Extreme Room Makeover

Yesterday and today have been dedicated to painting the nursery. It was my first room-painting experience, so I felt very intimidated by the project. My wonderful friend, Melody, was a LIFESAVER. She helped me think of the design & pick out the paint, cut & paint & install the chair rail, and did nearly all of the painting. It took us all day yesterday and today. Yeah, she is a total sweetheart to help me so much!

Here are the BEFORE pictures. Yes, this room was painted in a psychedelic design. It made you dizzy standing in it! In case you can't tell in the picture, the side walls are lime green. And you can see in the mirror that the back wall is the same square design as the front wall. Our landlord had this room painted to match his 12-year old daughter's bedspread. (The squares are actually layers and layers of paint on top each other, so I had to spend hours sanding the edges down so the squares wouldn't be as obvious underneath our new paint.) Everything was incorporated into the paint job: the back of the door, the door and window moulding were blue and purple respectively, all the switchplates and outlets were painted, the closet was completely lime green including the ceiling, even the fire detector, fan blades, and actual lightswitch had been painted bright colors. Unfortunately, the baseboards were also partially painted, so we had to do major touch-up on the white edging throughout the room.


















Middle of the project pictures.
Here's Melody beginning the pomegranate-pink wall. We had already done a first coat of cream on the side wall. And here's Benjamin, getting into my lipstick while I put another coat of edging on all the walls this morning. He was being SO good, playing with toys and entertaining himself. After some time I realized I hadn't heard from him for awhile, so I went to investigate..... :)
He was an angel this afternoon - we painted for about two hours without interruption while Melody's little boy took a nap and Benjamin played in his room. I couldn't believe how great he was being!


And the finished product. In addition to the new walls, we repainted all the white trim, and added the white 'chair rail' (I can't remember what official name Melody used for it since it's up high, but it sounded much more elegant). The room has a whole new feel to it now. It's calm & inviting, but still feminine & playful. I love it! And it's so pristine with the brand new paint. Perfect for a brand new baby! :)

I can't wait to get the baby furniture in it, but we still have to use it for Jed's study for the next two months. I guess there's no point in putting up a crib and moving the changing table and glider in there already. But I really want to!






Here's a photo of the little 'sewing table' I bought at a garage sale for $8. I'll keep it in the baby's room. And see the fabric samples on top the table? That is my final fabric choices for the nursery bedding. (They are different patterns than what I displayed in my older post below. When I have the crib skirt, bumper pad, window valance, and closet curtain finished, I'll post pictures. Then you can see the cute fabric that I finally settled on. :) )