Nursery Progress: Lights, Curtains, Action

Considering baby girl Campbell is only 2-3 weeks away from making her arrival, I wish I could say that the nursery is further along and ready for her.  But all she needs is a safe place to sleep, right?  But we did recently make some minor progress in adding some lights, hanging the curtains, and modifying a dresser to serve as a changing table.  We even washed the baby’s bedding, clothes, etc., and made up her crib.

Blue nursery curtains from Anthropologie in a dark nursery

We picked up the curtains from Anthropologie on super clearance but they were extra super ridiculously long for the height of our room.  So over Christmas break, while Colby and I were visiting my folks, my mom hemmed them for me.  You know, because no way am I allowing my novice at-best sewing skills anywhere near Anthropologie curtains!  I would totally Franken-curtain them to the point of no return and the poor curtains would be relegated to a life of living in my someday-I’ll-do-something-with-this scrap pile.

One of the other little DIY projects we tackled was extending the vintage dresser.

Extending a dresser for a nursery changing pad

To make the dresser fit behind the door, we had to slide it all the way to the wall with the window.  But when we did that, there was a beam in the corner that prevented the dresser from sitting flush against the wall with the door.  With first-time mom fears of the baby falling behind the dresser never to be seen again, we built a little ledge shelf to wedge around the dresser.  The shelf is secured both to the back of the dresser and to the wall to prevent any tipping.

I’m anticipating adding a couple of shelves above the changing table and pad to add some much-needed storage along with some art and decor.

Nursery changing station using an old dresser

We also added a couple of light fixtures to the nursery, both of which were extremely inexpensive.  We paid no more than $15 total for a flush mount light for the ceiling and for the wall sconce; the sconce hailing from Home Depot and the flush mount from Lowes.

An inexpensive light fixture spray painted pink

The wall sconce originally came in a chrome finish that didn’t really fit the vibe of the nursery.  So we gave the chrome finish a little makeover with some pink spray paint.  Someday I have my heart set on a gorgeous Reujevenation sconce, but with baby on the way I couldn’t justify spending a couple hundred bucks on just one light.  So cheap for now until we can upgrade it.

An inexpensive light fixture spray painted pink

We hung the flush mount as is and, like the sconce, we anticipate upgrading it one day. But saving on the two existing light fixtures, allows us to splurge a little in another area; a third light fixture.  This one is a plugin sconce to hang beside the glider for those late-night nursing sessions.

Nursery with Ikea crib, West Elm graham glider, and pink rugs with dark painted walls

I am obsessed with the new Leighton Wall Adjustable Sconce from Pottery Barn and have about five places in our house where I want to hang it.  So if for some reason the light doesn’t fit or work in the nursery, I have a few backup options.  But just to make sure I loved the sconce in the nursery before I pulled the trigger and purchased it, I Photoshopped a little mockup of the nursery along with the art and accessories we’ll be adding.

Nursery design adding a reading light and art

So I’m off to make those last-minute oh-my-gosh-we’re-having-a-baby purchases like a diaper pail and one of those snot suckers, finish up the nursery, and you know…deliver a happy healthy baby in the next couple of weeks.  So just in case you don’t hear from us in a little while, well, it just may be baby time.

2 Comments

  1. Just an FYI. My kid’s crib is also in front of curtains, and starting at 6 months he wouldn’t leave them alone (at one point pulling them all into the crib with him). So make sure that bracket is exceptionally well mounted, and you may want to have a shade or blinds in reserve. Hopefully your baby girl is an angel, but I wanted to give you a heads up! I love all the pink with the dark walls, the space is beautiful.

  2. Love the way this is all coming together! Congratulations Angie on the success of your nursery. You may feel like you have a lot to still do, but consider me impressed!

    Have a safe delivery and many blessings to your future angel. You and your husband are going to be great parents!

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