nursery progress: paint, crib and changing table

I'm excited to report LOTS of nursery progress has taken place since just a few days ago. We got the whole room completely cleaned out, took down the nasty old window treatments/curtain rods, PAINTED, got the furniture moved back, laid down the new rug and built our crib and changing table. Woohoo!



Here's a before shot of the old green walls. I was NOT sad to see them go...



...and neither was Nathan. Haha. We actually had a really good time getting in there the other night and banging out two coats in one late night; we just cranked up some favorite tunes and made the best of it. And I have to say, for somone who really hates painting with a passion, Nathan was impressively gung-ho about the whole thing. He is just so excited about his baby girl, he can't hide it. He talks about her all the time!



The gray looked really nice in the morning light and I am glad with the color, although it wasn't the original gray I picked. I had picked something a tiny bit warmer and darker; but since we are doing this room on a shoestring budget and I went for the next-to-cheapest paint from the hardware store, I couldn't get the paint chip I picked out at first. Apparently it was a signature color from a line of more expensive paint and wasn't available in the cheaper brand I wanted to get; and I honestly only had a few choices of gray shades to choose from. I went with the closest one on a wing and a prayer and I'm happy with it; it actually picks up the shades in the rug I got really well.



Friday night, we spent a couple hours putting together the crib and changing table. We've never built Ikea furniture before, but the instructions were super simple for the pieces we got and they went together without a hitch. Obviously, Spike was a big help. (He is not so sure about what's going on in this new room, but he does like the rug.)



So this is basically where we are - many steps ahead of where we were, but definitely lots to go still. I am really happy with the pieces I picked from Ikea, though - I went with the simplest pieces that had the smallest footprint, and it's a good thing I did. The upholstered glider we ordered will go in the corner there to the left of the crib, so the crib will have to move down the wall to the right a little bit and unfortunately I don't think I'll have room for the old schooldesk I was planning to repaint. I also think I am going to forego the crib skirt I was planning on making; besides the fact that I think it would close in the small space even more, the only vent in the room is underneath - and shutting it off is probably not the best plan.

Next up is installing the chandelier, making the curtains (I got some cute inexpensive curtain rods yesterday at a discount store), finishing and hanging the baby mobile (I'm almost done), and framing/hanging wall art. But at least now we would have somewhere to actually *put* a baby should she arrive earlier than planned - that's a huge step forward. ; )