Grid of Maps in our Foyer

Last winter I received a Jenna Sue Designs map print, of the city I called "home" for 33 years, from a friend as a Christmas gift.  I framed it, and leaned it against my wall. 

 

I loved the print, but it looked lonely, so a few months later I order two additional prints - one of the city my husband and I live in now, and the other the city he went to college in.

 

I decided I'd try a method for spacing the maps that I read about online; using wrapping paper that had "grids" on the back. 

 

 

I decided how much "space" I wanted in between, cut out around the outer frame (I didn't take a picture of that).  Taped the wrapping paper on the wall (centering in the hallway). Then used painters tape to create a grid on the wall.  I'm sure that explanation makes no sense at all. :)

 

I used some 3M command strips on the back of the frame, and stuck them on the wall.  Far from the most efficient way of creating my grid of maps, but overall I'm very happy with the overall look - and even happier that the entry to our home tells a bit about our history.

My new thoughts on nursery furniture

My inspiration picture for the nursery had white furniture.  I loved the look of white furniture, especially when it had straight lines.  I'd found the furniture I wanted to order and had pinned it for my reference.  Then, I took my husband with me to go registering. 

I never intended to buy baby furniture from Babies R' Us, but I wanted to walk my husband through the section to see how he'd react to different styles.  When he saw different styles of white furniture, all he could say was "it looks like it belongs in a girls room - if you pick that, we might as well start decorating with flowers and butterflies." 

Ugggh ...

Then I remembered furniture I'd seen from Land of Nod, from way back in the day (yes I was looking at nursery furniture 2 1/2 years ago, when I was silly enough to think that our first child was going to be joining us in 9 months).  Luckily, they still carry the line - and I think I like it now more than I did when I first saw it.

So as of today, these are the pieces I think will end up in the nursery ...

The Straight-Up Crib.  I love the fact that the front and back are the same height.  I love the straight lines.  I also like that it's solid wood, and made in the US :)

The Simple 6-drawer Dresser.  I may look into the Changer Top to hold a changing pad in place (it screws to the back of the dresser, and then can be removed when no longer needed).

 

The six cube bookcase - which will be outfitted with a combination of bins for toys, and open cubes for book storage.

 

I have no idea what I want to do for the glider yet, but I'm hoping to pull the trigger on this furniture soon.  That said, their website says the furniture is in stock for immediate delivery, and I want to get the stripes finished before I put furniture in the room ... so I may be waiting a bit longer. 

Picking paint colors ...

I have a hard time picking paint colors.  I just hate doing it.  When I found my inspiration image for the nursery, I remembered seeing a post that Shelley over at House of Smith's had done a few months back on painting stripes in her daughter's room.  I looked it up, and sure enough it was a grayish combo that I liked.  Shelley had used Eider White and Repose Gray...

 

I picked up a few samples from Sherwin Williams, and picked up four samples from the same sample strip.

 

 

The picture quality from the camera on my phone stinks, but after looking at the samples in many different lights, I decided to go with the Eider White / Repose Gray combo in 13" stripes. 

During a SW sale I picked up the paint in their non-VOC Harmony version and have gotten one coat of the base coat up.  Hoping to get the second coat up next weekend and the stripes painted out the following - while I still have balance on a chair :)

Nursery Inspiration

I'm in love with everything about the nursery Darci, over at [the good life], created for her son Jackson.  I suspect I will be pulling a lot of inspiration from her design.

My Nesting "To Do" List

As part of my nesting, I created a "to do" list, that I'd love to have done by the time the baby gets here ... although, I know that realistically that may not happen.  You'll notice a theme of decluttering ... oh and replacing flooring.  The puppy we got in July likes to eat carpet.

Foyer

• Hang key chain holder
• Make & hang subway roll
• Frame and hang maps
• Relocate existing mirror to dining room or living room
• Find and hang new mirror
• Find narrow console table (between  12” and 18”)
• Touch up paint
• Find rug for entry

Laundry Room

• Organize shelf
• Clean out dryer vent
• Buy/hang holder to hang iron

Office

• Make & hang curtains
• Install floating shelves
• Install ceiling fan
• Hang white boards
• Hang cork board
• Go through “to file” pile
• Create file folder labels
• Sort through black file cabinet
• Find dog bed
• 3-hole punch industry reports
• Sort through binders
• Create binder labels
• Sort through product baskets
• Paint out magazine file folders
• Find “reading chair”
• Install new flooring

 

Dining Room

• Touch up paint
• Make and hang curtains
• Hang sconces on either side of window
• Install new flooring

Pantry

• Create labels
• Reorganize shelves

Powder Bath

• Find/Hang Wall Art

Kitchen

• Find/Hang light over island
• Purchase bar stools

Living Room

• Hang Ceiling Fan
• Purchase new TV and wall mount
• Find narrower TV stand
• Reorganize DVD’s
• Find/Build Sofa table, for behind couch
• Find pair of lamps for sofa table
• Install new flooring

Master Bedroom

• Make/Hang sunburst mirror
• Frame lyrics to wedding song and hang
• Paint storage boxes
• Organize walk-in closets
• Hang shelves in water closet
• Find a larger/shorter dresser

Lanai

• Have screen installed
• Install Ceiling Fan

Garage

• Organize & Declutter
• Create an inventory list of deep freeze

Stairwell

• Reattach frames with command strips
• Purchase additional frames to repeat pattern
• Print up black and white family pictures

Bedroom #2 (aka nursery)

• Empty all work items
• Sort baseball cards
• Sort through remaining items in closet (perhaps move to bedroom #3 closet)
• Hang fan
• Stretch carpet
• Paint rooms (13” stripes)
• Order furniture
• Buy/Make curtains and hang
• Build abacus
• Order/hang artwork
• Organize dresser drawers

Bedroom #3

• Declutter

 
Bedroom #4

• Declutter
• Paint (maybe)
• Hang circular mirror over bed
• Hang chalkboard
• Hang wall art
• Paint second side table (living room)

Guest Suite

• Declutter closet

Linen Closet

• Declutter

It's been awhile ...

I know this blog has been very quiet, for a LONG time.  Honestly, over the past 16 months I've been in a bit of a funk - and blogging has been the last thing on my mind. 

I won't go into all the details, but the journey my husband and I have been on to start a family has been more stressful than either of us would have ever imagined.  I can't say I'd want to relive the last 2 1/2 years, but without a doubt we're closer to one another than I ever thought was possible.

That said, I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant and my husband and I are ecstatic about meeting our son in February.  The nesting instinct really kicked in when we had our anatomy scan, and I want a place to document this stage of our life.

I can't say my posting will be super consistent, or interesting to a lot of people - but I want to be able to look back and see what I have accomplished - and this is the place I plan on doing it.

We got a few things done ...

I was hoping to get more done before my father-in-law and his fiance came to visit, but sometimes life happens - like an unexpected diagnosis to infertility testing.  Erik and I have had a chance to digest the news, and we have an interesting road ahead of us; but I think there's going to be a lot of projects in my future to help distract me when we go through periods of waiting.

Come Friday we had curtains up as well as some wall art. The wall to the right of the French doors also has a circular metal wall art mounted; the wall behind the couch needs something else - just not sure what yet (suggestions always welcome).   Eventually we'll get another piece or two into the sectional, do something about the end tables, and a ceiling fan up, now that I'm a pro at hanging fans!

The dining room is shaping up.  I'd like to hang a mirror on the wall opposite the pictures (which I finally got straight - which meant installing saw tooth hangers on the back of the picture (and foregoing the wire hangers that came with the frames).  Longer term, we'd like to put in hardwood flooring and area rug, some type of curtains and maybe a tall plant.

In terms of the guest room - it doesn't really look the way I was thinking it would.  Eventually I want it to have a beachy/spa like feel. 

That said, the ceiling fan made it up, and I managed to do it all by myself.  The one in our master took 5+ hours, this one took an hour and a half, and that was mainly because I "lost" a screw in the motor when I was trying to secure the downrod to the mounting bracket and was attempting to fish the screw out without taking the fan off the ceiling.

I painted the IKEA Rast dresser a glossy black, but the pulls are looking a little dinky to me.  We also got some old pictures up, and a rattan trunk into the room.

There's still a lot to be done, but at least I've started to get that drive again, so hopefully you'll start seeing more changes soon.