As promised, I am going to share some pics of our condo over the next few weeks! I miss this condo so much, and Blake’s room was my very happiest place. I love reliving our memories and stalking all the pictures we have.
I have a serious fear of flying. I get the worst anxiety. Once a therapist told me to imagine my calmest, happiest place. To go through every single detail in my mind and try to place myself in that spot. Over the past 2.5 years, it has always been the rocking chair in bb’s room. I imagine myself sitting there, with bb sound asleep on my chest, with the light from the living room coming in through the french doors (the only “windows” in the room). It was a stone throw from the kitchen, so even over the loud fan sound we used to drown out the noise, I could always hear the clinking of dishes from the kitchen. The ceilings were SO high but the exposed brick made it feel so warm and cozy. ps – if you have a fear of flying, this is the only thing that has ever come remotely close to helping me. I have tried xanax (makes me faint), liquid courage (makes me nauseated and that doesn’t work for 7am flights), meditation, hypnosis…none of that worked for me. So I would highly recommend giving it a try!
Anyways, I digress. But to say I loved this space is the understatement of the century. I love remembering being pregnant and creating this room, not even knowing who bb would be. It suited her so perfectly, my heart just must have known. I am so excited to create a new space for her in our next house, but this one will always hold a spot near and dear in my heart. Her very first place she called home.
The original inspiration for bb’s nursery was this picture. I was OBSESSED with this giraffe print. I found the original image on Pinterest and stalked down the Style Me Pretty post and eventually found the actual artist who did the painting. Her name is Jenna Snyder-Phillips and her Creatures collection is incredible. My hopes and dreams were crushed when the price tag was way outside the budget. I hope I can someday get one of her pieces, because they are everything.
This was another nursery picture I fell in love with, and stalked it equally hard. I finally found the original post and the cutest little family DIYed the print! So I set out to create the giraffe print (or my do not have an artist bone in my entire body version) myself! I told Blake for weeks I was going to try to do it on my own, and on valentine’s day, he surprised me with paints and said we were going to make all the artwork for our little one’s nursery together! If you know Blake, he is NOT crafty, does not paint, and this is extremely outside his comfort zone, which made the gesture even cuter. My pregnancy brain could not handle it and I basically cried the entire time we were painting. Blake made the I love you to the moon and back piece and I am not kidding, spent 5 hours (using stensils haha) making it exactly as he thought it should be. He said “I hope she takes this to college one day” while we were making it. It was the cutest thing and whether she wants to or not, she is taking it to college one day.
I love that gallery wall so much, and I don’t think I would have loved it as much if we hadn’t painted them all ourselves! The frames are the polished brass line from West Elm. Just a suggestion, but if you plan to hang a gallery wall, pay the $150 to hire a handyman to get them hung correctly and securely. All of the lower pieces were ripped off the wall at one point or another by an unruly toddler.
The very first piece we picked out for the nursery was the crib from Nursery Works. My parents got it for us as a gift and it is one of my favorite things we own. Someday, when we don’t have any use for a crib, it turns into a little daybed that will be perfect for a kids reading nook! We already owned the map that hangs above the crib. We found it at a going out of business sale in the city. They were basically giving away their artwork and we got it on an insane deal. I love how the mixed metals turned out with the brass legs from the crib, soft gold art frame and white book shelves.
Before we had bb, the closet space in her room was my overflow closet space. Our master closet was really small, so I used all the extra space in what was originally a guest room. When we started to make plans for a nursery, I decluttered as much as I could, but had to keep one of the two closets in her room for myself. Which meant we would need to have a lot of useful space inside the nursery.
We ended up with two Ikea bookshelves flanking her crib and they were invaluable. If you are doing city living with a little one or just have limited space, I highly recommend ALL the baskets and bins. Over the 2.5 years, the things that filled the baskets evolved, as her needs did. The metal bins held her toiletries and first aid supplies. At first, the wicker baskets held her blankets, swaddles, bibs, and burp clothes. And when we moved out they were filled with dress-up clothes and toys. And there were always plenty of books, including my original set of Harry Potter books which I CANNOT WAIT to read to her someday. And of course lots of fuzzy friends adorned the shelves. A little travel theme formed around the map on the wall, so we filled the shelves with some finds from our travels, like a hand carved elephant we bought in Thailand years before bb was even a wish in our heads.
The teal dresser is an antique. I love that no other kid in the world has that exact same dresser. I wanted a neutralish nursery, but wanted to bring in some pop of color that wasn’t pink. I fell in love with this piece the moment I saw it.
The rug is Safavieh from Amazon, the rocker is Nursery Works from Amazon, the lamp is from Target. and the fuzzy ottoman is Pottery Barn Kids. They don’t carry the exact ottoman anymore, but this one and this one are similar!
When we moved in, there was an ugly old ceiling fan. I think one of the easiest (and least expensive) ways to give a room a little facelift is to swap out the light fixture or ceiling fan for something fun! We knew we weren’t going to stay in this condo forever, so I was not going to invest serious money in a light fixture that would stay with the apartment. So we ended up with this cute little chandelier from Overstock for only $238!
Love this little space so much. Cannot wait to create a new one with new memories in our next house.
