As I mentioned before, along the road to designing the nursery, we had some struggles with the crib. This was mostly because we just don’t like them…Eric especially; he says they look like little cages. And he’s right. But it’s not like we have much of an alternative, so I dedicated myself to researching every single crib on the market and each week, we sat down and reviewed my findings. Most were tossed out the window pretty quickly. However, there were a few styles that we liked:

DwellStudio Silver Lake Crib

Moderne Crib from Netto Collection

BabyLetto Mercer Crib

On each of these, we loved the little shelf or drawer that offered some extra storage, but they were all out of our price range and we quickly found ourselves running out of options. Then Eric had a pretty inspired (and adventurous) idea…why not buy an inexpensive crib and turn it into something we both love? I’ll admit that I was pretty hesitant at first. Not that I don’t trust his carpentry skills…I’m just fully aware of my own (or total lack thereof).

Then again, it’s not like I was certain that we couldn’t do it…and in the time it took me to have an internal dialogue about the idea, Eric had already started sketching designs. So, the mission was underway!

We bought a crib from Ikea for $100 and with Eric’s designs in hand; we went to the hardware store and loaded up on lumber. This is the part of the story when the spotlight is shifted entirely to my amazingly industrious and talented husband. Other than a bit of sanding on my part, this quickly turned into his project. And he NAILED it. He removed the legs of the crib and built a drawer to form a new base. The end result? The most awesome crib, ever!

Our very own custom crib!

I mean, really. How awesome is this?

I love how simple it is. The drawer offers a perfect spot to store extra sheets and blankets. The grey detail fits perfectly with the color scheme of the room. He even maintained the functionality of the original design so one side can still be removed to create a kid’s bed. He’s my handyman hero!

Now that the crib is complete I can focus on a few smaller projects that will really turn the room into a nursery. Stay tuned!

A couple of years ago, I bought a fancy teak mat to go in our master bathroom. I had heard that teak was a very durable type of wood and I really liked the way it gave the bathroom a warm, natural look. We were happy with it for about a year. I started to notice that overtime, the finish of the wood was flaking off and the entire mat was warping.  Eventually, it got so wobbly that when stepping on it while entering or exiting the shower, you had to really be careful not to lose your balance. Not an ideal situation for a klutz like me.

So I started looking for something new.  I really wanted to find something with texture or in a natural material, but something softer than wood. I found some cork bathmats online and while I loved the way they looked, I really didn’t want to spend $50 on another bathmat.

Then I stumbled upon a few creative bloggers who made their own bathmats using old wine corks. Genius!  

Courtesy of www.freshhomeideas.com

Courtesy of www.craftynest.com

I really liked the look of the second one, with the corks on their sides to show the vineyard. So I decided to give it a shot.

It helped that I happened to have a HUGE supply of wine corks on hand.

Now, hang on…before you start scheduling an intervention…let me reassure you that I’ve been collecting these corks for years. Promise.

I grabbed a pocket knife, my hot glue gun and some leftover shelf liner that I had measured and cut to the right size. Thinking this would be a quick afternoon project, I settled in on a Saturday and got to work. I quickly realized that cutting the corks was a bigger task that I expected…and a real pain. I could only cut a few at a time before my hands were sore and my knife was dull.

This is where Eric intervened and saved the day. Seeing me struggle (and hearing me complain, no doubt) he grabbed some scrap wood from the work shed and built a little wedge that I could use to hold the corks while I cut them. What a difference it made! I still had to sharpen my knife every so often, but I was actually making progress.

With all the corks cut, I outlined the perimeter of the shelf lining and then worked my way in, rearranging them here and there so they’d all fit. Then I broke out the hot glue gun and glued them all together.

Once I got into a rhythm, it went pretty quickly.

I absolutely LOVE the finished product!

The corks and the liner are absorbent, so I don’t have to worry about water collecting underneath. It’s actually very comfortable to stand on and the liner helps to keep it stuck to the bathroom floor, so it’s nice and stable. Since I’m quickly losing sight of my feet, I really appreciate that!

Okay, I can’t exactly say I’ve been obsessed, not like I was with the wedding preparations, but I will say it’s been really fun browsing design blogs and collecting ideas for Tiny’s room. For the record, I am SO totally addicted to Pinterest.

We knew we wanted to be as gender-neutral as possible, even before finding out whether we were having a boy or a girl. We also knew we wanted to keep the nursery aligned with the overall look of the house, so a minimal and modern look was the ultimate goal. Otherwise, I had no clue as to what kind of look I even liked. I started finding some really cute nurseries in grey/yellow and grey/orange themes and we quickly decided to go with a combination of the two. Here are some of the ideas that have been influential.

I love the random assortment of artwork on the walls:

courtesy of http://house36.wordpress.com

 I love the rug and the way the orange stands out against the white and grey:

courtesy of http://biesinger.blogspot.com

The white and pale yellow go really well together…and the framed elephant is just so sweet:

courtesy of http://taliaaudenart.blogspot.com

 This mobile is similar to one I’m working on…and I love the little stuffed owl:

courtesy of http://charmhome.blogspot.com

 I just LOVE everything about this one:

courtesy of http://designindulgence.blogspot.com

Of course, I have quite a few projects that I’m working on for Tiny’s room. I’ll have a separate post entirely for the crib. That has been the item we struggled with the most. But, I’m really excited about the direction we’re going and being able to see it come together has been really fun.

More updates to come!

~e.Claire