Show us where you live - Nursery Edition

I like to read blogs. I don't read many stranger's blogs (anymore), but if they have a baby around Levi's age, I tune in every once in a while. This blog hosts "Show us where you live Friday," where you can link to pictures of different parts of your home. This is the sort of thing I LOVE. I love seeing how people live, and how they decorate. I LOVE decorating and making a space as pretty as possible with my limited resources. It's been sad, though, because I haven't really been able to post anything for Show us where you live Friday, because the only room I've paid special attention to in this apartment is Levi's nursery. I am proud of it, though... so I wanted to participate this Friday. I know I've posted these before.

We let him have the master bedroom, isn't that pitiful?? I knew this place was temporary, and I really wanted a space that I could make beautiful for him (well... for me to be honest). The architecture in that room was so much more interesting, and I knew that was where we would be spending most of our time anyway. (Little did I know at the time that he would sleep in our room till he was 5 months old!)

Here is the room for the doorway:

This alcove is the main reason that I wanted this room to be Levi's nursery. It's just a cozy little area for story time, and rocking, and of course - changing the diaper!

Here is the close up of the animal prints above the rocker. I found these cute prints online, and changed the background color in powerpoint on all of them so they would look like a set. I added the stripe mat background (at the time I made them, I thought I was going to have square frames, not rectangular - so they don't look as I envisioned them - but these were the cheapest frames I could find. They were $1.99 each at IKEA, and I (and by "I" I mean Jarrods brother) spray painted them black to match the room.

Here is a close up of the blanket that is over the rocker. I made this for him while pregnant. I'm sure you remember the THOUSANDS of patterns I tried before I finally combined a few I liked to come up with this one. I want to make another one, I love this blanket so much! And of course, Phoebe can't resist getting in front of the camera!

Here is Levi laying on the blanket. I don't know why this picture is all squished. He is 17 days old in this picture.

I put his name over the dresser. I never really liked the idea of letters spelling out the name in the nursery - I think because EVERYONE does it. But his name has so much significance, and I really liked these letters I found a Kohls for only $5 each! The shelves are special too because every item on these shelves are gifts from family or friends to Levi - some even home made.

I didn't try to, but a lot of his stuff has stars. I love his sheets, and the mobile matches perfectly. My dad got him a perfect blue and brown star blanket before he even know about the stars in his crib area.

I especially love how the star sheets look in this picture (although I don't know why this picture looks squished when I post it...)

Here is a close up of the paintings I did over his crib. I used the wall color as the base on canvas (although after i did it I thought I would have rather painted them brown or left them white as the base color. I ended up adding a brown border and it made it look so much better. (I did these with a stencil of course, I do not have a talent or love for painting!!)

This is probably the most special item in his nursery. That chair that he's sitting on was made by his Grandaddy (Jarrods dad.) He was putting the finishing touches on it while we were in the hospital. It is AMAZING, the picture doesn't do it justice. It is strong and shiny, rustic and polished. He didn't have a "pattern" (I know this isn't the right word, it's not a sewing project). He just got his 2X2s (I think), and figured out how to align them to form a chair. I could easily see this chair in fancy children's boutiques - and it was hand crafted with hours of labor and love especially for him. (Sorry for the yet again squished pic)

Here are all three of my favorite parts of the nursery: The Chair, the blanket, and of course, the baby!!