When last we checked in with the nursery, Grant and I had done a good deal of work to get it to where it needs to be when Ruby comes home: painting, furniture assembly, installing shelves. This weekend we put together the remaining large furniture items we needs, completed our wallpapering projects, and dealt with all of the electronics in the room. I think everything that can be done before the shower (2 weeks away!) is done! Here's a photo update of what the room looks like right now:
Another project for the weekend was installing the wallpaper we had ordered in both the oversized frame hanging over the dresser, and as a backing on the tall shelf in the corner. We are so pleased with how both projects turned out. They were fairly easy to install and add a dynamic graphic element to the room.
We're using the shelf to house all of the electronic components for that side of the room (cable box, router, power strip), so we needed to be sure to cut a hole in the paper that matched the cord hole already existent in the shelf. I also requested that Grant hide the electronics as best he could. Nothing kills my pretty decorating vibe like a bunch of plastic boxes and unsightly cord. Those black boxes on the right are just magazine holders we picked up at IKEA. I exacto-knifed a rectangular slot for the infrared receptor so we can use the remote, and the rest is tucked neatly inside and behind the box fronts.
The paper itself is from a Brooklyn-based company called Flavor Paper. It was designed in part by Mike D of the Beastie Boys in tribute to his home borough, Brooklyn. It features all kinds of New York staples (Biggie Small, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Cyclone at Coney Island, pigeons, subway stops, and even a Park Slope mom pushing a stroller. I love that in detail it harkens to what's sure to be a huge influence on Ruby's upbringing, and that from afar it's a really pretty toile that goes with the overall elegant fairytale theme.
Grant also mounted the TV on the wall. It's basically earthquake-proof, so we don't need to worry about it falling down. Everyone I've told that I'm hoping to nurse, and installed a TV, has said it's a great idea. I'll be spending a lot of time in this room, so I'm happy that it has something to keep me entertained in the early months and enough seating for everyone to just hang out. We hid the cords as best we could by having them hang down behind the oversized frame. I think the cords running in-between are barely noticeable.
I also painted and hung the empty frames that will provide her with a gallery wall for art projects as she grows. For now, I already have a couple submissions, gracefully sent by an up-and-coming artist out of Lincoln, Nebraska, my best friend Ashley son. They are too cute for words.
I've framed some are that we've had in different places around the house and set it up on the floating shelves. The arrangement of stuff is going to change with the more stuff we get in here, but I like that we have pieces that mean something to us and our family. The stadium illustration on the top shelf, far left, is from a calendar Grant got for Christmas a few years ago from our friend Amanda that featured Husker game illustrations from the past 100 years. This particular one is a 1920s bill featuring Memorial Stadium before a New York vs. Nebraska game. All of the wildlife photography is via Grant's dad Barry, who used to own a photography supply shop and who is a pretty accomplished photog himself. The matted frame on the top shelf, far right is an original illustration still from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Master Shredder looks particularly badass in it.
I also received proofs of the custom paintings of the dogs that I commissioned and they are everything that I'd hoped they'd be. Those should be here in a few weeks! As soon as we see what we've gotten from the baby shower, we'll buy everything else we can prepare to buy and do the final setup of the room. I can't believe that my baby shower is 2 weeks away... and that my baby is two months away... and that soon there will be a brand new human being in the world that will have half my DNA and all of my heart. I am excited beyond words.
Nursery To Do List:
Buy/add art to floating shelves--partially done
Mount custom oil paintings above crib
Add drawer organizers
Organize closet
