Nursery

I'll interrupt my birth plan composing and home run derby watching to bring you some long awaited photos of Cletus' nursery.

But first, a trip down memory lane…

This is the room the first time we toured the house.

This is the room after we moved in and it became the dog's room.

This is the room present day (facing the great street of Ruggles).

With such a narrow hall and small bedroom it was hard to get a full shot of the room so let me break it down for you. First, make sure you take notice of the white trim in the photo above. This was the first window frame that got painted and thanks to neighbor Sara, the rest of the trim in the room did as well, including the closet doors. To finish things off, Shawn installed a new oil rubbed bronze door handle and he spray painted all other metallic inventory in a matching shade to create cohesion. I know. Impressive.

East wall or looking right when you walk in.

West wall or looking left when you walk in.

South wall or looking back at the door you walked in from (see Leo's butt for door entry).

In order to decorate on the cheap, I came up with a few quick and easy solutions. Some original, some stolen and some just plain dumb luck.

Fish, duck and frog hooded towels along with a swaddle blanket adorn four 3M plastic hooks.

We just so happened to receive perfectly color coordinated towels for Cletus that I decided to make them a wall display and make them easy to grab in the process. Side note: My favorite is still the frog. I don't know what it is about that green but it makes me happy. You've seen my bathroom right? On the right end is one of three aden + anais bamboo muslin swaddle blankets I splurged on. These are by far the softest blankets I have ever felt. They stretch and conform to make the perfect swaddle while allowing the baby to breath and not overheat. Meaning, they're perfect for a July baby! If you've never seen them, you must check them out. Scratch that, you must feel them out. I will confiscate these for myself without shame or guilt as soon as Cletus' outgrows them.

Framed Shel Silverstein poems flank Cletus' crib.

I happened across this fantastic matte idea while perusing a blog on my blog roll and thought it was a perfect idea to spice up this collection. We bought the matching frames from Ikea and the fabric from Hancocks. With some extra spray mount I still had laying around from college, Shawn adhered the fabric to the existing white matte. He was solo on this effort as spray mount is probably one of the worst inhalants that exist and therefore, not allowed for me to use. Then I scanned the poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends (borrowed from the library as I think my copy still exists at Mom's house… ahem), did a little Photoshopping, printed them out and plopped 'em in. The hardest part about this project? Yep, picking the poems. I flagged and highlighted (that's for you Boss Deb) several from both Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic and finally, with Shawn's assistance, deduced it down to three. They are "Invitation", "Listen to the Mustn'ts" and "No Difference". I absolutely, positively LOVE these books. I can still recite quite of few of my favorite by heart. Shawn, on the other hand, was issued a stern lecture from me because not only had he never read them, he had never even heard of them. Ohemgeeeeeee! He's now a student of Mr. Silverstein's and has welcomed him into his expansive reading repertoire. I know, bout time!

Oh and the second hardest part about this project? Hanging the three frames level, equally spaced out and in the center of the crib. Yeah there was a battle brewing there when we started the project but the good ole laser level and Shawn's math saved the day and no Bassets or babies were harmed in the process.

Here's where the plain dumb luck comes into play. After painting the room a blueish, greenish, jadeish, gender neutral shade, who's official name is "Firmament" by the way, and picking a bright green and subtle aqua as some accents, it dawned on me that I had the perfect artwork for this nursery's wall. My Peter Pan painting! Or should I say, the Peter Pan painting. I painstakingly completed this work back in high school although I have no recollection of what year it was. I do recall it winning first place at the art show. Eat your heart out Bob Ross. All I did was have it framed at Michaels during a 50% off sale (never pay full price for such needs) and we stuck it on the wall. Simple=happy DeBoers.

Peter Pan (and I guess Tinkerbell)

Detailed closeup… yeah, it sucked and it took me for-ev-er!

Next comes the boring details or necessities that make up a nursery. First up, clothes. I have yet to figure out how I want to organize these so here they still sit, in the crib, washed and folded, cute and small. If you look closely, you will see the edge of Cletus' abode in a purple tank at the bottom of the photo. Can't hide it, don't care.

Here's where we got a little handy and maybe a little obsessive. You see, the cable and Internet hookup is in this room and sits right behind the crib. The crib with slots. With slots that a small child's hand will eventually fit through. So, we buzzed down a few blocks to the local Ace Hardware and bought a sort of tubing device to feed the telephone wire up through. Shawn painted it to match the wall, screwed it on and then I placed white electrical tape over the remainder of the wire that showed. Voila. The last of the offensive cords all sit nicely zip-tied behind and under the crib and rug. This is also a good time to point out that Mr. DeBoer switched out all the outlets and covers to crisp, new white ones instead of the lovely bisque ones that existed previously. I had my doubts, don't get me wrong. After all, we were the ones that had a drill smoking when trying to attach kitchen hardware because we didn't know the drill was in reverse, but I had faith and I also had the pleasure of being gone while he figured it out and completed the task so it was easier on my nerves. Everything worked, there were no fires, no electrocutions and I was very, very pleased and proud. Not to mention he put a dimmer switch in where the old generic switch existed originally. Bam! Instant baby mood lighting.

This is just a fan I guess. Nothing special but it happened to be in the perfect shade of green. I had to have it. It's from Targay Olé of course. We do plan to use it to woo Cletus to sleep the same way we're woo'd and that is constant noise. We had originally planned on using a humidifier to do the job but the one we bought turned out to be frinkin' ultrasonic (dammit) so it makes virtually no noise.

Here is a Basset. He just so happened to be in the room during my photo shoot but I also found it appropriate because he is the number one occupier of the new recliner. He's not supposed to get on it mind you. We've caught him up there half a dozen times and if he didn't damn near match the thing and look so cute, we might've kicked him to the curb because there is nothing more frustrating then buying a new piece of furniture and having dog hair on it before you even get to take it for a rock. This photo also gives you a better look at the carpet. The lovely grayish, blueish shag rug hails from Ikea and is the bassets second favorite place to be because let's face it, they'd be on our laps all night if we let 'em.

Here lies a changing table. A Craiglist find that was originally from Pottery Barn and in immaculate shape. I adore the drawers, shelves and bright green storage bins I picked up from, you guessed it, Targay, on the cheap. You will also notice an Ewock's feet creeping out the side. That's Mr. Wicket. Cletus will love him if it's the last thing I do.

Alas, the crib. The crib is from Babies R'Us and the best part about it, besides it's beauty, is it's low profile. Meaning, it's short. So height challenged individuals such as myself don't have to stand on my tippy toes to lean over and lay down a sleeping baby. The mattress does lower three settings and the whole thing does convert transform into a daybed and full bed after we're done getting the most use out of it as a crib. Which in the event that Cletus turns out to be the terror we fear, the crib might just get used this once.

Now, the boring closet. Doesn't look like much yet because like I said, I haven't come up with an organization system. The OCD wheels are a turnin though. The bookshelf is from Pier One and used to live in the guest room but got the boot when the computer and desk had to be moved into there. So now it will end up as storage for something baby. Also notice the green clothes basket? I'm obsessed. I know. Isn't it frickin cool though?

The other side of said closet is where you'll see our lovely stroller that matches our lovely car seat that is now filled with lovely glass and at the salvage yard inside our old lovely Camry. The new seat should arrive any day now… hopefully. Above it is what we call the Cornstuble tub. If we have a girl, we, are, set. We did pull some gender neutral newborn stuff out of it first though…

Back to the chair. I think I would be safe in saying this is Shawn's favorite part of the room. We came across this beauty at a Slumberland outlet store. It reminds us of a big, comfy, warn baseball glove and is just as comfortable. It was the first and last we sat it before taking it home with us. Next to it, another basset, who just so happens to match it perfectly. Coincidence?

Basset's view of the forbidden seat.

This last odd shot is to show more of the curtains. They also hail from Ikea and do a lovely job of blocking out the light without making the room feel cavernous. The curtain rods are again from Target and all were hung with our favorite laser level and therefore came out perfect and free of tricks and tantrum throwing.

There you have it. Every last part of it. And now because it's 11:00pm, I'm going to go waddle to bed and crash for about 30 minutes where I will then wake up and pee for the first of 18 times during the night. Peace out readers. Cletus… go to sleep.