Little Guy's Nursery

It's been awhile since I showed you a room in my house, hasn't it? There's two reasons for that. First, it's not a HUGE house, although it's a comfortable size, so there's a limit on rooms to share:) Second, we've lived in this house about three years during which we had our third child, which means I am still working on getting it the way I like it. Notice I said "I", not "we". That's because I am very blessed to have a hubby who doesn't care much about how it looks, as long as it's neat and tidy. I could paint a wall purple with pink stripes and he'd probably not even notice, but if all the toys were dumped out around the house and left for days on end, he'd get a twitch!

Since you've seen the family room, dining room before and in progress, master bedroom, and my oldest boy's room, it's time to let you peek on in just a little further. This is my little guy's old nursery and will be his bedroom when he and/or my middle boy decide they've had enough of sharing a room.

Nursery/Guest Room "After".





I love this room. I've sat in here many a morning with my coffee. Something about the color and the way the light comes in is so relaxing. When I was about 8 months pregnant I stripped it out and redid it for little guy, who was well on his way. I actually liked the color it was to begin with, but it didn't work with the bedding we'd selected.

Nursery/guest room "before".

In the past, I'd done all the decision making with the nurseries and decided this time to let the two older boys help me pick out some new crib bedding (you can already see what's coming, can't you?!)...then I nearly choked when they decided on...what else? CAMOUFLAGE! Seriously?! Can they not get enough of this stuff? This would be God's sense of humor with me. If I hate it, he'll make me have to deal with it. Always has. I know he was belly laughing as I stared in horror at the bedding they were holding in front of me! But, I try to always keep my word, and I'd said "You guys can help pick out the baby's bedding this time". After praying for God to hit the rewind button and hearing him say "NO WAY!", I picked it up and headed for the checkout counter.

It really wasn't that bad and grew on me quickly. It just wasn't what I'd imagined and took me a few minutes to come around to the idea it was actually workable. This was the set they picked out by Wendy Bellisimo:

"Blue Camo" by Wendy Bellisimo

My third pregnancy was such a blessing, but I was incredibly miserable physically. As I tried to pick out a  paint color I was having horrible headaches and apparently the pressure on my optic nerves was so intense that my vision was affected (which I didn't realize at the time). I painted the whole room... only to realize it wasn't the right shade (and got it on the sand colored carpet in the corner! I was convinced hubby was seeing things or messing with me until after I had little guy and saw it finally with clear eyes!). So, I fell back on my old stand-by...mix it myself. I had it matched and repainted the whole room AGAIN that same day.

The crib used to sit where the white dresser is now.

Next, I bought three or four extra matching camo crib sheets and five twin bed flat sheets. Patterns were drawn up on wrapping paper and window valences made and lined with the extra sheets. The remaining
four panels were the flat sheets on hospital tracks that could be closed to darken the room a little more if need be.

My box pleated window valences and panels made from sheets.

Next, I took four 12'x12' wrapped canvases and painted them in white with a khaki border. Next I glued ribbon on the line and buttons on the corners. Lastly, I took scraps of camo sheets left over from the windows and cut out wildlife images that were decoupaged onto the canvases. Wha-la! Nursery art that I didn't spend more than about $20 max on.

Custom wildlife art work made from sheet scraps, ribbon, paint and buttons.

The remaining camo scraps were turned into art work.

Last, but not least, I needed something over the bed, so I got on line and hunted for inspiration. This was a tiny woodworking pattern that I liked so I printed it out, then enlarged, and enlarged, and enlarged, and...you get the picture. Finally it was big enough to print and tape together. Then I cut it out with an Xacto knife, and traced it onto a heavy weight art paper, cut it out AGAIN and attached it to a fabric wrapped canvas with spray adhesive to keep the paper from bubbling. Done!

Although painted in a light aqua blue, it's not baby blue and is a very adult color. I deliberately tried to take it beyond the nursery stage so that it could stay as is for a number of years. It's really been a surprise how many people don't even notice that the fabric pattern is camo! I guess because it isn't being seen in a typical context, the pattern doesn't even register. Bingo. We (kids and I) both got what we wanted:)

Even though little guy is now sharing a room with his middle brother, he still calls this his room and loves it. Personally, I'm going to be sad when he want to repaint. I LOVE this room.It's currently the guest room
until Middle Guy decides he's had enough sharing and wants the room to himself (i.e.- is no longer scared of the dark!).

Linking up to: