Garage Sale Score - Part II

...and this is the reason why only one person in the HandyLuster household will get to enjoy the chair! Yes, its a miniature throne fit for a princess. I think its so adorable. The lady who sold it to us said she put her china dolls in the chair. We'll use it for our own little doll :)

So what are we going to do with the chair? Well, I'd like to use different fabrics on the front and back, like this:



We have some fabric leftover from the curtains and banquette in Chloe's room, plus some striped IKEA fabric leftover from the kitchen roman blind:



The curtain fabric with the swirlies has a nice sheen to it. It feels silky and would make the chair feel a bit glam. I like it for the front of the chair. For the back, either the striped fabric or the gingham fabric could work. The gingham would be a bit more traditional and suits the style of the chair. I really like stripes on a chair but I'm not sure these two work together. What do you think?



To finish off the edges, we could do a gimp trim like Just Beachy does with her fab chair makeovers. Here's one she did... isn't it lovely.



As for the paint finish, I'm not sure yet. Suggestions? Canary yellow? Creamy white? Robin's Egg Blue? Lilac? Whatever it is, we'll be painting Chloe's dear little doll bed and mini vanity from Nana the same colour.



Isn't baby-sized furniture the cutest thing? :)

Peekin' In On Baby - Part II

Baby HandyLuster's room is almost done.  I'm dying to reveal it to you all, but am still waiting on a few final pieces... the seamstress is still working on the glider and the bench cushions and HandyMan and I still have to figure out solutions for the rad cover and the shelf above the window.  I'm not sure we'll even get those things done before Baby arrives but I hate to show you the room when we're so close to done.

So you'll have to settle for a few more sneak peeks in the meantime.  First up is the crib.  This actually isn't going into the room because we plan on having Baby's crib in our room.  That's the plan anyways :)  Hopefully we'll all still manage to get a good night's sleep.  The Pottery Barn Kids gingham crib sheet and bedding was a $50 steal on Craigslist, I found the monkey at a local bookstore, and the custom blanket was made by etsy seller whynottsewn.   

And here is the recovered ottoman!  The seamstress is doing the rest of the cushions but HandyMan and I decided to tackle the ottoman ourselves (and we got to try out our air compressor staple gun too - bonus!).  Funny, but we didn't end up using any of the fabrics I first liked.  But this one is just perfect :)  It really stands out in the room.  I can't wait to show you the rest of the room...hopefully soon!

What Do You Think?

Baby HandyLuster should be making an appearance soon.  The due date is April 15th but babies tend to make up their own schedules with these things :)  The doctor and the doula tell me that its common for first-time mothers to go past their due date, though I'm feeling like this baby will make an early appearance.  What do you think??

Venture a guess on our online baby pool by clicking the icon above.  There's no prize to the winner (except for bragging rights that you are a baby guessing guru!).  I'll let you all know once I cross the finish line :o)

Peekin' In On Baby

Baby HandyLuster's room is looking sweeter by the day! A few sneak peeks of the progress...

Baby HandyLuster seems impatient to see the room, judging from all the pushing and stretching and punching happening in my belly these days!

Pea in a pod

So cute. The Noonie by etsy seller lala's pequenos

Building For Baby

What a difference a week makes :)  We've made great progress on the baby's room.  HandyMan has put in the filler panels to make the wardrobes look like they're built in.  And he built the banquette too!  Now we just have to find some metal mesh to face the front and still allow the warm air from the radiator to flow through.

There's still alot to do... painting and installing the baseboards, installing the closet doors, getting the curtains and bench cushions made.  We're also planning on putting a shelf above the window to hold baskets of toys and such (you can always use more storage in a kid's room!).  And then there's all the fun stuff - hanging artwork, filling the drawers, putting up a mobile and the lighting.  Hope you're liking your new home so far, Baby HandyLuster!  We're loving putting it together for you.

Baby Steps

Today is a holiday here, Family Day, and what better way to spend it than working on the baby's room. Our weekend has been a flurry of trips to Home Depot and Lowes for materials to build the banquette and filler panels to make the Ikea cabinets look like built-ins. Dumb mistake on our part... we could have saved ourselves alot of trouble and cost by pushing the wardrobes into the corners of the room and having a longer banquette in between. The window would have looked off-center - but once we install the curtains you won't even notice the difference. Ah well, live and learn.

We're scrambling to get it all done - wardrobes installed, banquette built & painted, filler panels built and painted - before carpet is installed on Thursday. HandyMan is working so hard... I fall in love with him even more when I see everything he's doing for this little baby :) A few pics of our progress:

...the Ikea wardrobes and the rough banquette frame. You can see the pale yellow walls and blue ceiling too.


...the closets. I can't wait to fill them with Baby HandyLuster's tiny outfits!


... and a close up of the wrapping paper we backed the closets with. We went with something a bit more subtle & sweet than what I originally considered. We found the paper at The Paper Place; they have such a wonderful selection of papers.


It's all starting to come together - and so quickly too! Seeing the room and feeling the bigger movements of the baby more lately...its all seems much more REAL. Ohmigosh - we're having a baby in two months!!!

Waiting, waiting...

I realize posting has been light around here lately, but there’s not much to report. The glass for the bathroom has been measured but won’t be in until next week, the door is somewhere en route to us, and the basketweave tile is sitting in our hallway waiting for the tile guy to find some time in his schedule to install it (I thought it was a recession around here and we’d actually have an easier time getting the trades in. Guess not!).

On the baby’s room front, we’ve got a first coat of paint on the ceiling and walls. Our berber carpet from Home Depot will be installed next week, which means we have to move our butts and get the Ikea wardrobes assembled and the banquette framed in this weekend. Home Depot also offers two free carpet cleanings so I’m planning to have a steam cleaning (no chemicals) right after installation in order to speed up the off-gassing. Since the carpet is in a baby’s room, we thought better to be safe than sorry (and its free so why not take advantage of it!). But I know how you all love pictures so I’ll leave you with these little snippets of things going into the room. Where they end up, you’ll just have to wait and see…

baby's room - by wanderluster on Polyvore.com

Etsy Love

More things I'm loving on etsy:




Bookplate and Silhouette print from nelladesigns; quilt by aniandtrio; tags by sweetbeets; print by tollipop.

Me

Objects on screen are not as big as they appear ;) 91 days and counting...

Add It To The List

Dear HandyMan,


When you're finished with the 132 items on your To Do list, can you build me one of these? Baby HandyLuster really wants it.


:o*

Smooth Ride

Hmm, the baby-related purchases seem to be piling up around here. I am most definitely in a spending mood, it seems. Over the last few days, I've purchased some organic baby clothes from Joe Fresh, some pristine Pottery Barn baby bedding from craigslist, and this oh-so-comfy glider chair off of craigslist too.

I know its not much to look at - but have you ever sat in one of these gliders? They're extremely comfortable and I can picture Baby HandyLuster just falling asleep in my arms as I rock, rock, rock the night away. But you know me, I can't leave well enough alone, and will have to schnazz this chair up and have it fit with the design scheme we've got planned for the Guest Bedroom/Nursery.

Since the chair is a small piece, I'm thinking we go with a bolder, fun fabric. We could mix it up and have the arm rests and ottoman in one pattern and the seat and back in another. The room will be yellows, creams, and greys-taupes, so here's a few options. All fabrics shown from Designer Fabrics. Decisions, decisions...