Please be forewarned. This blog post is going to be boring. For some reason, I decided to link my blog to facebook, which I now think was a big mistake. Now instead of people choosing to come to my blog, everyone gets a notification that I wrote a note. OK, now down to the reason for this post.
I have been so stressed out about the baby's room! I'm not typically someone who would spend hours and hours thinking about this, but I keep getting asked "what are your colors?", "what is your theme?" "have you chosen a crib?" and on and on. It's almost like I'm getting married all over again, minus the whole crib question.
So I decided to do some internet browsing and look at some nursery ideas. My dear husband eventually saw what I was doing and said, "Wait. We're actually gonna decorate a room for her?" After staring at him for a good 10 seconds he said "Never mind." That totally made me laugh. I think he thought we should just stick her in a closet somewhere because she wouldn't really know the difference. He has a point. :)
After I resumed my search I came to a shocking realization. I hate the color pink. Then I found out that I hate hearts and flowers and purple and everything else on the planet that's girly. What is wrong with me?! Is my poor little girl completely doomed by my apparent lack of femininity?
For example, this makes me want to puke...
And I showed some ideas to my mom and my sisters and they loved this room. Me, not so much.
I do have to admit that I found one room that's pinkish that I do kinda like it. And I really mean KINDA. The dumb thing is that one of the reasons I like this is because I love those gorgeous baseboards. Which has nothing to do with any of the baby stuff whatsoever. Although the baby stuff isn't too bad.
So my brother's precious girlfriend, Julie and I sat down and looked together for about an hour. Everything I found that I liked, Julie graciously reminded me that I'm trying to create a room for a girl not for a hospital patient. Which we found out, is my big problem. I love things that look clean and sterile. I know what you're thinking, "what on earth is this dumb girl thinking, having a baby and wanting to maintain a sterile environment". I KNOW!!! I'm crazy!
Anyway, here are some of the ones that I actually do like...
I like this one and it is girly, but I don't really like yellow that much. Which is the whole point of the room. But the stuff on the wall is adorable huh?
I like this one a lot but is it masculine?
Ok these next two are my two favorite nurseries. This one is adorable and pretty girly, but it is a Pottery Barn room and it costs about 4 billion dollars. Seriously, the crib alone is $1200!! And once again, I love the room mostly because of the mural but how on earth could I ever do that? And for the record, I think the peach is yucky. But the room is adorable huh?
Last one. I know this is really simple, but I really like it. Jonathan said that the crib makes him think of an animal cage, so maybe not, but tell me what you think of this...
Ok. I welcome your ideas, advice, whatever. If this bored you to tears, I apologize. If you think I am a failure as a girl, I understand. :) And just so you know, I honestly am not freaking out about it. We have a long way to go and for Pete's sake, right now we are only 80% sure its a girl any way!
You like dark brown and other neutrals, so go for it! And then if she is really a he, there's no problem. The first one you said that you like is quite lovely.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter-in-law did the baby's room in blue and brown. They didn't know until the birth that they were having a boy, but it would have worked for a girl as well, with girlie accents. Go with what you love!
Sooz, I would stay with neutrals and then do gender accents. So, that way if you have another you can just switch accents and not have to repaint! Here is my favorite ideas site. They have everything from super girly to non-girlness, to girly but not pink! My favorite is called White Vintage Modern, Black and White Polka Dot Nursery, Mod Nursery. http://designdazzle.com/pages/babynurseries.htm
ReplyDeleteSeriously, check them out!
Hey Suzi,
ReplyDeleteI had the same dilemma with boy rooms... i'm not a sports fanatic, lover of winnie the pooh, or really into trucks, so it severely limited our options too!
We ended up with just a patterned option... lots of polka dots and argyle. We got our furniture at IKEA too. I absolutely love it and it was SO much cheaper than Babies R Us and some other options. It is less bulky and is all convertible from crib to toddler bed, from changing table to dresser.
Maybe you could just pick a fabric you like and then tap into some really crafty people? :o)
Good luck!
HA HA HA! You're having a baby, and you know what that means? Total strangers (who find your blog from link to link to link) are going to give you unsolicited advice. (Well, you sort of asked, so...)
ReplyDeleteIKEA. Honestly, IKEA.
If I had it to do over again (my boys are 13, 10, and 8... you know.... so I'm OLD) I wouldn't bother nearly so much about it as I did.
I mean, it's so much fun, picking out all this stuff for the baby. Who honestly doesn't care if he does have to sleep in a dresser drawer for 3 months because you're living in an impossibly tiny place. And who really doesn't care if all his clothes are hand-me-downs, or even if his carseat is a loaner from a friend and has some (*ack! gasp!*) pink in it. I'm just sayin'.
For the record, I hate pink too. But you're doomed. You've already told people you are having a girl. You will be showered with pink. Lavender. Flowers. And all manner of cutesie-poo.
And you'll be given a bazillion blankets (crocheted, knitted, quilted, store-bought, home-made...) and none of them will match anything. And then, the one your kid falls in love with, and absolutely can't sleep without, will be the ugliest one of all.
If I had it to do over again I would go to IKEA, buy an inexpensive crib I could live with (because who really makes it into a bed? You put the next baby in the crib and buy a set of bunks or whatever for the first one to move into). And then I would paint the nursery a color that makes me happy and let the chips fall where they may.
But that's just me.
Have fun :0)
Julie
Hi Susie..
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started looking for room ideas, I found that I really prefered the neutral genders because it could go either way and you get to decide what you want to accent. Just because you don't like pink doesn't mean it won't be feminine. I really the options you had up there... those would be considered gender neutral.
I also bought the 3-in-1 bed and have found that it will suit our purposes really well. We have a toddler bed for Jeremiah and the crib will stay a crib for Jonah until he needs a toddler bed and will then join Jeremiah in the "big boy" room.
Honestly, whatever you think works for you is the best option. Your circumstances may change in a couple of years and you may have to switch to something you hadn't considered before. Just be flexible and go with it.
And have fun. :-)
I have the hardest time posting a comment on your blog sometimes! I just wrote a whole thing and now it got erased. I'll summarize and say that those first couple of rooms you showed are hideous. I really liked some of the others. Don't feel pressured that you have to have a theme--that's so old school. :) And also, I have a quilt and bumper from PB that have a green background with white birds/flowers on them (might be too girly for you) and I've been trying to figure out who I could pass them on to. If you're interested, I could send them to you and no pressure if you don't like them- just pass them on or donate them. Let me know what you think....
ReplyDeletePreach it girl! I've spent the last few months trying to find something other than pink frilly craziness to decorate our little girl's room with! The only sets not pink are SO expensive that I'm pretty sure I'd have to sell a kidney to afford them!! We finally settled on something red. Hope you find something you love! - Kara Rehrer
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs. Pecadillo.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the coming of the new baby girl. My younger girl is now 5 months old. First, my wife and I also have an aversion to too much PINK! also, you have excellent taste!
One suggestion...if you guys haven't picked a name, how about the name ZOE? I picked it for my newest, and we love it. It's a biblical word too.
God Bless with your plans for the new baby.
Zaphon
(All the things HerdingGrasshoppers said I wholeheartedly agree with--especially the blankets.)
ReplyDeleteIf I were to analyze the photos you posted and your sentiments, I'd suggest that you are a sensible and practical girl who is totally excited about being a momma but not excited about conforming to someone else's idea of what it should look like. That said, you probably have a bit of "splurginess" in you, especially if you have a taste for Pottery Barn.
I'd say spend your efforts mainly on the furniture, because it will last longer than bumper pads, and will need to be suitable for either gender if you hope to use it again and again. : ) IKEA is great for ideas, and some of their stuff is decent quality, but some of it...not so much. (I have lots of IKEA stuff personally.)
And here's some unsolicited advice somewhat unrelated: if you have a baby registry and people who want to spend big bucks on you and your baby, go ahead and add a carpet/upholstery shampooer to the list of items. Seriously! The baby will outgrow the diaper genie, high chair, and swingset; she will NEVER outgrow the carpet shampooer! (You'll thank me later...)
Love,
Merrilee
HA HA HA Merrilee!
ReplyDeleteAnd just buy a case of Spray-N-Wash.
Sooz, I totally HATE pink too! I haven't bought anything pink for Kenley. My child has blue paci's for goodness sake :).
ReplyDeleteProblem is everyone got us lots of pink stuff for our shower so the majority of her wardrobe is pink. But I really cant complain because it was free. :) What I tell everyone is that for all of the baby stuff we are getting we want neutral stuff so that we can use it for future kids too. That seems to work!
I couldn't ever find any bedding set that I really loved either, thats why I ended up making Kenleys.
Good luck with the nursery decorating!
Hi Susie, I love the nurseries! You said that you liked the one with the mural. Have you looked into the vinyl wall decals? If you google "vinyl wall decals, tree" and search images, there are a lot of trees that are similar to that one. I think that it's basically a big sticker that you put onto the wall, which is way easier than trying to paint a mural. The one in the picture may actually be a decal, too. I looked into putting a tree decal in our living room one time, so as soon as I saw that I remembered my search. Hope this helps.
ReplyDelete