As I mentioned before, the transition from cribs, to toddler beds, to separate bedrooms happened so quickly that I didn't have time to really think about how I wanted Gardner's big boy room to look. For about a month, the poor guy was sleeping on a mattress on the floor in an otherwise empty room. I painted the walls a basic beige that I have in other rooms of my house (Benjamin Moore Shaker Beige) and then started looking for bedding that I liked. I stumbled upon a duvet set on Pottery Barn Kids, but of course it was discontinued! I called the website support and asked if any stores might have some left. No luck. Finally, I turned to good old eBay and found a listing for the brand new duvet and shams in their original packing. Then I visited PB Kids when we went to Atlanta in September to get ideas about the sheets and had narrowed it down to two sets that coordinated with the duvet.
My friend Jennifer and I took a whirlwind trip to Dallas a few weeks ago and I decided on the "Busy Builder" sheet set (well, my decision was made for me because they did not have the other set in queen size). There's nothing like having a party at your house to get you motivated to finish up house projects. I went to Dallas on October 5 and had a party at my house on the 11th. That left me 6 days to make curtains and a headboard and assemble and paint a dresser and nightstand and hang pictures and a mirror. Lucky for me [not], the twins were out of school on that Monday and I was obligated to be at Malloy's school from 9:00-5:30 pm on Wednesday to distribute cookie dough orders. I work on Tuesdays and Thursdays while the twins are in school. Kyle was also out of town Wednesday-Friday. Sooo, as soon as the kids went to bed each night, I was either assembling, painting or sewing. In the end, I am very happy with the way it turned out, and most importantly, Gardner loves it!
It's amazing how much bigger the nursery feels now that it only has one bed and a dresser in it. I was worried that a queen size bed would be too big for the space, but once I moved out two cribs, a changing table, a rocker and ottoman, and a dresser, it turns out the room is quite spacious! I had an upholstered headboard that I made myself when I lived in my condo in Atlanta. I bought some dark denim and gave it a quick reupholstery job. I might add nailhead trim eventually, but it looks good enough for now. I am in love with the set of six construction prints that I found on Etsy. They are prints of an artist's watercolors and they came with the navy blue mattes - all for only $60. I picked up the red frames at Hobby Lobby for $20 each.
The nightstand ($40) and lamp ($29) are from my Ikea expedition. The nightstand was unfinished pine and required about 4 coats of red paint.
I got the woven wood shades with blackout lining from blinds.com and I made the curtains with ticking stripe fabric that I bought at Hancock's with a 50% off coupon.
Here's a close up of the Busy Builder sheet set
The dresser is also from Ikea (Tarva 6 drawer chest) and also required LOTS of red paint. I found the mirror above it at Home Goods in Dallas. The navy and cream border coordinates well with the ticking stripe.
I am happy with my quick and budget friendly bedroom re-do. I felt like I was on an episode on Design on a Dime except for the fact that I did not have two assistants helping me! I still need to accessorize, but I can take my time and enjoy that part.
