baby Bennett's nursery

40 weeks pregnant today. You get so excited about one date, for 9 whole months, then that day comes and goes, without event. It's so strange to be sitting here, still with a babe in my womb. I truly cannot complain though, I still feel really good considering. Just impatient. 

What else better to pass the time than blogging our "nursery"

So here it is.. Our nursery spans about 3 rooms right now. It's not ideal, but I think it'll work.

The crib is in our guest room. Somehow it all fits. The nursery of my dreams looks a little more black and white, a little more minimalistic, but I'm pretty pleased with how it all kinda fits now.

The mobile was a quick DIY project, one of the first signs of nesting early on. It's just styrofoam balls, wrapped in yarn, and hung by an embroidery hoop. I love it, I hope Bennett does too!

Then we move into our room, where you'll find the bassinet, the rocker, and the changing table.

The floor lamp is a new addition, from Target, I tried to bring in the brass to go with the drawer pulls on the changing table. The ottoman is a Donna Baker DIY from $3 Ikea mats. We followed this tutorial. We're also awaiting a DB DIY lumbar pillow for the rocker. I think this little corner will be quite nice in the morning hours once Bennett is here!

Last, but not least, the changing table. Doesn't that last picture make you smile? me too, me too. 

There you have it, Bennett's nursery :)

DIY changing table

One of the first projects I knew I wanted to tackle when we found out we were having a baby was a changing table. I've always adored a good DIY repaint project. 

It took a lot of trolling on Dallas and Houston Craigslists, but one afternoon this little gem popped up. I loved that it had curved drawers, the wheels on the legs spoke to me, and the top looked big enough to hold a changing pad for the babe.

We drove up to Denton one morning and picked it up to bring home. The owner had 3 babes of her own and she used it in her youngest daughter's nursery, too. I thought that was super sweet.

We sanded, and got to painting. We chose Kendall Charcoal by Benjamin Moore.

The outside got a couple of coats of the Kendall Charcoal, while the inside of the drawers got blue and white stripes. Pretty precious if you ask me :)

The drawer pulls are from Lowes, nothing too special. I liked that they looked a little more updated. They came in chrome, but I've been really into the gold/brass trend, so I had too. I spray painted them with Rust-Oleum's metallic gold, and LOVE how they turned out.

I love bringing new pieces into our home. I just get so excited every time I pass by. I'll be even more excited when I can put it to use, if I EVER go into labor :)

day dreaming

sometimes Fridays are so terribly slow.. blogs have been read, work is done, and cnn has been read too many times... so my options seem to be, eat another piece of pudding cake or dream design the future baby's nursery. I may have done both.

Blake and I (mostly me) want this crib for either a boy or a girl.  

My dream nursery has board and batten, with some really fun wallpaper above it. This would be the white and polka dot swatch on my design board.

I'd love to stay light and airy, with wood tones, and a few punches of bright colors, green in the rug or knobs, deep pink in a pillow.

I don't know, can ya tell I'm super excited about decorating a nursery?! I just think they're so precious and fun!

next, come up with some ideas for a boy nursery! 

new old lamps

Here's a simple lamp switch and some day-dreaming about the future state of our bedroom.

I'm on this slow and steady process of a project that I've imposed upon myself. Project Eliminate Color.

This is where we're at on your typical day. 

The wall color kills me, but alas, unchangeable per landlord.

Mint colored lamps. I loved them the day we brought them home, and I love them to this day, just not in here anymore.

  Blake's mom gave me these new lamps a while back and they've been hiding out in the attic until now. They were brass at first, but with a little spray-paint lovin' they have a new life. A colorless life. 

 Also - someone found their white balance button on Photoshop - woo hoo! So, please excuse some of these photos, I was messing around with all the different ways to balance! I'm probably a little too exited about this. 

 So I didn't know about the old lamp shades on the new bases, but I think they need to be smaller, and whiter?  hah.
Still debating.

Also - naked duvet insert! Shield your eyes!

 I'm trying to see what it would look like with just a simple white duvet cover. 

 The shape is kinda pretty, right? A little romantic even?

 These little babies are growing a muck in our back yard. One point for free flowers!

 Here we are at the end. How about a before and after of my quick weekend project?

Here's the day-dreaming part. Squint, can you see it? White duvet, new lumbar pillow in THIS fabric, an Ikea throw at the end (I have my eye on two potential candidates) and I think we're getting somewhere! Next, maybe color eliminate that ledge.

computers in quarantine, and a mirror face-lift

Some Friday afternoons your work computer comes down with a life threatening virus and you have to shut it down immediately and place it in quarantine. Some Friday afternoons your amazing boss tells you to just go home, because the world stops spinning when there's no computer at work. Some Friday afternoons you come home to a house where you recently got rid of cable, which leads me to.. some afternoons you just blog.

We have a floor length mirror in our master room that I've been dying to paint practically since we got it. We needed a large mirror, and when we found one for a great price, we just bought it disregarding the color, because I knew a little spray paint could fix anything.

I'm trying to transition the master to a more natural space. Whites, creams, wood-tones and black accents. Also... deep green.  I wanted a matte, dark finish, and I really just couldn't ignore the can of chalkboard paint already in our garage. Free money baby! So I went for it.

brassy huh?

I totally used Blake's old Aggie calendar to shield the mirror from the spray paint. I still don't know if he noticed. 

He will now - eek! 

See the right side? I originally tried to paint it with leftover sample paint and a brush, but the mirror would not grip the paint - and, I'm lazy and didn't want to figure it out - so enter spray paint.

I applied two thin coats and let it dry in between.  

 Now, I'm not totally in love with the chalkboard paint craze, though it seems to be taking over my house, a vase there, a frame here... I do, though, love that it's black, and matte. Love it a lot.  

 We're also trying out a spot for the mirror. I've wanted it here for a while now. It fits perfectly in between the entry door and the closet door. 

 It reflects the light from all our windows just beautifully.

 I couldn't resist.

I'm about to go wipe it off as soon as Blake gets home and sees it. 

I always hear Blake say 'I love you' this way... in those exact words... with the most assuring tone possible, and I like that. 

pieces of the master

What do people hang above their beds? These are the serious questions that constantly run through my mind.. normal? not sure, but, it's true. I mean, mirrors are always pretty.. photos? a shelf? art?

Well, here's what is above ours..

This PB ledge was one of our first big married couple purchases, after the couch. I really do love it... and I'm so glad I can still say that after 2 years. That's like a decade in "lauren-decor-for-the-house" years. (I get tired of things prettttty quickly - sorry Blake)

 The left holds three stacks of books with varied heights and colors. Most found in Canton. On top you'll find an Ikea plant and pot, a delicious smelling candle, and a bridesmaid gift from one of my bff's Kate.. it's our engagement photo on a wood block (so cool, how does she think of these things??)

 aw, presh. 

I was looking through these photos the other night, and just thought.... my goodness, we look like babies. It's weird how things change in only 2 1/2 years. 

 Above the ledge I added a personal touch and some art. The left - our place-card from our wedding "Mr. and Mrs. Blake Johnson" and the right - some art that we found in our garage when we moved into this house.... I painted the frame white (it looks much happier), and I just love it now.  

 And finally, the right side. A duck and two lanterns. I pretty sure all of these items were found at Marshalls or HomeGoods. I'm a sucker for anything with a cut-out. And Blake would be the duck-lover. It's sort of perfect. 

The end! Dun Dun Duhhhhh!!!! 

PS. while in Houston this weekend, my mom and I scored at a discount fabric store (they were going out of business) with a whole bolt of this olive fabric for 20 bucks... can you imagine the joy???

My loving and talented mother sewed for me these two beautiful euro shams, and I'm in heaven. 

I want... eventually... to add an upholstered headboard, and an all white duvet cover, and the pièce de résistance, a black and white herringbone bolster/lumbar pillow!!! I can see it now.. and it's lovely :)

be our guest, please :)

Welcome to our most functional, least decorated room. This room serves so many purposes. Number one, Blake's study. Number two, guest bedroom. Number three, my "closet" and number four, storage room. I almost forget, a laundry room too. Phew! I feel tired just writing that all out.

This room is off our hallway directly to the right. Those windows face the backyard, which I love. Right now, I can open the blinds and see all of the fallen leaves and the trees changing colors, it's quite beautiful. (and, this morning, a bit of snow! how fun!)

Here is Blake's office. It's close quarters around here. There's just enough room to scoot the chair back and climb on in.

Yes, that's a periodic table. And, the bookcase Blake built.

As you stand in the doorway and pivot slightly to your right, you find yourself in the guest bedroom, welcome! Stay a while..

I love this iron bed. It's been in my family forever.

One more tiny pivot right and you're in my closet! Now that I see this in a picture, it's very lack luster indeed. This tiny old house has two tiny closets, so Blake has the one in the master, and I have this one. Man, I miss that huge walk-in closet from our apartment.

I feel like I'm to the point where I don't want to do anything more in this house. I thought paint would help, but turns out, the landlord doesn't want us painting anything.. womp womp.

We still have a year and a half left in this house, but then again, it's only a year and half! So, this room, and it's paint colors will just have to do! :)

white and natural.

White and natural, and a little mercury glass sparkle.

That was my theme this year. Here's what's going on with the dining table.

Decorating our dining table is just one of those little joys for me. No one will really get to see it, we head out for Houston for the week of Christmas. Maybe one of these days more people, besides just Blake, Dakota and me, will be able to enjoy the Christmas table. Or, the Halloween table, or Thanksgiving table.....

(more people = babies, and family)

 
I was most giddy about putting out our china. It stays securely in boxes in cabinets for about 49 weeks of year, so this time of year is extra fun! I love that stuff, probably more than one should love material possessions. Doesn't it fit in perfectly with my white, natural with a touch of sparkle theme?

The mercury vase and tea light holders are from West Elm, and they look a bamillion times better in real life than in this photograph. I officially spent up my gift card from last year's Christmas with this purchase, just in time for another one this year. Winky face to you... mom... who is reading this...

The candle stick holder to the left, reeeeally old Anthro, candle stick holder on the right, our "friendship candle holder" that each of us girls got from the flea market in Ft. Worth a couple years back.

Wreath on the herringbone mirror.

PS. I made those table runners with a little help from my trusty Iron-on hem tape. The ends are just folded to make a point. The fabric is white cotton with a subtle white stripe from Hobby Lobby. Easy!

Happy Christmas season!!