Friday, May 6, 2011

Sawyer's Nursery

The breaking news around this house is that not only does Sawyer have a nursery, but he actually does spend time in it!

Yes, he's almost ten months old and has a nursery for the first time.
And, yes, he only uses it for naps and for that time of evening between falling asleep and waking for his first nursing session, and then he bunks stretched out in our bed while we're nearly pushed out of it.

But it is being utilized and is super-cute, so I thought I'd share.  And as long as I'm sharing, you might as well know that this has become my favorite room in the house in which to relax.
Sans baby.
This is the room that houses THE chair, and this is the room that is more well-decorated than any other room in our house.  During my "me time," you might just find me with my feet propped up in THE chair, drink and snack nearby, reading by the soft lamplight.  Minus the kids, it's quite relaxing.

The nursery has been in the making for a while now.  It all started when Sawyer started rolling around and trying to sit up, and I no longer felt comfortable with him sleeping on my bed during naps without me in it.  Try as I might, my other kids just weren't going to let me take a nap each time Sawyer wanted to snooze.  He refused to sleep in the pack-n-play now that his beloved cradle insert was off-limits, so we needed a crib.  We bought a cheap (but lovely), in-store, flat-packed crib and chest of drawers from Babies 'R' Us, and we assembled the crib in about five minutes that night and put it by our bed.  Nap problem solved.

Our fourth bedroom was being trashed used as an upstairs playroom for the girls, complete with princesses and fairies all over the walls.  Honestly, they weren't playing in there much, but instead liked to throw all the toys in the floor and leave it wrecked for weeks on end.  Getting frustrated with that whole scenario, and also coming to the conclusions that (a) kids really don't need two playrooms and (b) Sawyer was starting to not sleep well in our room while we were still milling about before our bedtime, we decided it was time to convert our fourth bedroom into his nursery.

This was my first time decorating a boy nursery, and I honestly kind of gagged when I saw the offerings for decor.  Teddy bears?  Cars?  Or, Heaven forbid, Sports?  No, thanks.  I looked online and strolled around baby stores until I found my inspiration...monkeys.  And modern monkeys, at that!  (Do those exist?)  It was a set by Mod Pod called Pop Monkey, and it had all the soothing browns and greens I like.  Let's face it, it was ALL about what I would like, since half my day would presumably be spent nursing the baby in this room (and it is).

One decision made, it was on to the next one: paint.
Brown?  But not too brown?  Tan?  We settled on Behr Premium Plus in New Chestnut from Home Depot, and we chose eggshell finish with primer built into the paint.  Wouldn't you know it, it STILL took two coats to erase all evidence of princesses and fairies!

The bedding was ordered, the lamp grabbed from the store, brown light-dampening curtains were hung, THE chair scooted into place.  Things were coming together.

Then, weeks later, it was complete.
View of THE chair from the room, with blanket from bedding.   
His crib (it has since been lowered for the wild man).
Made the decorations from unused bumper pads and cross stitching hoop clamps.
Dresser, lamp, ceiling mobile, TV where I watch The Golden Girls.

Monkey lamp.              


Genius!  Toy baskets hidden under the bed.

Stuffed animal basket.  All my kids have one.

Monkey light switch cover.


LOVE this monkey mobile.

Even his drawers are organized!

This is probably the best nursery ever.  Just sayin'.  And the older he gets, the more Sawyer will enjoy it and actually sleep in it.  For now, it's really nice for me.

1 comment:

  1. Look at you and your Crafty Crafter ways!! You know I love Sawyer's nursery!

    When we were planning Joshua's nursery I kept in mind "I have to spend A LOT of time in here" so I wanted something that didn't scream "BUSYBABYLIVESHERE!" Thus, the black and white prints were born.

    Good job on the nursery, Mama.

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