I’ve got a stack of frames that I’m ready to do something with, so I’ve been browsing around for DIY artwork ideas. My roundup is definitely nursery-themed, though I really think any artwork style you love can work in a kids room.

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After looking at my roundup, there are a few general themes: Animals, Dots, Typography, and Colour! These are just some of the DIY options I have been browsing, but there are also tons of free printables and oodles of gorgeous art prints on etsy. Part of the problem is narrowing down the choices!

Do you guys have any fave nursery artwork DIY projects? Any other fun artwork you’ve added to your place recently?  

So back to the nursery where we left off last week. There are three major pieces of furniture we knew we were going to need to buy for our nursery/office: the desk (we picked that out here), a crib (yet to buy), and a dresser. I knew I wanted a solid dresser that I could customize, so I started trolling the used sale ads religiously. I find Ottawa folks use Kijiji the most, but you could also browse Craiglist or whatever site your city seems to favour.

I had some fairly specific wants. The dresser had to fit the area between our closet and desk — many were either way too long (most 6 drawer and 9 drawer dressers were too long) or too short – I didn’t want anything too small that wouldn’t take advantage of the space. Secondly, I wanted something with clean lines that had nice legs to keep dresser from looking too bottom-heavy. Lastly, I was hoping to find something solid wood and well-made.

After about a month of searching, this lovely creature popped up. It totally fit my specs, was on budget at $80, and they were even willing to deliver. Win, win, win! It had belonged to a family who had used it in their daughter’s room (who was now all grown up). From one girls room to another.

First step was to remove the hardware and give the whole piece a once-over with my palm sander.

Then I grabbed my wood filler and filled in all of the holes from where the hardware was and a few little dings.

I let that dry for about 24 hours before going back again with some sandpaper to smooth it all out.

After a rub down with a wet cloth to make sure the whole thing was free of dust, I broke open the paint. The colour? The same pink mistint that I used in the closet. After seeing what a perfect shade it was, I was smitten and ready to use it on other pieces throughout the room. Plus, part of the reason for painting the room white was so that I could inject colour through the furniture.

I gave the dresser and the drawers three coats to make sure it was all really well covered. I wasn’t stopping there though. See the detailing on the drawer fronts? I thought it would be fun to highlight those by giving the drawers a gold border.

My first attempt was to try out these oil-based sharpie markers. I grabbed them from Michael’s when they were on sale a little while ago, thinking that they might be easier than paint when I want a little gold or silver accent.

Although it started out promising…

…once I got to the long edge, it was just way to tricky to keep it running smoothly. The paint would come out of the marker in big gushes and was really hard to control. So I gave up and covered up this disaster with some more pink paint.  

So attempt #2 was gold acrylic paint. The frustrating thing here was that the paint I had went on reaaaaally thinly. The first coat was barely visible, so I had to go over it 3 times. When you’re trying to keep a really precise line, having to do so many coats just ups the chances of little squiggles. I could have put some painters tape down, but I was nervous about it pulling the pink paint off and just not getting a crisp line (and having to start from scratch again). 

But I stayed patient and ultimately ended up with a pretty decent gold line along my six drawers. Sure there are a few spots that bug me, but when you stand back from the drawers you can’t really tell.

The last step before re-installing some hardware and putting the dresser back together was to give the whole thing a few coats of varathane. Because the top of this dresser will be used as a change table, and since I had only used regular wall paint (nothing high gloss), a layer of a protective sealant is really key. Two coats of this varathane (which I find to be totally non-yellowing) did the trick. I usually apply with a simple foam brush and make sure to leave a good 3-4 hours between coats. Oh and do this outside as it’s stinky stuff.

I wanted some fun brass hardware, so went to Lee Valley Tools (a Canadian store that carries a huge line of hardware, among other things) and browsed through the different pulls. I liked the look of some of the inset ones that you would see on campaign style dressers, and some simple brass rings, but ultimately decided on these rectangular ones. They reminded me of library drawers, and the fact that I could throw some labels in them sealed the deal (labels = my jam).

We measured and marked each drawer so that they would all align and be centered.

And then hubby came and helped me drill them in. They were flat head screws, which can be a little unwieldy to get in (I had a hard time keeping the drill from bumping around).

But once those were all in, I just slid those drawers into the dresser and she was a beaut! Seriously though, isn’t the pink + gold such a sweet combo? I’m smitten.

Oh and I forgot to mention that the insides of the drawers are pure mahogany (!!). I totally didn’t realize this until I was saying to my Mum that I might line them, and she quickly had a look and told me what great quality they were. 

And the drawers themselves are all dove-tailed. Again this is where buying used can be so great. The pieces are so solid and well-made compared to the mass manufactured stuff we often buy these days.

And look at this great big blank wall space above the dresser. Can you say gallery wall? I’ve got plans, yo.

Have you guys made over a piece of furniture lately? I find I put it off, but once I get started I always realize what an easy transformation it really is. Plus, you can customize things to be exactly the colour and look you’re going for. Got anything lurking in your garage or basement that’s waiting for a coat of paint? I know I do!

So here we go. I broke this list out into two main categories — the things we need or at least really, really want to get done before babe, and the things that would be nice to get done but will play second fiddle.

The “need/really really want to do” list:

1. Finish nursery!!! Check out Wednesday’s post for the full to-do list for that room. This is really the only “need to do” with some big items like cribs left to buy (oh and get and install a carseat… this isn’t related to the nursery, but definitely a need-to-do!).

2. Re-paint the two white dressers in the living room and replace the knobs. These two dressers (the ones on either side of the TV) are slightly different whites (one is an antique cream colour and the other bright white) and it’s always bothered me. Plus, one is getting totally scratched and dinged up because it wasn’t finished with the right paint. Time to haul them outside and give them a makeover. Oh and I have some lovely glass knobs just waiting to be installed.

I also need to do a bit of tweaking to the living room. We’re changing out the rug, de-cluttering, getting rid of the Poang chair, and getting some storage baskets to hold baby things. I want the space to feel a bit more minimalist before baby comes, as I know we will suddenly have an influx of more stuff all around.

3. Finish “phase 2″ of my side entry makeover. You saw how I painted and added a wall gallery to the vestibule area, but I have to tackle these awful stairs. Pull up that runner, paint and install a new one, and stain the stair railing a darker colour are all on the list.

4. You can’t see it in the photo below, but our shoe storage situation in our front hall closet is terrible. Just a crappy mat with piles of shoes all toppled on top of each other. Handy hubby has been tasked with installing some custom shelves, like the ones he recently put into the nursery closet. Oh, and I need to get new deeper baskets for the top shelf so we can really pile everything in there – the ones in there now are just too teeny.

5. We had originally planned to replace the 3 interior doors down our hallway (leading to bathroom, nursery, and bedroom), but recently measured them and found out they weren’t standard door size. Because we’re going down the road of possibly doing the second storey in the next year or two, we don’t want to invest in doors right now that may not work once we go ahead with the reno (if they were standard size, we knew we could re-use them anywhere else in the house). So, I need to freshen our current ones up a bit with some new white paint (hard to tell in this photo but they are all banged up), and if I have time, spray all of the door hardware a matte black.

6. I don’t even have a photo for this one since it’s way too embarrassing, but we need to give the garage a serious overhaul. Major purging and organizing is needed in there right now. It’s a nightmare! We won’t get into any fancy stuff this summer, but just a basic toss and a few new shelving systems is in order.

7. Last but not least, the white paint around the foundation of our house needs to be spruced up. It’s looking a little grimy in some areas. An easy sunday afternoon project.

Now for the  ”might be wishful thinking, but would be nice to do” list:

1. Replace the light fixture in the dining room. I am really craving something darker and more industrial for this space to go with our harvest table and eames chairs (excuse the old photo that doesn’t show our new chairs!). I have been scouring for some good deals but coming up short. Maybe I’ll have time to DIY something?

2. We probably aren’t going to tackle much in the way of our garden this summer, but it would be really nice to spruce up the curb appeal a little. I’ve love to add a window box, and paint our front door. Red maybe?

3. I keep going back and forth on the idea of installing some sconces in our bedroom to free up the space on our night tables. Again, I’ve been searching around for something reasonably priced and keep coming up short. Will keep looking!

4. The space above our bed in our bedroom has been neglected for ages. I would love to DIY a big piece of artwork for above there.

So that’s it! Too ambitious? Maybe. We’ll see how it goes. Even if none of these things get done, I’m still so lucky and grateful that we have this cozy roof over our heads to bring baby home to.

Well happy Friday guys! Have a great weekend (and long weekend to all you Canadians!). Doing any special? Cottaging? Gardening? Hanging out with friends and fam? Enjoy it! 

Anyway, back to that nursery.

Since it’s a small room and is doing double duty with the office, we knew that smart storage was going to be so important. Luckily, the room does have a little closet. It used to hold Dan’s suits and Navy outfits (being in the military = a ridiculous amount of clothes), and some of my more formal dresses. When we did project basement storage a few months ago, all of those items got moved downstairs into a new armoire.

I knew I wanted to paint the closet a fun colour – a nice surprise from the bright white room. I had purchased a can of “oops” (ie. mistint) paint from the Home Depot a while ago in a perfect pink for a mere $9. The colour is a bit deeper than a pastel pink, and has a nice hint of coral.

Two coats later, and here’s how she was looking. Fun, right?

We didn’t want to spend too much dough on any fancy closet systems, but did want to do something custom and built-in. Handy hubby put his thinking cap on and planned out some shelves for the bottom half of the closet where we could line up a bunch of baskets. This would help maximize the amount of storage space, but also leave some room for bulkier things (packs of diapers, etc) on the upper shelf and along the ground.

We had the wood already, but buying basic boards from any big hardware store doesn’t run you much moola. Dan the man cut the wood to size using his circular saw, and cut the 2×1 wood strapping that the shelves sit on using his mitre saw (but you can use a circular saw for this step also). The strapping was either a) screwed into a stud or b) screwed into the drywall using good quality drywall anchors. Shelves were then nailed onto the wood strapping so they don’t move. He had to use some drywall anchors as there were not enough studs in the right spot to screw on the strapping.

Once those shelves were installed I did a quick two coats of the same pink paint on them to keep the whole look cohesive. I haven’t put a coat of polyeurothane on them yet, but I’m thinking I’ll slap at least one on to make sure the paint doesn’t chip. It’s just wall paint, so may not stand up to constantly pulling the baskets in and out.

This is how things are looking at this point. It’s packed full of stuff right now as we finish up the rest of the room. Still need to get a dresser in place, so a lot of those folded clothes and things in baskets will be moving over the dresser. And all the stuff on the top are “things to use in the nursery” that just don’t have a home quite yet.

PS. Did you see all of those sweet little clothes? I have been SO lucky with a few friends who each had two baby girls, are done having kiddos, and are now dropping off their stuff as they grow out of it. Going in there and gazing at the outfits has become my new favourite evening activity. Baby girl is going to have so many outfits! Oh, and mama ain’t the only one with snazzy velvet hangers – these baby versions also came from HomeSense.

One closet-related thing we still have on the to-do list (other than organizing it) is to remove the door and hang a curtain to cover it. This is going to buy us a bunch of extra space along the wall for the dresser, as we won’t need to leave room to open and close a door.

Here is where we stand on the nursery to-do list:

-paint room + closet
-install Chasing Paper wallpaper on feature wall
-put together new desk and organize office supplies
-get new office chair (maybe one that could double as ‘nursing’ chair?)
-closet: paint, build shelves, organize with baskets, remove door and hang curtain
-find used dresser and paint it coral (add gold hardware) + put change pad on top
-buy and put together crib
-move in rug
-make and install roman blind
-build and install book shelves on wall
-install shelves above desk
-hang artwork
-add accessories
-add storage for toys and laundry

Slow and steady wins the race! What about you guys? Painted the insides of any closets a super fun colour? Got any great storage tips you want to pass on? Anything else exciting going on? I’m all ears.

And here is the reminder of where we are starting from (ignore the ‘after’ watermark… old photo)…

Of course the room turned into a hot mess as we dismantled everything, moved the bed out, and generally got ready to start our makeover.

First up was to give the whole room a fresh coat of white paint. I had toyed with the idea of a light grey and painted a few patches on the wall, but ultimately decided that a crisp white would just be so nice and bright and let the others colours in the room really shine.

Even though three of the walls in here were already white, the white had a slightly yellowy undertone that I had never loved (you can kind of see it in the photo below when you look at the wall compared to the ceiling). Time for a fresh coat and new start. Luckily I had almost a full gallon of white paint leftover from our front hallway – an off-the-shelf white from the Sico line that I knew was a very bright white. And to be captain safety while I’m preggo, it was a no VOC paint and I had the window wide open for good ventilation. Actually painting the room while I was pregnant was a great workout – good for my arms and lots of squatting!

The new white instantly brightened the whole room up. Bye bye, trellis stencil.

We dismantled the big desk we had DIYed back in the day in favour of something smaller that would tuck more inconspicuously into the room. That’s where the Micke desk from IKEA came in. At $99 in its shiny white finish with a closed shelving unit to hide those ugly computer components, it was a total winner.

As with any IKEA furniture, there is some assembly to do. Hubby and I opened up the flat packed boxes and got to work. It was all pretty self-explanatory (just need to follow the pictures!) and took about an hour from start to finish. No glueing – just some screwing and tapping and voila.

I’m embarrassed to even post this photo in my very un-flattering and un-cute pyjama, but wanted to give you an ‘action’ shot. Keepin’ it real..

And here is the desk in its new nook. Pardon the rest of the mess, but doesn’t it fit that space just perfectly? And see how bright those white walls are? Double yay.

Not that we’ve had tons of time testing it out so far, but overall the desk is super. The finish is really nice, the door and drawer open and slide so smoothly, and the best part (for us anyway) are its’ nice slim dimensions. The fact that it’s opening up that whole other wall where our old desk used to be for a nice, long dresser is awesome.

So that’s one thing we can check off the list. I’d like to install some shelves above the desk for a mixture of storage and artwork, but onto some of the other big tickets items first. We’re starting to knock ‘em out in this room (we’re on a roll!)… so stay tuned!

Have you guys bought an IKEA desk before? They are ridiculously well priced and there are so many options, it’s hard to go wrong. If we didn’t need the storage, I would love to just have some basic legs with the table tops they sell – industrial and so sleek looking. In other news, how was your weekend? Any fabulous mother’s day events? We had my parents and some of my siblings over for brunch that morning, and I got my first ever mother’s day card from my nieces. Isn’t that the sweetest? Totally made my day. 

I love the fresh, airy, and feminine feeling of this colour combo. I think the key is to not have too much of any one colour, otherwise it gets overwhelming and too saturated — with a healthy dose of white or some other light neutral, the combo looks ridiculously gorgeous. 

A few of my faves floating around on the big wide web…

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What do you think? Digging it? Hating it? Too feminine maybe?  Love/Hate pink?

to this?

Well, I don’t know about you, but usually after big projects there are a few little niggling details to finish up and somehow they just get left on the back burner. Left in the dust for the new, more exciting projects.

What had we left for over a year without finishing? The floor transition between the bathroom and the hallway. Whoopsies. I figured it was high time to get my butt into gear and finish this bad boy off.

I forgot to take a true ‘before’ photo – sorry, bad blogger – but you can imagine that it just went from the tile to the hardwood flooring (which is slightly lower and so there was this weird edgy gap). It didn’t look pretty.

We purchased an oak strip transition from Home Depot (they only cost a few bucks), and hubby installed it. It was one that was specifically designed for transitioning floors that aren’t level. I puttied up the drill holes with some wood filler and let it dry for a few days.

Oh, and please disregard the lack of sweeping before these photos were taken. Just keepin’ it real with the dust, folks. After giving the whole thing a light sand and then wiping it down with a damp cloth, I taped off the edges with some ScotchBlue edgelock painters tape and pulled out my paint. It’s the same high gloss white trim + door paint that I have used throughout the house.

After two coats and removing the tape, here she was. SO much better. Just gives it that more polished look. Seriously, why did that take us so long?

Oh, and I wanted to wait a few weeks before posting about this just to make sure the paint stayed up to wear and tear (I was a bit worried about it chipping – I haven’t painted a floor transition before), but I’m happy to report that it still looks good as new.

So that’s it! Not the most thrilling post, I know, but one of those handy things to know how to do if you ever need to put one in yourself. In the rest of our place we have those old dingy brass ones which would be nice to replace at some point. Just something else to add to the list!

Have you guys ever installed a floor transition? Used a different material that you liked, or didn’t? Also, did you have a great weekend? It was sunny and hot here (we just skipped spring altogether this year – hello, summer!), so we spent the whole time outside. A bit of garage sale-ing, some reading in the backyard, walking around the neighbourhood — it was lovely.

Sliding barn-style doors. Rustic, a bit industrial, and totally a feature in any room. What do you think?

I love the rustic wood style – especially when contrasted with a nice, crisp white room. The juxtoposition of rustic + clean/modern is one of my fave looks.

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This big black one also looks amazing. I think what’s really nice about it are the window panels up top, making it feel not too heavy. Again, see how lovely it looks next to the almost all-white room?

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These painted white doors have a bit more of a country house feeling about them. Kinda Cape Cod-ish, don’t you think?

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As a door to a bathroom ensuite, or a door between say a living space and an office, I think these are totally stellar.

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Here is a happy yellow version one of my fave bloggers – Dana from House*Tweaking – did in her old pad. Isn’t it sweet?

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If you’re DIY’ing one like Dana did, you can check out ‘Barn Door Hardware‘ out of California that have tons in the way of supplies needed to install your door, including rolling rolling door hardware.

What do you guys think? Loving this look as much as I am? Ever thought of DIY’ing one yourself? Would you go painted or for a natural, rustic vibe? Have a great weekend, friends!! 

**Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Barn Door Hardware, but love of this trend is all me!** 

I feel like I didn’t get much done around here in April. The “to-do” list is still about the same as it was in March. Just the ebb and flow of a DIYer I guess (plus our vacation this past month snuck in there!).

Well, here are the highlights.

I did a roundup of some of my fave free printables, so if you’re looking for new artwork, make sure you check out the post.

available here

I hit up the Ottawa Antiques Show with a couple of gal pals and brought home a few blue mason jars and vintage postcards.

I gave a baby bump watch update (up to week 22) and the scoop on how I edit those pics, so you can create a similar type of collage or photo project.

The summary of our blogiversary survey went up. Thanks to all of you who filled it out – it really helps me get to know you guys and make sure I keep doing more of what you’re digging!

Then we took off for a week for our NYC babymoon. OOooh it was so lovely! We basically ate and strolled our way through the city. Click here for the full recap of our little holiday.

And then I capped the month off earlier this week with a quick and easy housewarming gift idea.

And that’s it! A pretty sparse month over here on the sweetest digs. Now that we’re ramping up the nursery and a few other projects, there will be plenty of DIY goodies for May – promise!

Despite the slow DIY month, I actually had a pretty busy month with my little etsy shop, and have added a few new chalkboard and other customizable prints. Head on over there to check out what’s new!

Do you guys have any projects on your to-do list to get done before summer hits? I know I’m trying to get a lot of the indoor stuff out of the way, as I hate being stuck inside in the summer! 

Since our pad is pretty little (reminder: we have 2 bedrooms on our main floor — we rent out our basement which has the 3rd bedroom) – we’re converting our current office-come-guest-bedroom into the nursery. Well actually, it’s going to be an office-come-nursery. There isn’t anywhere to move all of our office paraphenalia, so we need to keep some of it in there.

Here is a look at what the room currently looks like. We’ve got the single bed, the long desk, and all of our files.

We have moved most of those files down into the basement when we created our new and improved storage space (see that here), so in terms of office stuff that needs to stay, it’s the desktop (that one big screen), some computer components, and a drawer or two for supplies (you know, post-its, stapler, hole punch, etc). We are going to store our laptops out in the living room from now on and get rid of the phone that’s in there.

Time to move everything out and start over. I love starting with a fresh space! I have decided on a scheme for this little gal’s room — pink, minty green, a little grey, and a hint of gold. Oh and lots of white to keep it bright and airy. Here is a moodboard to give you an idea of what I’m thinking.

See that grey and white polka dot in the upper corner? It’s a fabulous removable wallpaper from new company - Chasing Paper. Yep, removable wallpaper. As in, no paste or complicated application to deal with. Wouldn’t it make a gorgeous accent wall?

As for where we’ll keep those few office supplies, we have picked out a budget-friendly IKEA desk – the Micke desk for $99. What we like is that it hides the computer components in that one cabinet, has a thin drawer for supplies, and doesn’t look heavy or dark. Plus, the dimensions are perfect for our little room — this guy will slip in beside the window, giving us more space along the wall where the desk currently is for a dresser.

Speaking of dressers, I’m hoping to snag a used one off Kijiji or Craigslist and give it a coat of pink paint. With some gold hardware. Kinda like this guy that I spotted here.

Oh and did you notice the green trellis rug in the moodboard? I’ve grown a little tired of it in our living room and it’s really cushy (perfect for baby!), so we’re thinking of moving it into the nursery and throwing down something more neutral and durable in the living room. It’ll be one of those move-it-in-and-see-how-it-looks situations.

And of course there will be a lot of fabric in the room – a roman blind, a curtain panel instead of closet door (to save space in the room), a crib skirt, etc. Here are some of the fabrics I’m totally crushing on.

This Amy Butler fabric - Love Water Bouquet in Mint:

And this Amy Butler beauty - Love SandleWood Tangerine:

And how gorgeous is the Sakura Blossom from Tonic Living?!: 

We have slowly been starting on the room over the last little while. We sold the bed, took all the art down, patched the walls, and have started to disassemble the old desk.

Oh and did you notice those patches of paint on the wall? Well I was trying to decide between going with a crisp white versus a light grey on the walls (both of which we already had leftover from other projects). The crisp white is the winner – it will allow the rest of the colours to pop and help keep the room feeling really bright and fresh. 

So here is the to-do list:

-paint room + closet
-install Chasing Paper wallpaper on feature wall
-put together new desk and organize office supplies
-get new office chair (maybe one that could double as ‘nursing’ chair?)
-closet: paint, build shelves, organize with baskets, remove door and hang curtain
-find used dresser and paint it coral (add gold hardware) + put change pad on top
-buy and put together crib
-move in rug
-make and install roman blind
-build and install book shelves on wall
-install shelves above desk
-hang artwork
-add accessories
-add storage for toys and laundry

I’m ridiculously excited about this room. I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m not going to be surprised if it becomes my favourite space in the house. Stay tuned as we tackle it project by project!

What about you guys? Any favourite nurseries or kids rooms that you’ve seen? Got any tips from doing kids rooms yourselves? Any must-have items? I’m all ears!