviting and have everything our guests need---since they will be staying several days at a time to help out with BB. Being a smaller room, we need less things!

All we need is another nightstand, a dresser and tv, and new drapery.  I want to refinish the nightstand that we have now and possibly add a small chair and the room will be done!

So here's the nursery is empty for now.

But wait, we bought something to finally have proof that a baby is on the way!

Ta da!!!!

Let's just say we went on a shopping spree today. We had found the stroller and car seat that we wanted several months ago, but didn't want to fork up all the change for it. Plus if we got this, we weren't sure what else people might want to buy for gifts (shallow, I know--but really? Do you know how much stuff Baby needs?)

Well, when we were buying the crib, we saw that our beloved stroller had a sale going on--buy the stroller and get the car seat free- I mean holy moly! Saving over $200 for something I really want? Yes please! But they only had a few strollers left and the manufacturer ran out of stock because of this deal--so what the store had was all that was left, decision made--we walked out the door with this....

yay!

So we are almost at the half way mark and there's finally a bump that looks like a BABY bump, not that I ate too many tacos!

Can't wait to get started on the rest of the nursery!!!

We are having a garage sale today, so hopefully we can get some dolla-dolla-bills-yall to get everything else rolling!

Decision Time!

I have been looking and looking since the day we found out that we are pregnant for a crib. I am down to two and can't make up my mind.

Which would you choose?

Here are my list of wants for the crib:
-Gender Neutral
-Modern without feeling harsh
-Didn't want the style with a headboard/footboard look.
-Low profile so that my short self could reach baby- even with mattress at the lowest level.
-Bright white to soft white
-Not to fussy
-Sturdy--can last for more than one baby
-Something that clean lined furniture can look good with.

Without further ado... here are the top 2!

#1

Stanley Furniture Crib

Pros: Great look, know it is good quality, good size, no exposed screws

Cons: more expensive, thick base does not show off bed skirt well, side rails a TAD wobbly, won't ship until August

My cost: about $600 plus shipping

#2

AP Industries

Better Detailed Picture of the Crib (shown in off white)

Pros: This is a floor model, so it is bargain priced!!!!, Can have it put together tonight!!, VERY sturdy, good look, nice details, side rails are great height for me, has the modern flair that I like

Cons: Floor model- in good condition, but people have touched it, the feet are not as substantial looking as option 1, is this a look I will like for the next baby SEVERAL years away?, screws are exposed on sides.

My cost: $295 (regular $595) and it comes home with me today!

So Cast your Votes!!! 

Who's gonna win? #1 or #2???

Design To-dO list...update

Well, if anyone remembers I posted this in January of the things I wanted to do this year in our house.

To Do List

I looked at my list last night and realized that I am half-way through the year (sort-of) and many of these have not been done or have been taken over by more important "to-do"s.

So five months in to 2011..here is my new

TOP 10 TO-DO'S

.
1. Design a Gender Neutral nursery-- not in the traditional soft blues and yellows and greens while still keeping it baby and fun!

Fabric being used "Somewhere" in the room. Possibly the bumper or part of the drapery.

Either the drapery or the bed skirt.

Possible chair fabric.

 
Babies love color and contrast and I want to create a stimulating room that will be great for the baby, but also something I will enjoy since I will be in that room ALOT!





2. Guest Bedroom Refresh- We are switching the guest bedroom to the smaller bedroom upstairs to have a larger nursery.

Guest bedroom before the switch.

With a few accessories, new drapery, and new nightstands and some type of chest--this room will be complete! I know we will have lots of visitors when BB is born, so I really want to create a relaxing room that our guests will enjoy!

3. Backyard for BB. Our backyard consists of weeds and rocks-- no place for a baby to play. We had hoped to be able to lay sod out this spring so that BB would have a great backyard to play in next summer--but only time will tell if our bank account is up for the challenge!

Our sad little backyard!

4.Backsplash for Kitchen.  I still want to put this in my kitchen.

5. Add shelving in BB's closet.

Let's face it-- it's long and very narrow. There are only two rows of rods at the end. Tons of wasted space. I want to add shelving on one side of the closet to at least have some extra storage space!


6. Drapery overhaul.  We will need drapery in the nursery and new guest room. We still need drapery in the bonus room and it would be great to have some that would block out the street lights when we watched a movie! The kitchen drapery I made a faux-paux when I originally ordered them. See the window is too large to be completely covered with the panels. By the time I worked up the courage to splurge on two more panels for each side, they were discontinued and I couldn't get my hands on them! So I am now thinking to just add sheers on the inside to help hide the fact that these drapery aren't the perfect size.

Love these drapery!

7. Artwork.   Simply-- my walls are bare and I am ready to spice up our home! I have a ton of things from when I lived in Italy, but have never framed them. I want to reinstate my plan of getting one piece of art framed a month and slowly loose my blank canvas look!

 

7B. Paint. I have been inspired by several of the blogs that I read to start painting again. I would love to make something whimsical and impressionistic for the nursery. Maybe I will sit down one day and just do it!

 If you haven't seen this artist's work, I think you should check it out--quite wonderful! I love reading her blog also!


8. Kitchen chairs- Before we bought this table, our chairs looked fine with our "junktique" find of a table. Now that we have this nicer table, my hand-me-down chairs aren't fitting the bill. Plus, several are broken and the paint is chipping off.

I originally wanted something like this...

(not this fabric)

But knowing a baby with never clean hands is on the way-- I'm thinking these might be the smarter choice!

9.  Paint my Laundry room. Right now it is a soft cream-- the room always looks fresh and clean and honestly, BORING.  I want to paint it a vibrant color--the only problem is that we keep this door open (because that's where the pet's food is) and so you can see this color in the kitchen. So I have to pick something that would work with what's going on in the kitchen--but I keep thinking of some sort of green.
Like this...

10. Figure out how to make the bonus room our movie room, our office, and add shelving and a toy area as a playroom:  Without it looking like the room has a split personality!!!

Sorry- nobody sees a picture of this hot mess up here!

Well there are a million more things on the list, but those are the ones I hope to accomplish by October--or at least by the end of the year!!

How are your 2011 resolutions/ to-do lists coming along?