The Nursery: Before and After

Our baby's nursery has come a long way from start to finish. Although it was a painstaking process, mostly for my Dad who was faced with the challenge of uneven, un-level, floors and windows while he was trying to do all of the woodwork and mouldings, the end result was worth it. We love the room, it's bright, warm and cozy and a space the that baby can enjoy now and can grow with him as he grows.

Enjoy the before and after images of the room and all the changes that were made!

Before



One of the greatest challenges in this room was that it had no closets. So we decided to do an entire wall of built-ins so that there would be enough storage for all of the baby's things.



The plaster ceiling was removed and insulation was added, new windows were installed and a wall of faux brick was taken down. Shown here is the new blank slate as all the wood trim was being reinstalled.





The wide plank floors were refinished, even after refinishing them they were very, very distressed. We actually liked them that way and feel that that's part of the charm of living in a 250+ old house. It has that lived in, loved, well worn feeling. My Dad also laid the marble tile hearth. You'd never know that he wasn't a carpenter/tiler by trade!

 

The fireplace mantle was rebuilt around a cast iron insert that I found at a flea market many years ago. Here we are also sampling some paint colors, we were looking for a very pale shade of gray.



Here the closets are going up, we used a chest of drawers we already had and bought two sets of double doors to flank the chest on the sides.

 

 I had an antique pair of doors that I had my heart set on using, but they would have not made the symmetry of the above design possible or offered enough storage space. I'm going to have to save them for another project, maybe that built-in hutch I hope to do in the dining room someday!!!

We decided to do open shelving above the chest for a little added display space.

After



A true labor of love, both grandfathers worked diligently to get all the work done for the baby's arrival. Pop-pop did all of of the woodwork and trim and grand-pop did all of the painting.



The wall of built-ins should provide more than enough storage for all of the baby's things.

A blue and white striped glider/rocker from Pottery Barn Kids is the perfect place to snuggle up with the baby.
The door behind the chair leads to the back staircase.

The fireplace wall has a built-in bench for storage. The wainscotting in the room was painted ultra-bright white to help set-off the dolphin gray paint.



A small nook under the window allowed just enough space for a wicker drum to be used as a side table, also a flea market find. The cast iron duckling and small rabbit perched on each sill were also great finds that day.



This beautiful rocking zebra was hand-painted by a dear friend of mine. I adore this, it is one of my favorite things! The shades of blue and gray were a perfect fit for the room. It is definitely one of a kind. 



A close-up just to show my friend's amazing attention to detail. The eyes are gorgeous!



A antique oak chair is just right for a pint-sized reader.



A gift from grandmom, knit booties from Janie and Jack



A large, weathered, wooden whale, also found years ago, makes a great door-stop.



Iron crib in pewter