We are going to stay upstairs and take a look at the renovation of what is now a nursery. This was one of the worst rooms in the house when we bought it. Water damage from a leaking roof, black mold, and there were even mushrooms growing inside the window sills – no lie.
Let’s take a look at what we were up against.
My grand plan for this room was for it to be a small guest bedroom with a huge walk-in closet. This is what I was envisioning…
Once again – my budget and my grand plans didn’t quite work well together. We also realized that it would be at least three years until we would be able to work on the master bedroom and we’d be bunking up in here until then.
Jeff and my father got to work and it felt like every square inch of this room needed help.
After repairing all of the damage, putting in new windows, hanging new drywall, a new ceiling and new floors, our budget for this room was shot. We could do little more than paint the walls and bring in our old furniture.
At this point in time, I still had an unhealthy obsession with Tiffany & Co. I thought it might be fun to have a bedroom that looked like a jewelry box. We had laid white laminate flooring and I started my search for the perfect blue.
In the end, we chose Nautical by Valpar. There is a reason they refer to a little blue box and not a big blue box at Tiffany’s and that reason is that this color is overwhelming in large format. It got old after a day, but it stayed up for close to 4 years.
We weren’t able to put in a closet, so we had to make it work with our pair of IKEA wardrobes. I painted my 10-year-old furniture white and we had our little jewelry box pretty full. I only have 2 random, grainy photos and from the room at this time and one actually has some jewelry – none of it from Tiffany’s!
A few years later, I finally got my closet. Not the SJP closet, but a closet none the less. I was over the moon the day this drywall started going up.
After two short days, I had my closet and even lived my SJP SITC closet fantasy for a second.
Upon the completion of the closet, we pulled the trigger and repainted the entire room. Yet again – a bold choice. Plum Good from Valspar. We didn’t have to look at this color very long as we were already starting to work on the master bedroom.
I thought this room would remain a guest room forever and perhaps magically turn into the closet of my dreams. What I NEVER could have imagined is that it would have a permanent resident. In 2018, this room underwent another, major transformation. It became a nursery.
I did have a LOT of fun working on this nursery. I wanted to create a design that would last long after the crib was gone. After months of design planning, here is what I came up with.
You knew this room was going to be grey, but I had to bring in a little more color. I was seriously considering a mural for the back wall and found many amazing ones on Etsy.
What held me back was the longevity (and budget) so I went with wallpaper. Shopping for wallpaper is one of my favorite things. Choosing one is one of my least. Here were the contenders.
Part of me thinks I should have gone with the first one, but I played it safe and went with #3. Now that the hard part was over – time for some furniture.
My favorite piece in the room is the rocker. I found this gorgeous Mellinger Rocking Chair at All Modern. I sit in it all of the time. I will never get rid of this chair.
I thought my days of IKEA were behind me, but I loved their Sundvik series and got the crib and wardrobe.
IKEA came through for a great dresser as well. This thing holds a TON of baby clothes.
I didn’t like any of the colors or stains, so we painted it – you guessed it – grey. This dresser, while functional, was a pain. Putting it together was not exactly fun nor was painting it.
We went with Earl Gray from the HGTV Home collection from Sherwin-Williams for the dresser.
For the walls, we chose Repose Gray also from the HGTV Home collection from Sherwin-Williams. It has just the right brown undertone and went perfectly with the wallpaper.
So here’s what this room looks like now that it is complete.
I picked up those sweet felt mounted animals at the Union Square Christmas Market in NYC. I did a little dance when I found them! Brant’s engraved wall art was an Etsy find thanks to Engraved Happyism Team.
For a room that I thought would never exist, I has become my favorite room in the house. That SITC closet is going to have to wait for about 18 more years.
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