One of the reasons putting her room together was so much fun for me was because I got to learn some new skills and practice some old ones along the way: re-do quite a bit of furniture, sew some stuff, and build with a saw. Maybe you can relate...I am always seeing things and thinking, "I think I could make that for cheaper...if I only knew how". And I am telling you, if I can do it, then so can you!!
This time around, I enlisted the help of my mom who has a talent for working with wood. When we were kids she was often out in the garage, working on her saw, making creative stuff, and hosting bazaars to showcase and sell all that she made by hand...but it had been a long time (something like 15 years) since she'd made anything new. It was a fun for me to spend an afternoon learning from her.
My inspiration were these adorable, but expensive shelves from Pottery Barn Kids. They're originally anywhere from $34 to $59 dollars--each!
We sketched out a template for the sides, figured out all the measurements and then hit the local lumber supply store to get what we needed. Mom fired up the scroll saw, and we set to work.
I realized even in writing this that you could easily get some scrap lumber for a project like this, it just didn't cross my mind at the time to ask around for some. But even after purchasing all the supplies we needed, each shelf cost just under $12 to make.
After she showed me how not to lose any fingers, it was my turn to give it a shot. I got to learn how to use a scroll saw and a drill press. I am honestly really excited about this--it was a lot of fun, and something I have wanted to do for a long time. I think it's the idea that you really can hurt yourself with this kind of equipment that kind of scares me, so I was really appreciative that my mom was there to step-by-step show me how to work both machines. Now I feel like I know what to do and can tackle other projects all myself if I want to.
Then came all the gritty details: filling holes with wood putty and cracks with wood glue, sanding, priming and painting.
After a friend saw the shelves, she told me she found a template on Anna White's website for something similar. So, if you like this look and want to make some similar shelves, but need step by step instructions, let me send you over there for help.
The shelves are now filled with her daddy's old kid books, special stuffed animals from Baba (my mom), baby books, and an adorable hand sewn teddy bear we got from our dear friend Shelly.
Another favorite piece in this corner is the homemade lion face artwork. Grace's Auntie Lola created it for her as a gift (for Christmas, I think!?). The other frames are all clearance/second hand finds I spray painted and then filled.
On the chair is one of my all time favorite baby gifts--it's the vintage looking handmade quilt from my best friend's mom, Holly. Brown picked out all the fabric and couldn't have shown me more just how well she knows me and my likes. I adore it, even though it really belongs to Grace....
The fish pillow is another newer favorite because I took Grace to pick out some fabric for a little pillow I wanted to cover for her. As soon as she saw this in the store, she literally would not let go of the bolt of fabric and carried it all by herself to the counter. She LOVES fish.
And the touch lamp was a $15 clearance score from Target. I didn't even realize it had three settings until just before I had Grace, but man has it come in handy! All those first few weeks of nursing at night--I couldn't do it without a light. Believe me, I felt like we were both slow learners, but eventually we got the hang of it and this light with it's super low first setting was very helpful to have.
We've spent a lot of time in this corner, nursing and reading and whiling away lots of close time. It's one of my favorite spots in the whole house.
I am linking up this week with The Shabby Nest so scoot on over there to get more home/decor inspiration!
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6 comments:
LOVE this special little corner! Dreamy shelves and gorgeous quilt! :) Doesn't it feel good to have created a beautiful spot in your home?
what a great little space! how awesome that you made those shelves with your mom, you guys should be really proud!
Love the shelves and really loving the border! Well done!
Thanks for your sweet comments ladies. It's been a lot of fun putting my baby girls room together!
when we visited last month, i forget to mention how much i love grace's room...what a relaxing, unique room u have made for our "baby grace". ur booknook is a treasure and i love how u displayed bj's 'old books'!
grammie m
Good job and nice room for the kid. By the way, we should encourage children to explore and express their creativeness to help strengthen a child’s positive self-image.
Nursery Reading, MA
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