The Nursery!

The long awaited moment arrived for us this week.  Well, maybe just for me ;-)  I've had this random idea of what I wanted in our nursery, but I am just not good at visualizing until its done.  Patrick has been great about really just letting me go with my ideas, and he has been putting most of this together while I supervise.  We kicked it into high gear a few weeks ago when Cohen's early arrival became a real possibility.

Also, I am going to try to put price points/what we got where so that you know it is possible to have a cute room on a budget.  I'll also put links on where I got some of my ideas!

So, without further ado, here it is!!

This is the view from the door way walking into his room. Both of these walls are light grey.  We borrowed the crib from our friends Susan and John, and I found the crib bedding on Craig's list for $75 which included the blue wall paint to match.

The left wall is light blue (matching the crib bedding) and the other three walls are a light grey. I went shopping a while back with our friend Carrie to choose fabric for the curtains and the glider slipcover.  Total cost for fabric was $150 (the curtains are heavy duty) and we had our fabulous band parents sew them for us this month.  Such a blessing!  We purchased the glider at a consignment sale for $60 here and will definitely be using them in the future when we need more clothes and toys for Mr. Cohen!  I love how the slipcover turned out.

Anyone else love this dresser?  I hate to brag, but its a one-of-a-kind piece made for us by my SISTER!  We found a plain dresser on Craigs List over father's day weekend for $50 (I think!) and she took it for a make over.  The grey chevron pattern starts lighter and gets darker.  The drawer pulls are green and yellow.  SO cute!
On top of the dresser are two framed pictures of "You Are My Sunshine" that I made, Cohen's name spelled out in blocks made by my friend Debra, and my mom's hand-painted piggy bank.  Lots of special touches in this space! (Oh, and Olivia wanted to be in the photo as well....ha!)

Just because its super cute, here's a different angle :-) I'm not biased or anything...

The book wall is an idea I got from pinterest here, and my Dad, hubbie and brother-in-laws built it for us this summer.  We have gotten so many cute books from our baby showers, and they are all prominently displayed!

 Between both walls is our little toy play area until he's old enough to really play with them.  All of the toys have been gifts from our showers.   (Seriously, we have THE best friends and family).  If you look carefully there is a small grey stool that Margeaux made with COHEN on the top!

 The yellow changing table was another Craig's List find ($70) - Nathan helped me pick it up in Plano in early spring.  It was the FIRST purchase for the nursery, and we just made everything else fit around it.  We just happened to find the exact color yellow baskets at garden ridge pottery ($50) and we have all our cloth diapers and accessories stored in there.  The hamper was another gift from Stephanie and Adam ;-)

 Oh, and I guess the most important part about this wall is the letters!!  I blogged about them here.  After I found the bedding I searched alphabet themes on pinterest and came across a company on etsy that sells the letters (here).  Instead of paying the exorbitant amount of money for painted ones, I thought it would be neat to have our friends paint them for us.  Each letter has a name and some have cute letters to Cohen on the back.  I used command strips to hang them (found a combo pack on Amazon for $6!!).

 The corner storage was a Craig's List find at $20 and our band parent made the liners to match the room!

 This little table we found at a local resale shop for $25 before we painted it and fixed the drawers.  The diaper cake is from our friend Amanda, the framed print from our friend Katie and the cute alphabet storage bins from Jerri!

If you were keeping count (like us Dave Ramsey budgeting fools do...)
Crib: Free
Bedding: $75
Material: $150
Glider: $60
Blue table: $25
Dresser: $50
Small Shelf: $20
Changing Table: $70 + baskets $50
Letters: $75
Wall paint/shelves: $150

That's a grand total of:  $675

When we first started this journey we came across prices like this or this, and that just seemed a bit ridiculous to spend over $2000 on baby furniture.  Not including the paint, or anything for the walls.  We also wanted a space that would grow with the baby so we didn't have to re-do this process once they out-grew the infant stage.  Once Patrick was laid-off, the budget for the nursery was no longer about what we wanted to do, but what we had to work with.  We are very fortunate to have crafty friends and family that helped make our room exactly what we wanted without all the added costs.

Cohen, you are so loved!! I am really proud of how the room came together and I am so ready for a baby to be in here!!