Awaiting Baby Porterfield... Part 3: The Nursery

One of the bigger "awaiting Baby Boy" projects we worked on over the last several months was transforming our upstairs guest room to Baby Porterfield's own "little man haven" (Not to be confused with a grown up man cave, which we have downstairs already, and Baby Boy will have full access to.).  What better way to showcase the finished product with our friends & family near and far, than with a tour via the blog.  :) 

The only vision I had for the nursery before we started it was that I didn't want a true theme.  I wasn't really into matching bedding sets, brightly colored walls or decor that conveyed the message "Hello, I am a baby's room!" (Even though, yes, I know--- a nursery is in fact a baby's room.) That said, in lieu of a traditional theme like animals, trains, etc, we opted for a color scheme; one that created a preppy little space for our son that he can grow into, that somewhat flows with the decor in the rest of our house.  

With a little lot of help from Pinterest, some shopping on Etsy, and brainstorming with my mom, sisters & Doug's cousin Steph who has a serious eye for creativity & style, we were able to piece together a nursery that we absolutely love.  It's a mini-man cave of navy & white, with pops of green & yellow.  For now, it's just a space we stop & look at from time to time, but soon... very soon... it will be the room where we rock & snuggle our precious baby boy.  We can't WAIT!  

Out with the old....

A "before" shot.  Goodbye upstairs guest room!

This cozy little space housed many guests over the past 3 years, in addition to being my "dressing room" in the morning before work.

And in with the new!

Our moving team!  This dynamic duo was responsible for moving the guest room furniture out, the new chair & boxes of "assembly-required" baby furniture in.  Side note: Gary is still dreaming of the day he finds himself off the hook for moving furniture belonging to his children.  

Doing some cleaning in between move out & move in.  Specifically, Doug is shown humoring me by attempting one of my Pinterest inspired cleaning tips- which is to use Bounce dryer sheets to clean base boards.  The thought is that they make the room smell fresh, and prevent dust from accumulating as quickly.  So far, so good!  

"Assembly required" was an understatement for our dresser/changing table... it must have come in close 100+ pieces.  However, Doug handled it like a champ & put it together effortlessly- I was beyond impressed!  He even held out until the very end of the project for his first Fat Tire.  I see many father/son projects in his future with our little one.  He's so handy!

And in with the new! 

After!  All the big (and little!) pieces came together to create a cozy little preppy space for Baby Boy Porterfield.  We opted not to paint, and leave the walls the same neutral khaki they were before- which matches the rest of our house.  Originally, we'd talked about getting a white crib & dresser, but after finding out we were having a boy, Doug vetoed that idea & decided on a "rich mahogany" instead.  :)   

The "cozy corner" of the nursery.  We expect to spend a fair amount of time here- rocking, gliding, reclining, sleeping (?), reading with & feeding our little guy.  The chair was a gift from my parents, and we're already certain it will be the gift that keeps on giving.  Doug's cousin, Jessica, made the beautiful blanket for us.  (Jess also designed our wedding invitations & will be doing our birth announcements, too!)

This vintage "I Like to Rock" print was the first print we bought for the room.  We bought it on Etsy, and worked with the designer to create a version with our nursery colors.  Then we bought a simple white frame from Michael's, spray painted it navy & paired it with the yellow mat to finish it off.

The print of this precious bedtime prayer (the one I said at bedtime when I was growing up) was another Etsy find.  We took another white frame, painted it yellow & picked up a navy mat to complete it.  I can't wait to say this prayer with our little one every night before he goes to bed! 

This giraffe hook from Urban Outfitters was an accessory we couldn't resist.  The pop of yellow, the fact it's a giraffe... it just seemed like a nursery necessity for hanging baby boy's hooded towels.  :) 

Dresser/Changing Table (the piece that started as 100+ obnoxious little pieces, skillfully assembled by Doug!).  Doug's cousin, Steph, told us about a great website for nursery bedding, which is where we snagged the chevron changing pad cover (and matching crib sheet).  We found the curtains on sale at Urban outfitters (along with the elephant tie back that's hard to see in this picture).  Each of the wall hangings above the changing table were made for us.... more on that below.  

The elephant piggy bank was another snag from Urban Outfitters.  

My sweet friend Sylvia (who I lovingly refer to as my guru) surprised me at my baby shower with several beautiful canvases she painted for us.  This one features a quote from "Where the Wild Things Are," and reads "We'll eat you up, we love you so!"

My mom sneakily worked with Doug's cousin, Jessica, to design this wall hanging.  They did an amazing job matching it perfectly to the nursery- from the chevron print to the mat that is the same fabric/color as our chair, to a frame that perfectly matches our crib & changing table.  It says "Angels before me, guide & direct me; Angels behind me, guard & protect me; Angels above me, keep watch over me; Angels beside me, care for & comfort me."

Another one of the beautiful canvases Sylvia made that says "I love you to the moon & back." 

The only part of the nursery waiting to be completed is the wall space above Baby Boy's crib. We've purchased big block letters & painted them navy blue,  to spell his name out above his crib.  However, since we're keeping his name a surprise until he makes his grand entrance, we have the letters tucked away, and will be putting that finishing touch up once we're home as a family of three!  

One final Etsy purchase to complete our wall decor.  We both loved this print  of lyrics from the Coldplay song, "Yellow."  The designer matched the colors in the print to the colors we told her we were using in our nursery.  We bought a green mat & left the frame white... and voila!  It was finished.

Just a random shot of one other corner in his room.  One of my coworkers made the little night light for us- it's a glass block with a string of soft white Christmas lights inside of it.  We'll be moving his swing/bouncy seat from room to room once we start using it, but for now, it's tucked away in the corner of his nursery.   

I don't have a great picture of it, but the beautiful, plush rug you see in some of the pictures was a gift from Doug's parents.  It's wonderfully soft & fluffy and is going to come in oh-so-handy for play time on the floor!  It was one of the last pieces of the nursery to be put in place, and pulls everything together perfectly.

There you have it-- the "grand tour" of Baby Boy's nursery!  We couldn't be more excited to meet him, welcome him home & start putting his room to good use!  Here's to hoping it will eventually bring us all many sleep filled nights.  :)  Ok, we aren't holding our breath on that one...