Monday, August 15, 2011

Tour of the Nursery

I have been promising pictures of "The Nursery," aka Bowie and Tatum's room, formerly known as Bowie's Room, for months. I finally got a spare moment to snap some pictures... granted the pictures are taken with my phone, so they are not high quality shots. But I think some pictures are better than no pictures, right?

So without further ado... a little tour.

Some day, when Tatum actually decides he is ready to sleep in his own room and not snuggle in bed next to Mommy, I will be reading bed time stories and maybe doing some midnight nursing in this rocker. We had this custom-made at USA Baby when I was pregnant with Bowie and it finally has made it's way into a proper room. The stars rug was also snatched up from Pottery Barn Kids about the same time.


Wow, this shot is a bit blurry. And a bit busy. The room won't be quite so crowded when Tatum is ready to move up to a big boy bed as we plan on doing a twin trundle for the boys. This will free up enough space for a vintage play table we picked up at Habitat ReStore.


The shelves are not perfectly styled, and I doubt they ever will be. All the boys enjoy placing things on the shelves and the arrangement changes every day. But this is not a magazine room, this is a real room for real little boys... so a jumble of toys it will remain!


Tatum's crib is a fixed-side Jenny Lind. It came only in white, so Steven painted it flat black to match Bowie's twin cast iron bed. We purchased the crib from Babies R Us with a 20% off coupon. The crib was a splurge -- a pricey gorgeous giraffe set from Rikshaw Designs.


And right beside the crib is big brother Bowie's bed. Bowie's vintage cast iron bed was a $20 Craigslist score that we straightened up a bit with a rubber mallet.


Over Bowie's bed is a framed screenprint on a Guster concert poster by Furturtle.



The boy's share a vintage dresser we picked up at the Good Ju Ju flea market. It was originally painted a girly pale purple with shabby chic sandpaper distressing. I made it a bit more masculine with flat black and replaced the mismatched brass knobs with milk glass ones from Hobby Lobby.


This is the closet we saved. (The other become the bookshelves on the other side.)


Bowie's duvet is from Land of Nod. The orange sheets were ordered from Amazon. The white dust ruffle is from Target.


This vintage nightstand was $3 at Goodwill. It was a badly damaged Sears Harmony House piece that I primed and painted flat black. The "V" handle was original and received a shot of silver spray paint. Bowie inherited my old iPod. The lamp is from Ikea.

The barn star was purchased from Craigslist and painted flat black. The gyro-ceiling fan is by Minka Aire. It actually rotates around and the lights dim, all by remote control. Steven had to do some fancy wiring work in the room to hide the very modern control unit for the fan.

The lights on this ceiling shelf are a great nightlight. Another assortment of vintage Tonka toys on the shelf.


The curtains and sheers are from Target. Hardware from Bed Bath & Beyond and moon and stars finials from Pottery Barn Kids.



The door knob for the closet is vintage. We salvaged it from am old farmhouse that was being demolished.

I fell in love with this giraffe mobile from Pottery Barn Kids. Plain white and understated... Unfortunately, it had been discontinued. I found it on Craigslist for less than retail.

A giraffe for Tatum. Since Bowie has a favorite elephant, "Buddy," since he was a tiny baby, we decided Tatum should have giraffes. See that lovely cap at the bottom of the door frame, by the base trim? The original plinth blocks were lost during the construction of the room, so Steven made all the replacements. The little metal piece on the door is the other side of a magnetic doorstop that keeps the door from swinging in to the bookcases.

Two little beds, side by side.



Bowie's guitar leaned up against the rocker. He is a rock star, after all.

This lamp was from Pottery Barn Kids, but the shade is from Target. I really fell in love with an orange round side table from Crate & Barrel, but it just wasn't tall enough. So I found this metal table at Home Goods and Steven sprayed it Popsicle orange.

Bowie's favorite toy truck, a "Buddy L." We bought it since he named his elephant "Buddy" when he was a baby.


This ceiling is a masterpiece! Everyone thought I was crazy when I said I wanted corrugated metal and wood beams. Now, I think it is perfect!



A close-up of the giraffe bedding.


I spent hours staining these floors. I wanted them to look a bit worn, even though they had just been refinished. I chose Minwax ebony stain and matte polyurethane sealer.


A happy star.

This is the Good Luck Elephant that sits high on the shelves. He takes care of the boys and makes sure that Bowie has good dreams. (Bowie was not sure about sleeping in his room the first few times).


Push button switches and a hammered finish plate from Classic Accents.

Two of Bowie's friends, an elephant and a crocodile, keep him company.


Hope you enjoyed the tour! Maybe we can get some higher-quality pictures up soon. :)

Monday, August 1, 2011

introducing, Tatum Evan

We had a bit of a hiatus at the Cottage of Stone. And I am placing full blame on this little guy:

Tatum Evan made his appearance April 26th at 11:27 p.m.
He weighed in at 8 pounds, 2.5 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Ala, Making it Lovely, we have been taking a monthly picture of Tatum. Rather than use the white Eames-style rocker in the master bedroom, we decided to tote one of the black chairs up from the living room into the nursery.

I have a little to learn about getting the pictures to look exactly the same (maybe the time of day I take them or the fact they are taken with the camera in my phone?), but it is a cute project and we have really enjoyed it.

Speaking of the nursery, we did finish it in time for Tatum's arrival... not that we needed to, really. Tatum has decided he wants to sleep in our bedroom. But not in his gorgeous cradle. Nope. He needs to sleep in my bed, right next to me. (Clingy baby!)

We will get the (not-yet-used) nursery pictures up soon. ;)