29 weeks

Just checking in to share a bit of progress on the nursery.

This is the room we started with....

It was previously occupied by two young boys and some bunk beds.

Turquoise carpet, sea-foam green walls and a whack of teddy bears.

Before we found out we were pregnant we painted the room a stone color

 to keep things neutral and cover up the dirty hand prints.

Not sure the name of it, but it is basically just greige.

We wont be finding out if we have a boy or girl until the actual birth 

so for decorating we had to go with gender neutral.

Something about the idea of pastel greens or yellows wasn't inspiring me, 

so we went with basic brights instead.

Mostly red, orange and yellow with a bit of green and grey.

Here is where we are at so far...

I've laid out the crib sheets and curtains

 just to remind myself of what colors to pick up.

The giraffe picture was from Homesense

 it is kind of what started the whole rainbow of colors idea..

Some details  

We have some shelves and curtains to hang, 

as well as a DIY mobile idea I'm going to tackle.

It's all coming together,

 just two more months and I can add the final touch....

a baby.

Step up

This might not be the most exciting post, 

but it has been a long time coming..

This is what we bought, 

This is what we lived with for 2 years, 

And now, this is what we have!

The top of the stairs looks like the gates to heaven, 

and right about now that is how it feels. 

Like a gigantic sigh of new soft sweet relief.

That green beauty wasn't just on the stairs,

 it was in all three bedrooms and the hallway too!

Removing it was on the top of our to-do list from day one.

It just kept getting pushed back, 

two years later we still can't believe we waited so long.

With a baby on the way the reality sunk in...

while our faces might be a good 5 ft above dirty dusty carpet level

our small child should not have to crawl around on that!

You might notice that we also put in engineered hardwood in the dining room area,

that happened about a year ago.

The carpet was right up to our front door and far worse than the upstairs stuff.

With the amount of dirt getting tracked in it just made sense to tackle that area first.

We knew we wanted to stick to carpet on the upper level for a few reasons;

We find it warmer, this is personal preference but we both agreed that carpet in a bedroom is just that extra bit cosier than a hard option.

Cost was a big deciding factor, carpet was a third of what it would have cost to put in the hardwood, not to mention that there are 9 stairs in total and stairs are always extra.

Maintenance. Again this is personal preference, but I find carpet easier to up keep. 

To vacuum as needed and spot treat when its necessary is far more appealing to me than the constant dusting that hardwood takes. 

 I'm told my children will stain it, this is true, this is life.

With a white dog my dining room has to be dusted every other day, 

the floors are beautiful but they require a lot of work to look that way.

 Life is too short my friends.

If you like close up shots of carpet, 

here you go.

Textured pile, I'm told it is made in Canada from recycled pop bottles.

I'm convinced it is made of clouds and unicorn hair.

Fade to black

Here is another small update I was working on over the holidays...

Remember this 'before' shot?

The bathroom I affectionately call 'His'...

Here is where we started.

We painted it a different shade of blue, 

more grey than baby..

We then added the usual new shower curtain and towels, 

some framed etsy prints and a new light fixture.

This is what we were left with.

Oh, and of course, we lightened the grout!

Forgive the blurry photo,

Something still wasn't quite right though.

Check this out.....

Ahhhh... much better!

I had debated painting the vanity for a while.

I was held back wondering how durable latex paint could be on something used so often, 

and in a bathroom of all places.

Would the steam from the shower make the paint peel?

Would the paint chip or wear off from cupboards being opened and closed so often?

There are more than enough posts just like this one out there,

 showing 'how to' paint a vanity/dresser/kitchen cupboards.

Very few posts on how well these projects hold up.

Mine will be no different.

I lightly sanded all surfaces, 

wiped them down with vinegar and water, 

let them dry (15 min)..

Used a small foam roller and paintbrush with THIS paint.

It took 2 good coats, 3 in some areas.

I chose not to do a coat of poly for now. 

We really like the matte finish.

If I find that it isn't wearing well I will touch up and add a coat of sealer.

I'll also report back to let you know.

Sometimes sharing failure is just as helpful as sharing success.

For now, we look at it as a victory.

It's just so pretty