Project Codename Nursery

Well June & July sure flew by! Happy (almost) August, everyone! Rachel here. It's been a whirlwind as we've maneuvered around everything from the continuing global pandemic to work and house projects galore. Life doesn't slow down, does it? We also wanted to be cognoscente of the social justice work happening across the country and be sure to amplify other voices instead of our own. In short, we're glad to be back, but the break from blogging was needed.

One of the main house projects we tackled during our hiatus was... THE NURSERY! And oh my, was it quite the challenge!

If you didn't know, the Victorian house we own was built in the mid-1800s, and has been in the family since the end of WWII. She's a beauty, but phew - she is a labor of love! We bought her back in 2015, and have slowly been making updates as we can. Over the years, we've replaced the roof, updated the plumbing and electrical, painted, removed wallpaper, removed carpet... you name it! But this spring, we decided it was time for some major updates - renovating the would-be nursery became one of those, in addition to finally having central heat/AC installed, all windows replaced, and the full exterior of the house updated. Are we crazy? Perhaps. Worth it? YAS.

When we started all of this, the nursery was like a home office/guest room/storage space, so the first step was essentially purging the room of everything.

Next, we knew that there would be some fairly substantial plaster damage due to settling and water issues from the previous roof hidden by a thick layer of floral wallpaper, but how hard could fixing all that be?! Remember, we'd already done similar projects in other rooms of the house so these repairs were nothing new to us.

The Nursery BEFORE

So, we purged, we cleaned, and we prepped before getting to the real work of wallpaper removal, plaster repair, and the like. And what did we find? 4-5 layers of wallpaper in some areas when we thought there'd only be 1-2, entire chunks of plaster missing, huge cracks... it was nearly overwhelming. And the poor hubs. Oooooh the poor hubs, who had to do the majority of this demo work by himself, because the fumes from such activities are dangerous for pregnant women. He actually started putting paint primer up just to find there was ANOTHER layer of hidden wallpaper under a thin layer of plaster, so he had to restart the entire process over. I thought he was going to cry.

The Nursery Demo

TIP: Hot Water & White Vinegar combined in a spray bottle makes a FANTASTIC non-toxic wallpaper remover. We highly recommend it for your next wallpaper removal project! And the smell of pickles does eventually fade, haha!

I will preface by saying we really enjoy the DIY approach to house renovations. I won't claim we're Chip & Joanna Gaines good, but we definitely know how to roll up our sleeves and get into the thick of demo and (basic) repairs. That being said, the nursery made us understand why others hire professionals! We still aren't the DIY experts of reno, but we're now VERY seasoned in wallpaper scraping, plaster repair/replacement, sanding, priming, and painting - all on surfaces well over a century old.

What did we not DIY? We had my dad help Ryan change out the light fixture. Otherwise, it was all US.

The Nursery after demo, paint & light fixture update

Then, we FINALLY got to the fun part - DESIGN & DECORATION! The hubs gets all the praise for the vision. Vintage floral with blush, sage and cream accents plus mixed metallics. He got the ball rolling, and we worked together to piece that vision together in real life. We searched high and low for each item that would be going into the nursery, and were beyond picky. Nearly everything comes from a different store or we had it commissioned/created for us. Keep in mind, we're still in the middle of a global pandemic, which made finding items particularly hard, BUT we persevered!

The final product is truly something out of a fairy tale.

The Nursery COMPLETE!

The design paired with brand new windows is a sight to behold. The nursery is by far and away our favorite room in the house now, so we spend a lot of time in there doing everything from reading, to drinking coffee, to hanging out and talking about how life will change drastically in just a few short weeks. (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!)

Our hope for this room is that it becomes a sanctuary for our daughter. That she knows how each item, from the paint color and light fixture to the artwork on the walls were specifically chosen for her by a mom and dad who already love her beyond words. Our hope is that this room always feels like HOME.

Until next time, all our love to you and yours,

Rachel & Ryan