Nursery Reveal!

It is time! With a month left now, we have finally finished our nursery! And we have loved putting it together and wanted to share it with all our friends and family to see... we can't wait to bring our little girl home!

This room has been a full-time job for Daniel and I. For the past two years this room was the bane of my existence... it was empty and it continually reminded me of the trials that I was having with pregnancy. So this time when we found out we were pregnant again I told Daniel we needed to paint it... I was determined to be optimistic and darn it... we were going to paint even before we knew what we were having! We chose a beautiful soft grey that would work great for a baby boy or girl! Once we found out it was a girl I went and found these soft purple/white drapes that really softened the room.

Our first job was buying all the furniture that we needed... I am a weirdo and I have to get a good deal for things, I find great satisfaction in the hunt and knowing that I walked away with an amazing deal. First I did my research, I knew I wanted a white nursery and I familiarized myself with name brands and reviews. We went to baby stores and made lists of everything that we wanted for the baby... and then I attacked craigslist. I would check craigslist about 3 times a day looking for specific items and if they didn't have what I wanted or if the price was too high then I waited for something else to come along... we did have 9 months after all!

Very early on I realized that if I bought everything that I wanted right out of the store, it would cost me a bajillion dollars, and while we are on a student budget... that just wasn't going to be happening! My goal was to find high quality furniture and refinish it to make my own nursery set of my dreams!

On CL I was able to find a dresser/changing table that was high quality (real wood, great condition, and dove tailed drawers) If I was going to spend any time refinishing furniture I wanted it to last! We were able to negotiate and buy it for $60... it was the most expensive piece we bought in the entire nursery, but it was my missing puzzle piece that I needed... and through all the research I had done I still felt great about the deal we made.

We sanded and painted, sanded and painted, sanded and painted, sanded and painted! Daniel added the beautiful brushed nickel knobs as well and it really tied everything together!

One day whilst going out and about to garage sales, we came across a set that I wanted. The armoire was absolutely beautiful and provided some much needed storage. The owners were actually selling the armoire, the Shermag rocking chair/glider and ottoman, and a matching crib. All the pieces were in excellent condition but the downside was that the crib was a drop down gate crib and I really wanted a sleigh crib. So we did what we do and we made a lowball offer and walked away with all three pieces for $75! But my favorite part of the story is that I put that crib on craigslist the next day and sold it for $100! 

 Thank heavens my mom came into town to help me recover this little beauty. I would never have been able to wrap my mind around it without her... and it is always so much fun to have projects when you have a friend to help! I was able to get the fabric for super cheap at JoAnns (thank you coupons!) and we went to work cutting, sewing, stuffing, and constructing! I love the unique pop that it adds to the nursery and I can't wait for the countless hours that I will sit there holding our baby girl.

Next was the crib... after all the sanding and painting I knew that I wanted to find a crib that was already white. I also didn't want to have to worry about painting something where our baby was going to be spending so much time and would likely chew on. All the work paid off, I responded to an ad on CL within 30 minutes for a white Million Dollar Baby convertible Crib... we got this little gem for $40...

When all was said and done, we purchased all of our nursery room furniture for $75!

Daniel and I had different visions on what we wanted above the crib... I was leaning towards making a photo and frame collage but he didn't love that idea. Together we found these fun canvases on pinterest... (sidenote: that is the sign of a good man... someone who will pinterest baby stuff with you!) They were selling a different version of them for $30+ a canvas... so i decided to make my own! I already had the canvases so i painted them and set to work making the little felt flowers.... they are the most time consuming and intricate little things ever... so after lots of cutting, hot glueing, and 10 burnt fingers later... we were so excited about how it turned out and how perfectly the purples matched with the bedding!

My other art work came from pinterest as well (what did we every do without pinterest?!) I saw this canvas on there and knew I had to make my very own! Thankfully I had all the supplies! Viola!

We just finished with our final touches! My mom is an angel and printed our baby announcement on canvas for us and she also found the perfect lamp for the room! 

I couldn't have finished this project without my mom who helped me with the chair and gave me her opinions over facetime, my sister who was always so encouraging and helped me to figure what I would really need and use, and of course my amazing hubby! He spent countless hours painting and sanding and moving furniture. He is the most handy man I know and I am so grateful that he was so patient with me throughout these past 8 months of hard work (while going to grad school full-time!)

I love all the details that have come together. Sometimes I just walk into this room and sit on the glider and can't wait for this little one. Often I walk down the hall and catch Daniel standing in to doorway just looking in and admiring it. And after months and months of hardwork (especially by my manly hubby) we are ready to welcome our little angel into this little piece of heaven that we have made for her.