Saturday, October 28, 2006

caroline's nursery

ta da! caroline's nursery is complete! well, it's missing the baby, but it sure is ready to greet that little girl. for those of you who have been asking to see pictures, here ya go. i know a couple of you (kristi and carrie) want to see details, so i've included close-ups of all the little touches that i've done to make her nursery exactly what i wanted.... if you could care less about details, then just browse away... but surely you're used to me and my details by now. :) the best part about her nursery is that i was able to use several things that i already owned (brian especially loved this), AND there are several precious family heirlooms that i can continue to pass down to my daughter. as our previous guest room/office, the walls were already painted, the curtains were hung, and the daybed was already finished (besides the ugly knobs that brian painted for me!). so no big grunt work involved... just little vintage girly touches. :) i feel like it's something she can grow into and love... i hope so, anyway!

i'll start with a little video tour...



this is the view from her bedroom door. it's a pretty small room and a pretty awkwardly big day bed, so this was really the only place to put the bed. but i think it turned out ok. above the bed is a set of hanging picture frames that i actually used to decorate the whole room around... the larger frames have scriptures in them that have to do with the meaning of caroline's name. 1 peter 1:3-4 for caroline ("beautiful woman") and 2 thessalonians 1:11-12 for grace ("grace of God"). i am pretty excited about her boppy cover... i saw this toile/chenille cover in parents magazine, and of course i couldn't find it anywhere to buy... well, on one of my ritualistic ebay shopping/browsing evenings, i saw a brand new one for sale! that was one of my most victorious ebay wins yet. :) the sunbonnet sue quilt was made by my great-grandmother. i grew up snuggling with a similar one that had pink sashings instead of yellow.







i found this antiqued beadboard shelf at hobby lobby for 80% off because the bottom shelf was missing. a basket of toys fits perfectly under there, and you would never know there was supposed to be a shelf there! i had fun filling this bargain shelf... the blanket over the top was made for me by my grandma when i was born. the books are from my grandparents' house, including old mcguffy readers. the little doll was mine when i was younger, as well as the "vintage" 1984 mary engelbreit tin box. :) above the shelf is a collage of old baby pictures from our families... well, right now, it's just my mom's side. i'm still gathering pictures from everybody else (hint, hint!!). to the left of the shelf is a doll cradle that my grandpap made for me when i was little. ethan already loves going thru the books in the cradle...i hope caroline will, too!







here's her sweet cradle. oh i can't wait to watch her sleep in there! ethan already points to it and says "bay" (for baby). a good friend of my mom's is loaning us this cradle since ethan is not quite yet in a big boy bed. the best part is that we get to give it back when we're finished with it (one less thing in the garage!). my mom's beautiful wall hanging is the main decoration on this wall. that will be a family treasure for generations to come, i'm sure.





i love this wall...above her name sign is a wooden shelf that brian stained. the frame on the left is the product of a project from my mops meeting this past week... it's decoupaged with the nursery rhyme fabric my mom is using to make caroline's quilt. a couple of ethan's stuffed animals and a doll from an antique store completed the cozy look that i wanted. finishing this shelf was the last project for her room, so i'm especially happy with it! (don't you especially love the happy couples in the picture frames? ha! those will be replaced with sweet caroline's pictures, of course!!)




so there ya go! it was just as exciting to decorate a nursery the second time around... praise God for our little girl. we are so unbelievably blessed. hope you enjoyed the tour.

5 comments:

Amy Middleton said...

That is so cute! thanks for sharing, I feel like I'm right there with you! :) I can't wait for Caroline to come!! She's going to be so blessed with such great parents and big brother! Hope to see you soon!

Anonymous said...

Yay! Okay, I have 3 comments:
1) I LOVE your room, Caroline! You have such an awesome family, and it's so wonderful that they all pitched in to make your room one that will welcome you into this world! You are so blessed! I loved all the details, Emily.
2) LOVE the pumpkin pictures - Ethan is so adorable.... but come on, Emily, where's the REAL pumpkin picture? Everyone's going to want to know what I'm talking about now. THAT one is so much more interesting!! :) he he he
3)That picture of Ethan "reason I'm smilin'" is hilarious. Okay, I definitely see Emily in him now!

Anonymous said...

HI EMILY,BRIAN AND ETHAN, I LOVE CAROLINE'S ROOM !! HOW BLESSED YOU ARE TO BE HAVING THAT LITTLE GIRL , ALONG WITH HER BIG BROTHER. THE THINGS YOU CHOSE FOR HER ROOM ARE SO FITTING AND SHE WILL CHERISH THE HEIRLOOM THINGS IN IT FOREVER. YOU AND YOUR MOM BOTH ARE VERY TALENTED IN DECORATING AND HAND CRAFTS. LOVE YOU ALL,
AUNT NORMA

The Sparks said...

Thanks for sharing the beautiful room. I know Caroline will love it.

Anonymous said...

Sweet room! I Love your Hobby Lobby deal!! What a great shelf!! And that's so perfect with the basket in it where the missing shelf was!! Good find! Good job Emily! Now just have that baby! :)
Love you!