The last several weeks (months!) I've been working on the baby's room. I put together a "pin board" with a lot of inspirational and real life pieces that I envisioned for his new space.
The hardest part has been finding the right paint color. I wanted JUST the right color and didn't want to settle.
I knew I wanted yellow. And I knew I wanted a bright, clear yellow, not a pastel, precious yellow. Almost neon really.
So the search began.
I would pick up a few paint swatches whenever we were out at Lowe's or Wal Mart. I narrowed it down to 4 favorites and then went to Lowe's to get samples mixed up. I had prepped the room for painting and then applied some primer to seal the old paint - mustardy tan/yellow and dark maroon. Then I painted big squares of the 4 samples onto a couple of the walls so I could see how they behaved in different lights. Then I waited.
Here's how the room looked when we first moved in - the red/maroon is on the left and right walls, and the yellow is on the window and entry walls. Very dark and enclosed...
We'd go into the room during the day, night, clouds, rain. I even went into the backyard and looked at the color from the outside! ;) I liked one of the swatches best so I painted over the other 3, enlarged the favorite remaining swatch and waited some more.
Like I says, I didn't want to settle. :)
I finally decided I officially loved the color. We left for vacation over the 4th of July week, I still hadn't finished painting. So as soon as we got back I went to Lowe's and got a gallon of the color - Sparkling Yellow Shimmer - and finished the room in a weekend, walls trim and doors.
I'm so pleased!! I love that it has a lot of cool green with the yellow, more grellow than yellow: like a tennis ball but toned down.
My parents were nice enough to outfit baby's room with a majority of the large furniture items - dresser, nightstand, crib, rug and yet-to-be-hung curtains - and Kevin built them all for me last weekend once I was done with the painting. I was pretty worthless as an assistant since sitting on the floor, getting back up from the floor and lifting large pieces of furniture are kind of beyond my capacity right now, but I did try. ;)
Here are a few photos of the room progress and how it looks now.
We still need the rocker/glider and the layout is tentative, but it looks so good! I'm really happy with it and am pleased with how my pin board came together so well in real life. :))
Here is my original pin board:
Priming the dark red beadboard paneling on this wall was a nightmare.
The gallon of paint, ready for the walls!
Finally done painting - walls, trim and doors - and almost done cleaning up.
Cleaned up and read for furniture!!
Getting started on the dresser.
Half way there...
The crib is done and looks amazing!!
Here is the room as it looks today, as complete as possible (the cat seems pleased ;).
We still need to ...
1. get the glider (brown leather),
2. get the laundry hamper
3. paint and hang the curtains
(I'm going to use this tutorial and paint wide navy stripes onto some of these great, simple curtains from IKEA)
4. get some art for the walls
But it looks beautiful to me, even incomplete.
We put in a lot of time and effort and the energy this room exudes now is so serene and happy and welcoming. I hope Baby likes it, too. ;)
Next up: Baby's first quilt!
