Mission: Nursery

It was a late-pregnancy surprise that Addie was going to be able to come to Memphis and help me put the nursery together (read: do it all herself because I was so indecisive).  I was SO excited to have her help because before she got here this is what the nursery looked like:

And I was pretty sure it was going to just stay that way, plus a crib, because I had too many competing ideas in my head.  And I was pretty much at the point where I was thinking, "if I can't have an amazing nursery, why waste any money on it at all".   To prepare her for my crazy state, I sent her several rooms that I loved, none of which seemed to have anything in common.  Here were a few of our inspiration rooms:

I also handed her about a dozen fabric swatches.  Addie kept telling me if I liked something it would work, but I just wasn't seeing it.  How do you get a classic, modern, elegant, whimsical, cheery, airy nursery?  Oh and not spend a fortune.  I was confident it was an unachievable mission.  Thankfully, Addie's brain wasn't suffering from third-trimester-shrinking hormones. Excluding the changing table, crib and mattress (which had all already been purchased), I told her we couldn't spend more than $600 (was this possible???).  When all was said and done we had about a quarter of our budget left over!  I had forgotten how frugal Addie could be. How did it all shake out?

Nursing chair and pillow- $220
Rug-  shower gift
crib art- shower gift, embroidery hoops from Kaye, fabric scraps
mobile- embroidery hoops and thread from Kaye, fabric scraps
fabric- $80
end table- repurposed from another room and spray painted
paint and supplies- $40
cornice boards- $20
misc. accessories and required supplies- $40
sweet ikea chandelier- $50

All-in-all I'd say it's pretty impressive.  Particularly if you drop out the price of the chair.  Talk about design on a dime!  Thank you Addie for designing one amazing looking room!  When all was said and done, here was the finished product:

Oh, and did I mention this transformation happened over 2 and a half days, which also included attending my baby shower for the better part of Saturday mid-morning/early-afternoon?  It was quite a whirlwind! And it would have been quite impossible without my sweet husband.

He painted the nursery all day on Friday, and then while we were at the shower he put together the crib and changing table and  hung the chandelier with Uncle Michael's help. By the end of the weekend he had also installed all new electrical outlets in the room and swapped out nasty old air return covers for nice, new, white ones.  Oh- I shouldn't leave out the cornice boards...  it was quite a snug fit getting them up onto the wall. What a man! 

My mom was also invaluable:  making the crib skirt, helping me with the black-out curtains and fabric bookcases, making the sweet baby pillow for Papaw's chair, and about a million other things.  I have the best mom. 

What did I do, you may be wondering-  a whole lot of not very much.  Let's see- I shopped, stapled fabric to the cornice boards, transformed some cheap dollar store baskets with some hot glue and leftover fabric, and hacksawed---

that's right.  Beware the crazy pregnant lady with a saw!  After Addie left I also made the fabric bookcases and black-out curtains. 

I'm blessed to have such amazing people in my life.  And this little one is blessed too!

Here are some of the details you couldn't see in other photos: