I've struggled with deciding the best way to divide this post into 3 parts!?! I figured it's easiest to post according to how the room is situated. So, today I'm going to start with what catches your eye as you first walk in to the nursery.
In the far left corner next to the crib, we put an old armoire that use to be mine and my sister's when we were little. It was in this room when it was a guest room before the baby came. I use to keep all of my craft supplies in it. It actually provides a lot of storage because the shelves inside are very deep, but it was originally raw pine and didn't match with the colors of our house so I painted it years ago when we first moved in. I used regular house paint that we had leftover from remodeling our last house and it worked well! The wood didn't have a finish on it so it didn't need to be prepped at all. The color I used back then is called "Feather Gray" by Sherwin Williams. It looked more gray on the paint chip in the store, but in real life it is very blue. This was fine though because the bedding we had in there when it was a guest room was white and Porcelain Blue so it actually matched quite nicely. Anyways, when we first found out I was pregnant, I knew if it was a girl I was going to to do a gray and pink theme and if it was a boy I was going to do a gray and blue theme. Either way, I knew I was going to use gray, so I painted the armoire gray with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in French Linen. (this was literally when I was 12 weeks pregnant! I was so excited to get started I just couldn't wait!) I left a little bit of the blue (Feather Gray) in the front just in case it was a boy. I told myself if it was a girl, I would come back over the blue with pink. Boy did I have a premonition because I was never able to go back and paint that piece! So that's how the armoire ended up the way it is. Here is a close up of it and some detail shots....
 |
Top of the Armoire
The lamps were originally black and came in a box set that we got as a wedding gift from Target. (2 end table lamps and a floor lamp) I kept the original white shades on them and just painted the bases with Annie Sloan's Paris Gray. I didn't put any wax over them because I liked the way the paint looked when it dried by itself. Next, I painted the bird cage with Paris Gray also. I found it on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $7! It was originally black and dented at the top so I brought it home, bent the dented wire back to normal and painted it with a tiny paint brush to match the lamps. (literally the day we found out we were having a boy!) When I went to place the bird cage and lamps together on top of the armoire, I didn't like all the gray/blue right together in a row so I stuck that white photo box underneath to break it up a little and bring out the white in the shades. Then, I found the elephants at Patina Interiors for $5 and $3. They were originally a solid dark wood color so I painted them with Annie Sloan's French Linen to make them look more like real elephants. **One suggestion I do have when painting dark wood with French Linen, use atleast 2 coats! The paint soaks into the wood quite a bit and makes the gray look purple!
|
Next to the armoire, is the crib. I cannot say enough good things about that crib!!!!! It is made my Munire and as my husband says "it's made of battleship steel". The best quality of any "put-together" furniture I've ever ordered!!! I did EXTENSIVE research on what crib to buy because I was SO paranoid about safety regulations! One of the best gifts I ever received while I was pregnant is a book from a friend called "Baby Bargains". It is THE BIBLE of everything you need for a new baby! It tells you safety ratings and prices of each product and tells you EXACTLY what to buy! The best part about it is that a new edition comes out every 18 months so the research is always up-to-date! Anyways, so I followed the books advice about ordering a Munire crib and could not be happier. I chose the Chesapeake Full Panel Crib in Light Gray. It converts from a crib, to a toddler bed, to a full bed. I also got the matching double dresser in Light Gray. (I will talk more about this in next post) The dresser actually came already assembled in one very large box! But the crib had to be put together. The crib came with very detailed, easy to read, simple instructions and durable parts. My husband was able to put the whole thing together in an hour and I didn't hear 1 single four letter word the entire time! The Baby Discounts book also gave very good suggestions on bedding and crib mattresses. So, following their advice I ordered the Naturepedic Organic Cotton Lightweight Classic Crib Mattress from Diapers.com and the Naturepedic Organic Cotton Crib Protector Pad to go with it. Once again, i could not be happier! The pad fits tightly around the mattress and does not move during the night, even for the wildest sleeper! I ordered the sheets from Carousel Bedding and the bumpers from Pottery Barn Kids. I've included a few more details in the source list at the end of this post about the blankets and lovies sitting on the crib rail.
 |
| The adorable blankets and bunny on the railing of the crib were gifts from friends from a company out of NY called Rare Bits N Pieces. They sell THE MOST ADORABLE things!!! Click on the name to visit their website! The owner has a blog also.... |
Above the crib, are the letters of the baby's name. My Hobby Lobby runner/friend got them for me from Hobby Lobby when they were 1/2 off. They were originally gold and I painted over them with 2 coats of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in French Linen and a little bit of CoCo Chalk Paint along the edges...
Above the letters is a shelf with a few little trinkets. The shelf was actually part of a 2 pack that I found at Walmart YEARS ago and had hanging in my college apartments. (ha!) They were originally black and I painted them with Annie Sloan's French Linen Chalk Paint. The crown on top is from Hobby Lobby ($9.99). It was also originally black and I painted it with French Linen by Annie Sloan. The crown is made of polyresin so its very shiny and hard yet not impossible to get the paint to stick to. The trick I found to painting polyresin is to do several thin coats of paint and allow a long drying time in between each coat. I put 4 coats on this crown and let each coat dry for an hour in between. Also, another good tip is to wash and dry your brush completely in between coats so that when you paint the next coat, you don't have any excess residue on the brush that could pull the existing paint off. After the 4 coats of French Linen, I went back over the edges with a little bit of CoCo Chalk Paint to highlight some of the details. The topiaries, I already had in a different part of the house, the giraffe is from Patina, the silver rattle was my husband's as a baby, and the silver cup was a gift.
The elephant on the ground in front of the crib came from my in-laws house. They were moving and about to get rid of it so I snatched it up, knowing that I wanted to add elephants to the nursery! This is a before picture...
 |
Before
Not a great picture! (cell phone shot) |
I first painted it with 2 coats of Annie Sloan's Country Gray. I had a lot of this color left over so I used it as a primer-type coat to cover all of the original colors and detail. Then I went over that with 1 coat of Annie Sloan's French Linen to make it look more like an elephant appropriate for a baby nursery. I decided to leave the base as is because I liked the gold detailing around the edge. This is an after picture...
The giraffe is Chalk Painted as well! I found it at Patina Interiors. It was originally a very dark tan leather with black spots! I wanted to make it look more like a real giraffe and something that would compliment the elephant. I started with 2 layers of Country Gray and then drew on the spots with a tiny brush (the size of an ink pen) in Annie Sloan's CoCo. (The Chalk Paint worked great on leather by the way! Just like painting wood actually!)
Well that's it for Part 1 of the nursery. I'll be back later with Part 2!
Remember, when life hands you lemons, turn them into something lovely!
-Marci
SOURCE LIST:
- crib-Munire (local baby store)
- crib bumpers-Pottery Barn Kids
- crib pillows-Paul Michael Company
- blankets hanging on crib-Rare Bits n Pieces
- letters above crib-Hobby Lobby (painted with ASCP French Linen and CoCo)
- elephant- hand me down (painted with ASCP French Linen)
- giraffe-Patina Interiors (painted with ASCP Country Gray & CoCo)
- armoire-DeRidder's- Forney, TX (painted with SW Feather Gray & ASCP French Linen)
- birdcage-Hobby Lobby (painted with ASCP Paris Gray)
- white box w/ silk ribbons-Hobby Lobby
- lamps-Target (painted with ASCP Paris Gray)
- mama & baby elephants-Patina Interiors (painted with ASCP French Linen)
- shelf-Walmart (painted with ASCP French Linen)
- crown-Hobby Lobby (painted with ASCP French Linen & CoCo)
- topiaries- made by me with craft pieces from Hobby Lobby
- small wooden giraffe-Patina Interiors
- silver trinkets- gifts & keepsakes
Labels: annie sloan chalk paint, armoire, bird cage, coco, country gray, crib, crown, elephant, french linen, giraffe, hobby lobby, letters over crib, munire, nursery, painted lamps, paris gray, pottery barn kids
