Sunday, February 22, 2009

A Nursery

Welcome to Monday Metamorphosis hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan's site. There are so many wonderful before and afters!

I have been working on redecorating my oldest daughter's room for several months now. I work on bits and pieces of it when I get the chance. She is now 9 years old, and going through a metamorphosis of her own. She is ready to shed some of the little girl room she has and wants more of a "Tween" room, with her style and colors. I have been sad about this, because it means she is growing up.

Working on her room makes me reminisce back to her first room, the nursery. It was in a different house, and me, being the excited first time mom, went all out and worked like a madwoman trying to make the perfect nursery for our firstborn. I did not take before pictures, as always, because it was 10 years ago, and I had no idea I would be blogging then! Her room was the craft room. Imagine something like this:


Yikes! What a messy room! This is my current studio (photo taken after Christmas, in my defense!)

After several weeks of painting and sewing, with pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, and eventually, preeclampsia:
Since we hadn't found out the gender of our child, I wanted a fairly neutral theme. I thought an outdoor theme fit perfectly. I painted a mural in the entire room. All four walls and the ceiling were painted in the mountain outdoor theme.

Little ladybugs, bees, and butterflies were stapled onto the wall.


If you look closely, you can see some butterflies in the sky. There were clouds in the sky walls and ceiling that you can't see in the pictures. My parents brought the cuckoo clock back from the Netherlands during their European tour. I bought one of the teddy bears on the shelf in Cambridge, England. I was very huge and pregnant at the time of my visit there.

My brother made an airplane that hung from the ceiling. The plane was made from balsa wood and tissue paper. (My brother is an engineer, and this airplane could fly if we wanted it to.) I found some sheer fabric with star details, and I used blue gingham for the cornice and tieback. A blue and white striped fabric was used for the roman shade. I wanted the curtains to blend in with the sky walls, but also have character on its' own.

I wanted the baby to feel like it was in the trees, so I painted a tree on either side of the crib. (Not that the baby would even know it!) There are wooden birds stapled onto the branches.

The bunnies painted on the wall had company from a big stuffed bunny.
I know that all of this was more for myself than for the baby. Really, what baby would know the difference between a room of murals and a plain white box? But, in my mind, I wanted our child to feel special, and it was my way of showing her/him my love through all my labor in that room.

18 comments:

Michelle, All Home and Love said...

A labor of love indeed! What a special place you made for her. The room is amazing, I cannot imagine how many hours of work that was!

I'm going through the same thing here, my girls are 8 and almost 7 and they are becoming quite opinionated about what they want in their rooms. It's fun to see them growing up and making choices and sad because it all goes so quickly. Thanks for sharing this room with us!
~Michelle

Linda (Nina's Nest) said...

I am in shock and awe....you are a fantastic artist! That is a stunning room. Wow!

janet said...

oh it is tough when they start to grow up, our girls are all teens now and i really dont have much say i thier rooms any more. You are an amazing artist, i can just imagine the time and work that went into painting these walls, absolutely beautiful.
hugs
janet

PAT said...

Incredibly beautiful room!

Your work is amazing!

Pat@Back Porch Musings

Candy said...

Wow, what a wonderland.
Candy

Megan {The Brick Bungalow} said...

WOW! Great job!

Kat said...

What a magical room you made for your precious baby. This is just beautifully done. Kathy

Anonymous said...

What a very precious room! I love your paintings on the wall. You're very talented! This is the sweetest!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)

Helen said...

it's gorgeous! Do you mind if I include your nursery in my gallery on my website. i would love for my readers to see it.

here's my website

You can send me a message through my contact form.

Chandy said...

Oh my goodness, that is such a transformation! Great job!

Thanks for sharing!

Carolyn of What Now? Tablescapes (newbie)

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful room! You are very talented!

Anonymous said...

Oh that turned out beautiful! It always such a good feeling when you see it finished. All the hard work and sweat paid off that's for sure.

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Just darling...love the little bunnies there..what a labor of love girl..thanks for sharing...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Sherri said...

Oh that is SO pretty! What a wonderful room for your baby!

xinex said...

OMG, that is so beautiful! The trees are amazing, so lifelike and I love the bunnies. You baby will feel so peaceful here. You are indeed very talented!...Christine

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

What a wonderful job...this is just fabulous...enjoy...
Becky

cotedetexas said...

omg - how beautiful! you are so talented! that's going to be a lucky baby!!!!!!! loved this!

Unique Baby Gear Ideas said...

Your nursery is lovely! You really should enter it in my nursery contest. I believe that it's a winner!