The Nursery

When I thought about the nursery, I imagined it being calm and soft, but very boyish. I wanted a room that we wouldn't get tired of and have to re-do over and over. I also didn't imagine having a themed nursery. And while I don't think the theme is over the top, there certainly is no shortage of sports memorabilia.

 

A handful of the books on the shelves (custom made by my dad) are the hub's old children's books (big thanks to his mom for keeping all of them!). We definitely can't wait to read these books from his childhood to baby B!  

If you remember how the room looked before, you know how happy we are with this outcome! This room looks like a completely different space, and is everything we hoped it would be. Now all we're missing is our little boy!

The things:

paint color: Sherwin-Williams Passive Gray

crib: Babies "R" Us

dresser: Babies "R" Us

rocker: Walmart

nightstand:  Target

pouf:  Walmart

lamp: Target

hamper: Target

basket on dresser: The Land of Nod

bookshelves: Made with love by my dad

bedding: Pottery Barn

changing pad cover: The Land of Nod

wire shelf: Pottery Barn (sold out)

miscellaneous stuffed animals, toys, picture frames: Items already had around the house, gifts, or found at Target/Walmart

zinc letter B above crib: Gift (similar)



Free Wall Art Printables for Baby & Kids' Rooms

As I've been looking at tons of baby nurseries to get art ideas for little man's nursery, I've come across some really great printable art to use in a baby or kids' room, and wanted to share them with you! Here are a few of my favorites:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | LostBumblebee

Adventure | I Rock So What

Custom Initial & Name Print | On to Baby

Dream Big | 733 Blog

Animal Alphabet Poster | Kind Over Matter

Love | Laura Winslow Photography

I Love You To The Moon & Back | Sweet Little Peanut

I just love the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Custom Initial & Name prints, so I print them out at home and used some frames that were laying around to display in the nursery.

Each of these printables are super fun & so sweet! Thanks to all these wonderfully talented artists who shared these printables for free personal use.

Pregnancy Update: 7 Months

Another month bites the dust and I'm now in my seventh month of pregnancy!

Little man weighs approximately two-and-a-half to three pounds and is about 15 inches long from head to heal (like a butternut squash).

He's still very active; it's like he's doing somersaults in there! I've started noticing movement when I speak loudly or shine a light on my belly, so I think he's beginning to hear my voice and recognize light. :) I also think he likes to press on the right side of my stomach, which is funny because he used to favor the left side. He also is quite the master at hiccuping.

Being in the third trimester is totally different from the second trimester, which felt like a breeze. Now, I'm only a few weeks into my third tri and have a ways to go, but I am already over the uncomfortableness, insane amount of acid reflux (which happens every day at 3PM and lasts for at least 3 hours -- maybe this means lots of hair for the little babe?!), and leg cramps. However, and strangely enough, I am getting better sleep, so I'll take being uncomfortable during the day if that means a good nights sleep! ;)

I'm missing enjoying a beer or glass of wine with my husband when we go on dates (or just out for that matter). So, I'm eagerly looking forward to our first date night out, which I've already started planning in my mind: pizza + (lots of) wine at our favorite spot. I'm also missing, and really appreciating, my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. While dressing "the bump" is fun, my wardrobe is so limited... However, this much cooler (we're talking 30s - 50s, baby!) weather we've had this week has been great, and calls for big shirts and cardigans (and these, because why not?!), which is totally my style.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I feel like time is just flying by. This is by far my favorite time of the year - I absolutely love spending time with both my family and the in-laws (not to mention, they're both excellent cooks). Next years holiday's will be a blast with the little babe - ah, can't wait! :)

With under 70 days to go until little man's arrival, we have started piecing together his nursery. Here's a sneak peak of the furniture we (the hubs) assembled:



We still have a ways to go, but it's finally starting to come together. I constantly find myself wandering into the nursery just to admire the space that will be our son's room. I'm on a mission to find some great classic books to fill his imagination, as well as pieces for putting the finishing touches on his room.

50 Shades of Gray

If you follow me on Instagram (@matkinson87), then you already know that the hubs a.k.a. The Paint Master painted the nursery! To some this may not be a big ordeal, but to me it's HUGE because it means we have officially begun preparing our home for our sweet little babe.

I've known for a while, and I mention it in my Nursery Inspiration post, that I wanted the room to be a light gray, but which light gray was the question?

Colors by Sherwin-Williams

While it felt like I was looking at 50 different shades of gray, I really tried to not get overwhelmed and stick to what I originally wanted, which was a definite light, crisp gray with no hints of other color(s). Pinterest was pretty dang helpful in narrowing down the number of grays for the nursery; that's where I discovered Repose Gray and Passive Gray. I really liked the way both colors only looked gray and no other color (like beige, green, blue, etc.) and how they made the white baseboards just pop with brightness. If you remember, the room we're working with was a darkish-blue... so anything bright and light-colored just made me smile.

via Pinterest here

via Pinterest here

So, off the hubs went to the paint store to pick-up a sample of Repose Gray and Passive Gray, as well as a third gray sample he thought may work. I've been nagging asking him for at least a month about picking some paint samples out, so I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was to get this party started.  He painted the three color options on the wall and I quickly noticed how Repose Gray was just too beige and the random gray he picked out (I was too obsessed with Passive Gray that I didn't bother with the name or brand of this third paint) had a major hint of green.

With Repose being too beige and the random gray being too green, this made it obvious that we were going with Passive Gray (yay, we have a winner)! While I was at work on Thursday, the hubs was busy prepping and painting the nursery - he'd send me a picture every now and then so I could see the progress, since I couldn't be there and am unable to help. When I got home, he just finished with the second coat and was about to begin painting the trim.

Ignore the floral love seat - it won't be around for long, I promise.

I am in total love with this paint choice. I know it can be a lot more difficult and overwhelming for some to choose such a neutral color, especially if you don't mind a hint of another color, but this was just about as easy/pleasant (minus the constant nagging asking of my dear husband to start looking at paint chips with me) as it gets and I could not be happier with the outcome.

Ok, so now that I've talked your ear off about the color gray, let's get started on the color blue... just kidding. :) I hope everyone enjoys their weekend - I know I'll be spending mine admiring the new gray (I swear that's the last time I mention that color) room and thanking my amazing paint master of a husband!

Nursery Inspiration

Today I'm sharing my inspiration for our little man's nursery. But before I share that inspiration, let's take a minute and loathe look at the "before" picture. This picture is from when our home was for sale back in 2011. Since then, we've had the carpets replaced, white fan installed, doors and ceilings painted white, and we put on new dark oil-rubbed bronze door handles.  So, that leaves the damaged dark blue walls (the previous owners were addicted to hanging things on every inch of every wall) that so desperately need to be prepped and painted and the chewed-up corner of the window sill and blinds (thanks, B and T) that need some fixing. So, as you can see... we have quite a ways to go before achieving the dream nursery.

I've put together the layout of the nursery (note: even though my dad is an engineer, I am not very skilled when it comes to measurements, etc. Oh, and if you couldn't tell from my amazing drawing skills, that circle-thing in the bottom left corner is a lamp. You're welcome.) via Paint. As you can see, we only have room for the basics: crib, dresser, and rocker. I don't want a lot of unnecessary items in his room - I want to keep it very simple, which is my typical way of decorating anyways. I also tried to think of additional storage, so I'm thinking a small table to go beside the rocker and two semi-large baskets for holding blankets, toys, etc. will do. I would really like to put a book nook behind the door, something like this, to make good use of wasted space. 

I'm also not really big into themes, more like schemes - color schemes that is. I envision this nursery as classic with a touch of rustic/edginess. With the touches of navy, gray, and white (if you're thinking those colors sound a lot like the Dallas Cowboys colors, then you're right -- GO COWBOYS), along with the mismatched furniture, I feel that this look accomplishes just that!

We hope to get out this weekend to look at paint colors; right now I'm loving Sherwin Williams Repose Gray. I also want to check-out the crib and dresser set I'm ooh-ing over from Babies "R" Us to make sure it's something we both love.

Be sure to stay tuned for more on the make-over journey of our disaster room turned nursery!