The Next Nursery Project - PAINT!

We really hadn't done much in way of preparing the nursery yet other than tearing down the wallpaper a few weeks ago. So last we left it, the walls were an icky pale pink:



We decided not to worry about infant bedding, since they don't use the quilts, the bumpers are controversial, and you can hardly see the crib sheets (we'll just get solid sheets and skip the rest). Instead, way back at the beginning of the pregnancy, I bought a cute comforter for the twin bed that will also be in the room, and will be much more practical and visible. Before we even knew if we were having a boy or girl, we decided on a pirates & mermaids theme, and I fell in love with this bedding:



And back on the day we heard the heartbeat for the 2nd time (14 weeks?), I splurged on my first big accessory, this alligator fan:



That pretty much brings us up to this past week, when hubby and I finally decided on a paint color - "tantalizing teal" from Sherwin Williams, and I scooped up a gallon ("Harmony" = low VOC's, in a eggshell finish). I was excited, but a little scared when I opened up the lid to really face how bright it was:



Eeeep! But there was no turning back now. I ended up wearing some old pajamas for the job, so forgive the lack of glamour - when you only have a few pairs of pants that fit and can't afford to ruin any of them with paint, you have to get creative :) I taped off all the trim, stacked up the furniture, and used old "scene setters" from Halloween as drop cloths (thus the bats and ghosts on the floor. Yay recycling! Yay not having to buy drop cloths!)



Oh my goodness, this is really bright...



There were a few moments of wondering if I had made a huge mistake - I clearly hadn't done enough (or anything) to the walls after tearing down the wallpaper (oops), so there were a few areas where the finish was strange (wallpaper glue?). The walls are plaster and lightly textured, so there were areas that just didn't seem to take paint right away and had to be retouched a few times. Al came over and helped me with the "cutting in" (and fixed my streaky lines) and we were finished with the whole thing in under 2 hours. The room looks like a giant Tiffany box, but I think it will be really cute once everything is assembled:



I am DYING to go shopping now for fun accessories, but luckily I'm broke, so no budget busting shopping sprees for me. All in good time, I'm sure. For now, I'm doing a lot of "window" shopping and dreaming on Etsy, and I have a few plans in the works.

Hope you like it, little one! Can't wait for you to see your new home :)