Nursery Progress + Bump Pic + a Giveaway!
We are in full swing getting this nursery ready. Over the past few years, the third bedroom had turned into a dumping ground for all things without a home, so one big task lately has been cleaning it out. The past couple weekends we have forced ourselves to start going through everything bit by bit. Speaking of, anybody have a good suggestion for a place to store an extra dining table extension for a basement-less household? Because I’m at a loss.
Aside from operation room de-clutter, we’ve been in major decision making mode. We’ve made most of the big choices, so now it’s time to execute. Woo hoo! We’re going to go ahead and put crown molding in here since I’d like to have it all over the house eventually, and may as well knock out this room while we’re working on it. We picked up the molding this past weekend, and it’s sitting in the living room as we speak waiting to be cut and installed. I think we’ve narrowed down the navy paint color for the walls (more on that later), and we’ve picked out a crib and dresser that are waiting to be assembled.
I mentioned before we found a mid-century dresser on Craigslist for a steal, but we decided to sell it and get something new. I love the look of it, but once we had it here, we both felt it would be better to have something with drawers that glided a little bit easier, and I just have this hangup about putting his fresh clean baby clothes in somebody else’s dresser. I know I shouldn’t be, but hey, you can’t argue with pregnant lady nesting instincts, right? ;)
It’s a really nice dresser. Sad to see it go. I did put a new clear coat on it, so it’s nice and fresh and ready for a new home.
So my idea board is now looking a little different these days. I’ve actually changed my mind about a lot of it. It’s still the same general look but just tweaked a bit.
One thing we knew we wanted for sure in here was to paint a piece of furniture green that would pop up against the navy walls, something like the green in my idea board above. This piece fit the bill as the one to get a makeover.
I have had this bookcase since I was a teen. My parents got it for me from a local bare woods store, and my dad put a clear coat on it. It actually still looks brand new, even though it’s probably about 15 years old. It’s fun to get to re-purpose a piece of my old furniture in the nursery. The natural oak doesn’t really go with the look in the room, so we’re planning to give it a little paint makeover and use this as the changing area.
I started prepping the bookcase with the help of my friends at Ace Hardware using this Dewalt Random Orbit Sander. I want to do this thing right, because I suspect the little guy may not always be so gentle with it. A good prep is important for a strong paint finish. Once we are done using it as a changing table, we’ll probably use it as an actual bookcase or toy storage.
To prep I wanted to knock some of the shine off of the finish so that the primer will adhere better.
Sanding is generally one of my least favorite tasks, but believe it or not this part was actually fun…and quick! I used 220 grit sand paper because the surface was already smooth, so I didn’t want anything too rough.
Using the sander is very simple. The sand paper attaches with velcro, and you just turn it on and let the sander do the work. Since oak is a very grainy wood, I did go in the direction of the grain, but the instructions say you don’t have to since the random orbit means you can go in any direction.
The finish ended up exactly as I hoped. It took the shine out and is nice and smooth.
Now it’s all ready for the color (and you guys know I love choosing paint colors).
Fellow Ace Blogger Linda at It All Started With Paint is also going to be doing a project using the same sander. Head over to her blog and follow along because she’s got a totally different project planned!
And speaking of navy rooms, since that’s what we’re doing in the nursery, I featured Linda’s navy dining room on Involving Color awhile back. I love love love it and it’s one of my favorite navy rooms.
And I can’t believe I’m already 27 weeks, so about 13 more weeks to go!
These past 6 or so months have just flown by. We’re busy picking out registry items and thinking about what we want to have on hand when the baby gets here. It’s fun but a bit of information overload. I had no idea what a pack ‘n play, rock ‘n play, boppy, or any other number of baby items were before this, but I sure do now.
Aaand, last but not least…
A Giveaway!
As a treat for you, I’m giving away a $100 gift card to Ace Hardware!
All you have to do to enter is visit Ace Hardware and leave a comment below telling me what you would do with your winnings. That’s it!
A winner will be chosen at random. The giveaway closes at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, September 10th.
Check out the rest of the Ace Bloggers !
