Friday, June 25, 2010

It Starts.

The nursery, that is.

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Up until last week, it hadn't changed much since this post. Besides getting messier and more full of stuff.

But now?

We're taking baby steps.

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Here are our loose nursery plans:

Color:
For the walls? Green!
To be more specific, it's called Bay Laurel from Restoration Hardware.

We also plan to use punchy accents of yellow, pink, and orange.

Style:
When it comes to decorating a little girl's room, we're all for sweet, feminine, and cozy. But we're also going to try and avoid a pure pink explosion! When it comes to nursery stuff, we're most drawn to modern furniture and prints.

Furniture:
For our crib, we really like this one:
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It's from Wal-mart. I saw it used over at Young House Love and really liked the looks of it. Plus, it's pretty inexpensive. Bonus!

For a rocking chair/nursing chair, I was pretty tempted by something like this early on (photo from pottery barn kids):
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But these suckers are PRICEY, and we figured we could do without. We have an old IKEA Poang chair that we bought right after we got married, which I'm sure will work out fine! Friends of ours have used Poang chairs for nursery chairs and have been happy with the results. Plus, it continues to be the single most comfortable seat that we own. Couch included, in my opinion.

Here it is in our very first apartment!
ikea table with our new blue runnerbl


We'll probably just buy it/make it a new pad to match our decor.

We're still working out dresser options. We'd like something that's has a pretty simple look and modern lines, to go with the crib. And we'd rather go with a shorter, longer one so that we can top it off with a changing pad. Any suggestions?

Misc.

I'd really like to include a built-in bookshelf along a particular stretch of the window wall. It's an awkward little spot and I think it'd be great to find build in shelves to house some books. Because goodness knows any child of ours will have lots of books. She already does.

We're also going to install a ceiling fan. Our A/C is great downstairs but our 2nd floor gets TOASTY on hot summer days and nights. We put one in our room and DANG is there a big difference. Plus, the existing light fixture is ugly. It needs to go.


I'd love to hear your suggestions for companies, websites, ideas, etc. for sweet modern nurseries. Or just any baby gear, really. Cloth diapers? Bottles? Changing pads? Bouncy seats? I'm a novice at this!

5 comments:

Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife said...

I cannot wait to see the nursery progress! I love the green color. It's going to be gorgeous!

We use Fuzzibunz cloth diapers, and we LOVE them! I bought mine off ebay for about half of what you pay new, and they have payed for themselves about 5 times over! Definitely a great investment, easy to use, and good for the environment. Also, we used disposables until my son was about 2 months. It made life a lot easier since in the first few months they pretty much only eat and poop constantly! = )

Good luck! = )

the buurstra's said...

First off...the Lion King border?! It's so retro, you should totally keep it! ;)

Love the paint choice-can't wait to see it all done up.

I think the only baby item that we got that we could have done without is the full-size high chair. Takes up alot of room and they're in it for about a day and next thing they are big enough for a booster. The more compact ones that fit on a regular chair are great.

I know you didn't ask for comments about the nursery chair but I'm gonna give them anyways. :) If you're planning on nursing I'd make sure that it is a very supportive chair for your back. And make sure you can use a nursing pillow in it comfortably. And a footstool. I learned the hard way w/ that one.

If you do go the disposable route, I've heard good things about the
g diapers, although they are somewhat pricey. Target ones are the cheapest and are good quality...I've done the research.

Ooooh, and the other thing: even though it's fun to get a big, fancy stroller...I totally wouldn't do a travel system if I were going to do it over again. A really good umbrella (we have a McClaren that I love) will get a ton of mileage. Just give a though to a year or two down the road when you MAY just need a double of some kind...then the single doesn't get much use.

My 2 cents. Such a fun time!! Enjoy all the planning!

Paulina said...

what an exciting time!
I'm with the first comment on wait a couple of months to do cloth diapers. I use simple unbleached prefolds with thirsties diaper covers -- cheap and easy! And when we use disposables, I love target diapers too!! they are great for the price. I also love maclarens...but for when they're a little older. Maclaren makes a nice car seat stroller that you can just pop the car seat into for when all they do is hang out in the car seat! And when they're transitioning from car seat to sitting in a stroller - make you sure you have a stroller with a tray! that is soooo handy (in my opinion)!

Ani said...

we love love LOVE our bum genius cloth diapers! We have the one-size kind, and so far they still work with our almost-three year old (who will hopefully be potty-trained by the end of the summer!). And when we've used disposables (for travel) we've had a good experience with the target brand as well :)

We also just have a changing pad on top of a dresser- we have the four-drawer Ikea MALM dresser, and the only thing is that it's too high for my mom, who is (barely) five feet tall to reach...so if you plan on having any short people change your baby girl's diaper, make sure you don't choose a dresser that's too tall :)

And our #1 baby item that we absolutely could not live without is our ERGObaby baby carrier. I can't even describe how awesome it is. Our son weighs 33 pounds, and we still use it all the time with him- he actually prefers it to being in a stroller. We used it recently on our adoption trip to Ethiopia, and he was in it while we were at the airport (it doesn't have metal on it, so you can walk through security without taking it off), during our layover in Rome (we probably walked about 10 miles with him in it), and basically everywhere we went. He falls asleep in it easily, and it's fun because we can have him a lot closer to us and interact with him more than we would if he were in a stroller. Not something you need right away (although I would recommend a Moby wrap right away...so nice and cuddly for little babies), but I would definitely recommend it for when baby gets a little bigger...maybe keep an eye out for one on craigslist or mom2mom sales, since they are a little pricey as far as baby carriers go :)

Have fun choosing baby things! I love your nursery ideas!

Jenner said...

so excited about your nursery. we have a big hermes shorter dresser from Ikea that would work well for a changing table too. it has a lot of drawers though so it might be too much space, it does come in a white-ish color though! and the one thing i think is really important is a rocking chair. once i got a really cute PB looking one at a floor sale for 60% off and then sold it 2 years later for the same amount on craigslist. just an idea. i loved it though. i like target diapers and the white cloud brand from walmart.