Heidi's Room

As a tribute to this blog's namesake, here's my official post as to the evolution of her bedroom.  This probably should have been the first post, but oh well!

So, to rewind a little, when we purchased the house, there were (and still ARE - we're not THAT ambitious) 3 bedrooms upstairs - two large ones, and one on the smaller side.  We always said that the smaller room would be perfect for a nursery (and with a little creativity, will make a perfectly adequate child's room as well - and maybe a teenager's room as well, depending upon how long we stay in the house!).  So, before Heidi was a twinkle in our eye, we had her room all picked out.  The original color was a pale blue - Robb argued that if we found out that we were having a boy, the blue color should stay, but I argued that I would still like to paint the room to really personalize it.  Luckily that argument never progressed, since we found out that we were having a GIRL!  Here's what the room looked like before:

The above pics cover 3 of the 4 corners of the room - what you don't see in these pics is the closet, which virtually takes up one full wall, with double bi-fold doors (you can sort of see one side of it in the top pic), and the bedroom door ( I took the middle pic while standing in the doorway angled to the right towards the corner) .

Our first step was choosing bedding, which would guide our color choices going forward.  I instantly fell in love with this bedding from Target:

Photo from Target site - use link above to access

I loved the bright colors, as I've never been a big fan of pastels in general, and I know that newborn babies appreciate strong colors (since they can't see well when they're first born), so I figured that this bedding would be perfect - so I added it to the baby registry. 

Next stop - wall color.  Robb's only request was that we not choose pink for the walls.  Hence the green color you see in the third pic above, which we matched to the green in the bedding.  The exact color is "Herbal Garden" by Behr.  It took about 3 coats to really cover the blue, but when we were finished, we were pretty pleased with the result:

I love how the green makes the moldings and floor "pop" - kind of a similar feeling that I got when we painted our old bedroom purple, which I talk about in this post.  Total cost for this change - around $20 for the paint.

Our next stop was furniture.  Since the room is pretty small, and has 2 windows which eat up wall space as well, we knew we had to limit the amount of furniture we put into the room.  Luckily, the custom closet in this room is more than adequate to accommodate clothes, toys, and then some (by "then some", I mean some of my clothes!).  So we decided upon a crib, changing table, and glider/recliner (since the room wasn't big enough to accommodate a separate ottoman to go with a standalone glider, we opted for a glider/recliner combo).  The furniture we chose was definitely not top of the line, as our intention was not to have it "grow" with her, as so many furniture places like to try to sell you on - knowing myself, I knew that I would look forward to changing up her bedroom set as she got older.  And this way, when baby #2 comes along, he/she will be able to use this baby furniture as well!  We opted for the Davinci Emily crib & changing table in white from http://www.simplybabyfurniture.com/ -

They offered (and still offer!) free shipping on all furniture, and their price was hard to beat!  The only complaint I have, which I was aware of going into the purchase, is the fact that the wood is soft, and dents easily - particularly when your child likes to use the crib rail as a teething ring!  But overall, I've been very happy with this set.  I chose the white because I really liked how the white looked with the green walls.  Total cost for the furniture - FREE (thanks to my in-laws who so generously offered to purchase the set for Heidi) - but it's currently retailing for under $400.

Once we got the changing table and crib assembled, it was time to add a little more "girly-ness" to the room.  While Robb didn't want the entire room to be pink, he did consent to letting me paint a wide horizontal pink stripe around the perimeter of the room - I'd been wanting to try painting stripes somewhere in our house, and figured that this was as good a choice as any.  I made sure to start the bottom of the stripe a couple of inches above the top of the crib, so that it wasn't hidden by the furniture, and I decided upon a width of 15" to make it strong enough to stand out in the room.  So, armed with painters tape and a laser level, I went to work measuring and taping.  That was the hardest part.  Once I got everything taped, the actual painting didn't take too long - it only took 2 coats to cover the green.  The pink I ended up choosing was "Watermelon Pink" by Behr, pulling the shade of pink from the above pictured bedding.  Here's the finished product:

Even though Robb was skeptical at first, he did agree that he liked how it turned out.  Total cost - about $10 - I only needed a quart of paint.

Next up - glider selection - here's where I derailed a bit.  I went with a friend to Baby2Teen Furniture in Manassas (if you've never been there, I highly recommend it).  In addition to a great selection of gliders, they also carry high-end furniture, strollers, car seats, accessories, bedding - you name it.  I sat down in one glider/recliner, and fell in love with it instantly. 

Photo from Best Chairs site - use link below to access

It is made by Best Chairs, from their Storytime Series.  The specific model is TRYP.  It is sooo comfortable.   I didn't choose the upholstery pictured above though - that's where this gets interesting - at least it did for me.  When I walked in to the store, I immediately fell in love with the upholstery pictured on this chair:

It's a damask pattern, and the green matches the color of Heidi's walls almost perfectly.  Problem was, this print was in no way going to successfully complement the crib bedding I had already selected (but not yet purchased or been gifted).  So, right then and there, I decided to scrap my bedding choice in favor of the chair.  I crossed my fingers that I would be able to find something that would sort of work.  Cost of the chair: not cheap - around $600.  This was our one and only splurge in the room - we figured that we would be using the chair multiple times a day, and we have been for over a year now.  We also figure that we could easily incorporate it into a family room setting when the time comes.

I didn't need to search long for suitable bedding - I was giddy when I found this bedding, also from Target, and the same brand as the previous bedding I had chosen:

Photo from Target site - use link above to access

The pink in the bedding ended up matching perfectly with the pink stripe on the wall, and the damask print matched the glider print.  I was elated.I was a little concerned that I wouldn't use the bumpers in the crib for long after Heidi arrived, based upon things I'd been hearing from my friends, so I tried to figure out a way to incorporate the damask print elsewhere in the room as opposed to just in the bumper.  I decided I would make valances for the windows out of some crib sheets from the set, but my major undertaking was to stencil a damask pattern on the wall above the crib (more about the specifics of that project in a future post).  Additionally, I found baskets from Michael's which fit perfectly under the changing table - I sewed fabric liners for them and added some grosgrain ribbon to dress them up a little.  I also obtained a (free!) white antique looking mirror from my sister's MIL, which looks great in the room.  I constructed a peg shelf and some self-made letter frames (more about that project in a later post) and hung it above the changing table, and purchased some shelves from Walmart to hang above the recliner to display stuffed animals.  A quick trip to HomeGoods for some bright pink accents (blanket and picture frames and ottoman that we use as a side table, and I considered myself ready to welcome Heidi into the world!  Here's the finished product (with the exception of the bookshelf which I just recently added - see this post ):

I hope you enjoyed watching reading the evolution as much as I enjoyed the process!  Like I said, I'll post more as to the specific projects I undertook in this room in future posts....