Nursery Time!

Don't get too excited...yet.  Transforming my husband's office into a nursery is a process that we are taking our time with and the journey has just begun.  But we made some major strides this past weekend.  Here are some before pictures:

And here's some backstory.  My husband works from home and when we first moved to LA from NY, we moved into a one-bedroom apartment.  This seemed like grand luxury to us since we had been living in a studio apartment in NY where we could hold hands and touch either side of the room when we stretched our arms.  His office was in our bedroom and that worked out fine.  The only slight issue was that he works with a company on the east coast so his hours start rather early here on the west coast.  Like when I'd rather be sleeping.  So every day when his alarm went off, I would move my sleepy self to the couch in the living room for another hour or so of shuteye.  We did that for three years.  Then we moved to a two-bedroom apartment last year and he set up his office in the second bedroom.  I thought we were living in grand luxury before!  Now when the alarm went off, I'd just roll over as he went to his office and shut the door.  Ooh la la!

The thing was, we always knew that his office would eventually become a nursery if we were lucky.  And everyone who knew us seemed to know that too.  "Oh, you're moving to a two-bedroom?  Making room for baby?"  And we'd laugh, "Ha ha ha. Well, making room for office."  But we all knew the truth.  And, so, here we are!

We have a daybed in the office for when guests come to visit so when my mom said she was coming out for a few days we decided it was time to go ahead and start the office-to-nursery transition.  She'd be here for two weekdays, when hubby needed to work, so instead of sharing the space with her we decided to give her her own space.  Yes, this means his office is now in our bedroom again.

No more office! New comforter and sheets too!

When my mom arrived, my husband joked that we were giving her basically prison accommodations - bed only - to which my mom quipped, "As long as there isn't a toilet next to the bed, that's fine with me."  There wasn't.  The only thing next to the bed were a few baby gifts we received and an old paper shredder that was on it's way to Goodwill.  We also taped out the dimensions of the crib and changing table I picked out so we could get an idea of how things will fit in the room because we are a little excited.  And a little anal.

The closet in the office houses our suitcases and coats.  This past week we weeded that out and took a large donation pile, along with the shredder, over to Goodwill on Saturday.

Then we went to Home Depot to look at paint color.  This is one of my favorite things to do!

In my mind, I was picturing a soft gray color.  Something that would brighten the space but still be neutral and soothing.  I plan on putting a lot of colorful accents into the decor so I wanted a wall color that could handle the excitement.  Gray is a tough one because it can have the full spectrum of undertones to it and you never know how it will look in certain light.  I knew I wanted one with a slight blue undertone, so we picked out four samples and brought them home with us.

I sat on the bed and dictated while this happened. Perks of pregnancy!

After the paint dried we made a decision:  Twilight Grey by Benjamin Moore!  It's the middle color that you can see there. Once it dries, it is very light - almost white - but with the right hint of gray and blue.  It reminds me of clouds on a summer sky.  Bright yet soothing.  Yesterday we picked up a gallon of it!  

Then we ordered the crib!  The one I had my eye on went out of stock for a second and I was convinced I would have to scour for another.  But it came back!  And we snatched it up.  It should be here in a few weeks.  Can't wait to show you the fully painted room with the crib in it!

The rug I've had my eye on ALSO went out of stock.  So I'm patiently hoping it comes back.  I check the website a few times a day just to see.  Ok.  So maybe I'm not so patient.

More about the theme of the nursery and where to get the products we picked out as it comes together.  For now it's  just a sneak peek behind the process.  Very excited to share once it is all done!