big boy room {beds}

There is a cute little, relatively new, consignment and antiques shop in Savannah. Joe and I visited back in May and got lucky, finding something perfect for Joseph's big boy room on the first stop on our hunt. Of course, just as happened with my wedding dress (among other purchases), sometimes when I find something perfect (or darn close to it) on my first try, I doubt my decision and keep looking…eventually leading me right back to the thing I saw in the first place.

And that's what happened. A few weeks later when we were back in Savannah, I called Clutter (cute store name, huh?) to see if the beds had been sold. They hadn't, surprisingly, and were loaded in my car an hour later. They were even better than I remembered, made of mahogany and in good condition. I stored them at my mom's house until we exchanged beds for kids week before last.

Joseph was one step closer to having a big boy bed…or two.

My plan is to create a "big boy" room from a nursery, on a very small budget, not changing wall color, rug or any other furniture. Essentially, the only difference is the beds. Not a lot of fun for a designer who likes to make changes, move things around, decorate and re-decorate. But such is the case. And again, the budget is itty bitty. The challenge is finding bedding that will work in the space and figuring out where to put everything.

Here's my starting point:

I liked Joseph's nursery. {I would rather not have carpet, but I live in a parsonage, so I'm limited to the changes I can make.} It has evolved over the last three years with subtractions (the changing table) and additions (the teepee, his second birthday present). When I put the room together, I selected things that could be a part of his room for years to come. There are many special elements and things that are very old and have been a part of our family for a long time, so I'm glad that I created a room that could grow with him, so to speak. We'll see how it turns out. I do like how the beds look in there…

We didn't have the mattresses when the kids came home from Camp Meme, so Joe took the one off of Hannah's trundle to put across some wood slats. Joseph was very eager to sleep in a big boy bed when he got back, as we FaceTimed while he was in Savannah and he saw the work-in-progress.

Figuring out the beds - and by that I mean mattresses and box springs - was a headache. The beds are lower because that's just how they made beds back then, and a standard box spring at 9" would put the mattress (also 9") so high it would cover up the beautiful spindles. Which is the whole point of these cute antique beds we love. 

I bought the mattresses from a wholesale mattress place in Savannah, but they were out of stock on the low-profile box springs. I researched a few options: go with bunkie boards, have boxes made with 2x4s and plywood at the local building supply company, or special order low-profile box springs to be shipped to a store here. You can buy low-profile foundations (4" or 5" height) online, but they are hard to find in twin size (without also buying the mattress) and they are expensive when you go that route. Due to cost, practicality, and options #1 and 2 making the beds a little low for what I wanted, I ended up going with option #3. We are cooling our heels while we wait for them to arrive.  

I'm ready for this bed saga to be over. I have mattress pads, duvets and sheets and have ordered duvet covers. Keeping my eye out for cute stuff like throw pillows to add to the mix. And the best part is - Joseph is so excited! About the beds…not about throw pillows. When planning this room, Joe often reminds me it belongs to a boy…and boys don't care. 

But I do…and so it will look nice. :)

the nursery: part 6

{In case you missed the previous nursery posts, they are here: one, two, three, four, and five.}

Well, this is way overdue. The last nursery post was two and a half months ago. I haven't done much of anything since then, but it has taken a while for me to take pictures and blog about it. I kept putting it on the back burner so I could blog about more current events {when I actually had the time to blog}.

Since Joseph has officially moved in to his room, I thought I should get my act together. After all, I know you can't wait to see how it all came together. Right...? So, without further ado.

I did not want an over-planned space. I was hesitant over any "theme". I really wanted the room to be a collection of things we like, appropriate for a baby, but having the ability to morph into a boy's room when Joseph is a little older. This nursery took almost a year to come together (ideas swimming around in my head for quite a while), but we did move in the middle of it so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. You could say the room has a something-old-something-new-something-borrowed-something-blue theme. I used a mix of old and new, rustic and refined elements, and nautical accents. I like natural textures and a neutral color palette. I found the bedding and worked around it.

Upon walking into the room, this is your view. The door on the right wall is the jack-and-jill bath that connects Hannah's room. The window is on the front side of the house.

The rug is one of my favorite things about the room. It is a Moorish tile rug from Pottery Barn. I don't think they sell it anymore. I fell in love with it years ago. It was in our living room in the last house, but matched the trim on the crib bedding perfectly.

There you see where the oars made their landing. My handy husband hung those up. I wrote about the glider in a previous post. Both that - with new cushions - and the changing table came from Hannah's nursery. I switched the white rattan baskets for natural sea grass ones instead.

The window treatments were done by a church member here who is a seamstress. {Though Ann insists that she is not a professional, I think she did a great job.} I went with a casual, but tailored, pinch-pleat design with a standard rod-and-ring system. Ann tucked drapery pins in the pleats for easy hanging. As for fabric, I chose a natural linen for the body and a slate seersucker for the trim. I asked for the three-inch band of seersucker to be run on the bias (diagonal) along the leading edges.

Due to the bright and hot afternoon sun, I had the panels made with black-out lining. The obvious benefit to that is that the room gets completely dark, unlike Hannah's room which is so bright. Dark room = more sleeping. Theoretically...

That is the mirror I found while at Scott's a couple months ago. It is solid wood, heavy, and I love it. I took my time looking for the right mirror so it was the last thing added to the room. It is exactly what I had envisioned. The two lamps in the room were made by Joe's grandfather, Joseph Alexander Buck, Jr., who also made several other things in our house. Each square on the shaft rotates. I love having original pieces mixed in with store-bought ones. And while we are on that subject, there is the dresser that I gave new life to. I found the little giraffe and cat while traveling years ago. I can't recall where at the moment. My mom might remember. The cross-stitch was a gift and has Joseph's name along with "God will increase" and the Bible verse, "From the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded." {Luke 12:48} Such a good verse... The ship came from my dad's model collection.

There, above the closet doors, is the first oar I found at a yard sale. I intended to paint it so Joseph would have something in his room that I did like Hannah does, but for now it's just a plain old weathered oar. The frame to the right of the closet is a cross-stitch of the Georgia coastline that was done for us as a wedding gift. You can see where the vintage rolling crate ended up. A nursery must also be practical, hence the camera.

I love the bedding.

I found this chair at an antique store in a small town right near us. I knew it was meant to be Joseph's the second I saw it.

As my Dad was downsizing to move out to the Pacific Northwest, he gave a lot of stuff away. I took this framed historic map of the Jamestown/Williamsburg area of Virginia.

And there are those hampers I found at Target. Whites go in one, colors in the other. When they are full, I pick them up by the rope handles and dump the clothes in the washer. Makes doing laundry relatively simple.

The shelf to the right of the crib has some toys and gifts we have received. Finally, I wanted some photographs of Joseph on the wall. I decided to hang the frames directly next to each other so I would have room to add more as time goes by. I also like the aesthetic. The frames are both dark-stained and black-painted wood.

Besides the monitor and necessary pieces of furniture, the most important thing in the room is sitting there on the side table: the iHome. Joseph and Hannah both listen to the ocean as they sleep. Joe and I are strong believers in the benefits of white noise we read about in Happiest Baby on the Block. Since their births, not a day has gone by when we have not used it.

And that's Joseph's room. The photos are darker than I anticipated, but you get the idea. Now...on to the next room. {And it will not be a nursery!}

the nursery: part 5

The last project to be completed was Joseph's dresser. This is the dresser that has been passed down (and passed down again) and now is making it's appearance for the second time in a nursery. When Joe and I first got it, we painted it as you see it below. We had some spare paint and this is what we came up with. It's home was our guest room. It's contents, Joe's winter apparel.

I chose paint to match the slate blue in the seersucker fabric. After lots of sanding and two coats of paint, I still had problems with the uneven paint surface due to the knobs (which in all previous occasions, had been left on) peeling the paint in large spider-like pieces. So, with advice from a friend who is an expert in painted furniture and a nice man at Ace Hardware, I ended up fixing the patches with paint filler...and more sanding.

After more paint and new knobs, this is the finished product:

It is not the highest quality piece of furniture, but it is old. And I like the story of it's life. It is definitely a sentimental piece. I like the imperfections and naturally-distressed look. Wonder what my great-grandmother would think about her dresser now...
 
Joseph's room is finally complete. Everything came together last week as we prepared to have guests in town for Joseph's baptism. Nothing like planning a party to get your rear in gear. My mom came during the week to help both with the work and with the kids. {Mom, you have no idea how much we appreciate your help. Thank you!} And so, I finally had time to finish nursery #2. I'll take some pictures and post soon. 

the nursery: part 4

Yes, Joseph is here - has been for almost three months - and his nursery is still not complete, or even close. But I've got an excuse in that we recently moved and he just now got a room! He is still sleeping in our room in his bassinet and perfectly content to stay there. In the mornings, I'll pull him into bed next to me and that is my favorite time of the day. We lay there and snuggle. I nurse him, and then we snuggle some more. But, I know, he needs to move to his own room and so I am trying to pull it together.

Since I wanted to have an idea where we were going to put things (and because I was getting antsy to start Joseph's room) I drew up some layouts before we moved.

Prior to move-in, the church in Sandersville agreed to paint some rooms in the parsonage. {In case you do not know, we live in a church-owned home. There are benefits and drawbacks to this arrangement, but if you are fortunate enough to have a church that is able and willing to meet your needs and wants, it's not so bad.} Anyway, I chose Glidden's Vase Blue, a chambray color, for Joseph's room. I'm in love with it.

I have a few updates since my nursery posts, part 2 and part 3. The crib we picked out was discontinued. A different, but similar, one was ordered last week and will arrive any day.

The new glider cushions arrived and they are on. I took the rug from our living room in the old house and put it in the nursery - it is the same color as the yellow in Joseph's bedding. Yay!

Still need to do something with that dresser...

The side table I am using is the one that was in Hannah's room, a simple white-painted wooden table Joe's grandfather (Joe Buck Jr.) made. During the move, it got beat up a little and the paint was peeling in several places. I pulled off the little bit that was loose in order to sand it down and touch up the paint and it came right off. So now I have this look:

As both my mom and mother-in-law commented, if I had a cow theme going on, this would be great. But I don't. Still, I like the natural wood look better, so when I have some spare time I intend to peel the rest of the paint off. It'll be a long, therapeutic experience I am sure.

For the last several months I've had my eye out for fun additions to the nursery. I've collected as I go, not really having a specific theme in mind just finding things that I like. I'll pull it all together once we have everything in the room.

Back in April, I went to a garage sale on my girl trip to Brunswick/St. Simons and found an old oar. It wasn't exactly for sale (I spotted it in a junk pile in the backyard), but the nice lady sold it to me for a dollar.

A week or so later, I found a pair of handcrafted wooden oars (and met the nice old man who made them) while out exploring with Hannah in Jesup.

I don't know what I'm going to do with this oar collection yet, but I have a couple ideas.

I love this rolling storage crate from Serena and Lily. Mentioned it to my mom, and all of a sudden it's in the mail being delivered to the new house. Backordered for over a month, it arrived this week.

My little assistant.

Update: since starting this post a couple days ago, the crib arrived. Yay for progress!

the nursery: part 3

Things are slowly getting checked off the list. We went to Savannah for a doctor's appointment on Monday. I was 34 1/2 weeks and had my first check to see where we are in regards to this baby making an appearance. While my doctor had told us he would most likely be inducing a couple weeks early because of baby's size, now it looks like baby is going to come on his own early. Like, we need to be prepared for a baby to arrive 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule. Man, it is ironic how this time around when I haven't done much of anything, the baby is ready to come early and last time I was ready a month in advance! So we left the doctor with the directive to pretty much have our hospital bag packed in case we need to get in the car and make that trip up to Savannah. Obviously, babies come in their own time and we have no guarantee that this baby will be here that early, but being prepared is always a good thing. I'm trying to get there... We washed baby clothes and I've put aside a few things to bring to Savannah. I love looking at his clothes. Such a contrast from all the pink in the closet down the hall. Second picture is his going-home outfit. I'm so excited!

We went to Target while in Savannah too. {Let me just add here how much I love Target and how sad it is that there is not one in my town. I could spend all day wandering the aisles, latte in hand, as much as that would drive my husband crazy and love every minute of it.} We bought a case of newborn Swaddlers (the cutest, sweetest smelling, little diapers in the world), a pack of Gerber onesies, sleep-n-plays, and side-snap t-shirts (an absolute must-have). For the nursery, we got a lamp shade and a hamper I am very excited about. That may sound strange, but I love that it has handles and is collapsible. I bought two actually.

In other news, the bedding is in!

And, I found out that a baby shop in Savannah can order new cushions for my glider for less than I was going to pay to have them reupholstered (price of fabric + labor) as mentioned previously. Now I can keep the girly cushions in case we have another girl someday, and I get brand new cushions upholstered in the fabric of my choice for Joseph. We're going with a natural-colored linen/cotton blend. Done!

the nursery: part 2

You haven't seen a nursery update in a while because I have hardly done anything. I've been so laid-back in getting things ready. Kinda the whole, if I get to it, I get to it when it comes to my to-do lists. However, if anything puts fire under your rear, losing two weeks will. While we aren't sure yet if this baby will be coming two weeks early, that's what we are operating on right now because it definitely looks that way. So I need to get my act in gear as my mom would say.

I am pleased to announce (finally) that the bedding has been decided on and ordered. We are going with a set from Serena & Lily, a simply awesome company. While it is not custom, the quality is better than the custom stuff I was looking at. And I like it a whole lot more. There is seersucker. See, I told you. The accent color is yellow. I thought I would surely go with orange, but I am really loving the yellow. There's not much of it, but it's perfect.

The fabrics are: slate seersucker, slate and goldenrod mosaic, blue chambray, and goldenrod cotton. The bumpers are seersucker with blue chambray cording and goldenrod ties. The crib sheet is the mosaic print. And the skirt is white with goldenrod and seersucker trim.

I am thinking of ordering some fabric by the yard and having drapery panels made to match the bedding. Maybe white with seersucker trim at the bottom and/or a border on the leading edge of goldenrod cotton?

What else? We have picked out a crib. It's a traditional sleigh style, non-drop side with wainscot panels on the headboard and footboard. Since it is white, it'll coordinate fine with the rest of the furniture. As for the chair, we will be reupholstering the glider in Hannah's room. {We've got a wicker rocking chair that will take its place so we'll have somewhere to sit in there.} I am trying to decide on a fabric. Thinking white, off-white or natural linen, pique, or matelasse.

We are most likely relocating the dresser in the guest room to the nursery. {Technically, the guest room will become the nursery.} This dresser was in my older brother's nursery and was originally white. During Ben's teenage days, the top of the dresser gradually became covered in stickers - all kinds. Joe and I took it from Ben's closet when we moved to Jesup, sanded it down, and painted it with some spare paint we had, a blue and green from the walls of our old house in Savannah. It needed some lovin'. We added a piece of glass to the top to protect it and allow guests to set whatever they want on it without fear of messing it up. It doesn't match Joseph's bedding, so we will be painting it...again. It's a shame that it is not deep or high enough to be a changing table too.

As you know, a nursery evolves over time. Hannah's room isn't just like it was originally. Her book shelf is full of, well books, and is now in her closet. This works nicely since her clothes are short and she's into climbing and making big messes. It makes my life easier. I had her little PBKids armchair in its place, but now that is in the living room with us where she loves to play in it. Another note: there are now five frames on the wall holding black and white 8x10s from her photo sessions over her first year: newborn, 3m, 6m, 9m, and 1 year. That is my favorite part of her room. Now she points to the first ones and says baby. She is my little baby. I had her nursery ready a month before she came. This time around that's probably not going to happen. It's more like a work-in-progress and I do have that 2-3 month cushion when he'll be in our room. Still, I'm hoping some significant strides are made in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted.

the nursery: part 1

Decisions, decisions.

I have started (finally, you might think) designing the nursery. Well, in my head anyway...and on scraps of paper and to-do lists. I really am just not that worried about it getting done. I know it will. Joseph's due date is three months from today. After that, he'll be in our room in his awesome bassinet (thanks, Mom) for at least two months. Hannah was in the cradle for almost three months, weeks after she started sleeping through the night. He'll have a room before it's time for him to sleep in it, is all I'm saying. And before you go all mom on me, I realize that once he gets here I will have even less free time. Free time, what is that anyway?

Like I said in the last post about having a hard time committing to a particular pattern or color in my own house (a typical problem for an interior designer), I have a hard time putting a room together too.

I've been looking at crib bedding. It sounds like I have plenty of time, but custom bedding can take a while. I found a couple sets that I liked online, but then went to a local baby store in Savannah and started pulling swatches and combining fabrics. I could go either route... At this point I don't know what I want to do with bedding...so, to furniture!

We have decided that instead of pushing Hannah out of the crib, we're going to leave her in there as long as we can. You may remember Joe and I wanted to go with a traditional crib - not a convertible - and loved the Jenny Lind style. It's what I had as a baby and what, I believe, Joe had too. It is a decision we have been very happy with. The crib's front side can be replaced with a toddler rail and then eventually have no rail (i.e. a daybed). I'll also remove the bumpers once the little monkey is too long or, since she's already standing on them, uses them to climb over the rail. Therefore, furniture purchase #1: crib. I'm thinking white. Again. Style: haven't decided.

Post from nursery numero uno: Hannah's room

I think we have decided to not buy another changing table. Hannah's getting bigger and I am not sure how much longer we'll even use her's. So, that will move to the nursery. Moms that have a strong opinion about this, let me know.

A chair. Possibly, the most thought-about decision I've made. Though that would imply that I have actually made the decision. I think I have. At first I hated the idea of taking Hannah's chair away. She still loves to be rocked and we read to her every night there. It is a great chair and was not cheap (thank you Mom and Dad Buck). Even more, it was the best nursing chair. Still, I feel kinda like I'm stealing her chair away. I know, sad. A purchase that big is not in our budget. However, I have ideas up my sleeve for Hannah's room that will replace the chair and changing table. For now, I'm planning on having the glider recovered and moved to the room next door.

Furniture purchase #2: dresser/chest. I haven't even looked yet so I'll come back to that next time. We found Hannah's little pale pink vintage dresser (1930) at an antique store. I'd like to find something unique like that. And for now, that's all the furniture I'm thinking about.

I haven't narrowed down color choices yet, but I like orange. It goes with blue or green quite nicely. As I was browsing fabrics online, I took a liking to these. Who knows maybe one of these will resurface in the nursery...or elsewhere in the house.

I'm pretty sure about one thing: there will be seersucker in this little boy's room. It's classic and I am a fan. Like 6 or 7 years ago I actually bought a seersucker bathing suit from J.Crew because of the fabric. I cannot part with it. I love.

Hopefully the next time I post a nursery update, there will be more headway made. Stay tuned...

Hannah's Room!

Here are a couple pictures of Hannah's nursery - more are posted on Facebook!