Going Girly

I have been begging Spencer to start this project since we got Presley's furniture. I just felt like her nursery would look so much more complete if the furniture was white. Luckily, once my husband gets going, he LOVES projects and he is really good at them.

This was the nursery at our old house. Her room was teeny tiny and it also housed my closet. Apparently people in 1920 didn't a lot of clothes. It was tiny, but it was beautiful!

Step 1: Sanding

When you are sanding to paint, you don't necessarily have to get down to the bare wood, just rough it up enough for the primer to stick. Our furniture had a glossy finish so we wanted to be sure to remove that. We invested in an electric sander and I think Spence would agree that it was well worth it. Makes the job a lot quicker. You might have to use sand paper to get in any grooves or rounded areas, like those bars on the crib. I suggest using the electric sander where you can and then go back and check for missed spots.

Step 2: Priming

We felt like it was important to prime before we painted. We got mixed answers from the people and Home Depot & Lowes. We thought better safe than sorry. In the picture below, you see Spencer using a foam roller to apply the Kilz latex primer. It goes on much quicker and thicker with this, but it does leave a little bit of a different texture than using a foam brush or paint brush. We found the best way was to use roller for primer and brush for paint. We decided to add two coats of primer because we were using such a light color to paint. Be sure to let your primer dry COMPLETELY before moving on to the next step. Tip: do not do this outside in the heat of the day, humidity is not so helpful when waiting for paint to dry.

Step 3: Paint
Let me just tell you how long this took: A long time. Let's try 3 weekends outside in a row and then we got smart and moved the crib inside. But it's a great bonding time with our husband, if he will agree to help you, like mine did.
We learned that it is best to do this inside or under cooler weather conditions. We used a Behr Premium Plus paint in Candlelight Ivory. I went with an Eggshell Enamel because I really did not want this furniture to have an kind of sheen to is. No thank you glossy. My plans from the beginning were to distress it a bit, but I ended up changing my mind because I liked it so much when we were done.
We painted with a foam roller and a foam brush, this helped to give a really smooth, streakless finish. If I was using a darker color, I would probably use a good quality regular paint brush. We put 3 coats of paint in order to achieve the right coverage we wanted. Be sure to let each coat dry completely. If you think it's dry, wait another hour. This is really difficult for myself.
I will warn you, I do not suggest painting a crib. It was hard and tedious and frustrating and to me it still isn't perfect, but it has character. Hire someone or find a way to spray it.

Hardware:
I ordered all 22 satin nickel pulls and 8 glass knobs from My Knobs.Com. They were very reasonably priced and my only complaint is that the return process is a huge hassle. They really finished off the pieces so nicely though!

 And here we have the finished product. I think it looks so much more girly and just really goes with the rest of her room. All the hard work was worth it.

We were finally able to get some time to hang decorations on the walls his weekend. The only piece that is missing is her chandelier. It will be hung in the corner over the little pink table. We have decided to keep the fan in its place.

I decided to make a little gallery wall above her dresser. There are keepsakes that were mine as a child and some that were Spencers, a few gifts, pictures, and the frame bow holder I made for her. I can see myself adding things and moving things around over the years.

These plaques are from Pottery Barn and I just love them because I am really in to word art right now and because they bring in so many different colors. I think they will be a part of her room for a long time.

These monogrammed letters came from Doodles and they are new to her room. We had a decal with her name that we could not reuse in her old room. So I wanted to get something that she could have for a while. These pretty letters are not to baby and I love the green striped ribbon.

Curtains are in the works, currently collecting ideas. And my mother in law is going to graciously give me some sewing lessons so I will be whipping those up in no time. (HA!)

What do you think about the updated nursery??