We had the hardest time deciding what type of theme we wanted to do in our nursery. First, we looked in all the stores. My mom is a wonderful seamstress so we also had the option of buying fabric and having her do it. I had a couple of thoughts whirling around in my mind as we were shopping around. First, I have a chair that my mom gave me that belonged to my great-grandmother. It was the same chair that my mom rocked my brother and I in. So, not only is it frugal to reuse this item, but it is also sentimental. However, since the chair is so old, my mom offered to have the seat rebuilt and the chair upholstered as her gift to me. So right off I needed to decide on bedding so that I could find an upholstery fabric that would go with it. The other thing swimming around in my mind was that the room that will be the nursery has a reading nook in it. The reading nook has a captain’s bed (of sorts) with a twin sized mattress. So, I knew whatever bedding we chose for the crib we would have to find something that would at least compliment it for the reading nook. Now, let me tell you they do not make matching bedding in crib size and twin size in most of your chain retail stores. That made things a little tricky. After looking all over creation and even looking online to see what other people were doing, we decided on a nautical theme. I wanted something that would be clean and classic – no characters and not too babyish. I really wasn’t totally sold when my husband and I picked the William Nautica bedding at Babies R Us. But, there really weren’t that many options for boys.
Next, we went to the upholstery shop. I really thought I would pick something neutral that I could reuse in another room. The only problem with that was that the “neutral” color in the bedding was white and there is no way I am having a white chair in a toddler’s room! So, we ended up finding some navy blue corduroy with small silvery/powder blue swirls on it for just $18 for all 5 yards at a discount upholstery shop. That is totally unheard of for upholstery fabric!! We bought enough to do the curtain and the chair. It matched the Nautica bedding well, and the swirls reminded me of water.
Finally, I started to get a vision. I purchased a navy blue twin sized comforter from my local Walmart for just $18, the white curtains on the reading nook I also found for super cheap at Walmart, and I found some twin sized sheets at a discount store for nearly nothing. We took some of the bedding with us to pick out the paint at our local hardware store and my husband and father-in-law installed the chair rail and the shelving. I ordered the crib, baskets, and changing table from Walmart’s site to store. I already had the occasional table, so we just repurposed that. The little shelf above the changing table is from our local Lowe’s and the shells came from a trip my mother took and brought back. I wanted my baskets to be like those cute lined baskets that always cost a fortune. I couldn’t find any that matched or were the size I wanted so I ordered the Canopy baskets from Walmart’s site to store and bought the fabric at a local fabric store. It was a perfect match! We also bought fabric for the throw pillows in the reading nook, the floor pillow, and the lamp. My mom helped me make the basket liners and the pillows and a friend of mine did the monogramming on the lamp and pillows.
The final touches were the mural, which I painted after seeing the idea online, and the letters in his name, which hang above his bed. I had seen some really cool letters in an upscale boutique that retailed for about $30 each. My mom had the idea of making my own. So, I did for about $2.50 each. That is my favorite part! Something personalized for just a few bucks! To see how to make your very own visit my other blog: www.thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com for simple directions and a cost breakdown!
View Video "The Nursery"