James' Room Update Extravaganza

It's not really an extravaganza.  I didn't even bother editing these photos to make 'em prettier because really, they're just in-progress update shots.  In fact, they make me a little sad because his room still looks so unfinished, what with all the bare walls and lack of shelving and whatnot.

But they don't make me too sad, because it's still the best room in the house so far and I love the direction it's headed.  And I especially love that it's for my little rib-kicker who technically is allowed to pop out any time he wants.

Let's not get distracted.  Here's a look at the baby room so far.

Crib corner.  The balloon is from a baby shower which I tied onto the crib just for fun.  Tony said we should let it go outside the day he's born, which sounds perfectly whimsically cheesy to me. 

The Plan: to get sheets for the mattress (as it is bare), to get a bedskirt to hide my craft storage bins under the crib, to find a place for my sewing crap, to put things on the walls.

This is the corner to the left of the crib.  Sorry the picture's so dark; the lighting sucks big time in our house.  

Here's a brighter picture.  Nevermind the folded up stroller there to the left.  We, uh, don't know where to put that yet.

The Plan: make slipcovers for the chair cushions someday maybe, get a little bookshelf for the books,  get a little side table to go where the stroller is, put shelves and pictures on the walls, find better lighting solutions than the single boob light in the middle of the ceiling that is there now.

Here we have the area in front of the window to the right of the crib.  Again, sorry for the bad lighting.  Currently this is where my sewing desk and chair go, but this is where I want to put the aforementioned bookshelf, or maybe a toy chest.  See the curtains?  I hemmed 'em myself.

This is the corner across from the door when you walk in.  The crib would be behind you to the left.  This is the beautiful dresser my dad bought us, which we someday plan on stealing when James is too big to need a changing table.  Then he can have our crappier Ikea dresser.  I didn't take any detail shots, but I replaced the top row of knobs with some pretty brass Anthropologie ones I found at a thrift shop, and I plan to replace all the rest with coordinating knobs as I find them.

The Plan: fill the wall to the left with shelves for storage/display, put one big long shelf high up on the wall above the dresser, hang pictures on the wall directly above the dresser, find little baskets or organizer thingies to go on the right side of the dresser for diapers/wipes etc., get a cute little clothes hamper to go on the floor to the right where that bag is.

Another shot of the dresser.  It really is so pretty, I promise.

This is a big basket where I put all the things we've been given that don't have anywhere else to go at the moment.   Apparently babies need lots of things.

My sister-in-law made us a bunch of awesome stuff, like that cute fabric-covered diaper case there, and a changing mat, and a blanket, and fabric blocks, and pee-pee teepees (look them up, they're hilarious).  And they all coordinate, and they are all the most perfect colors and fabrics ever.  The cute little giraffe was his first toy from my mom and it sings the ABCs, but now the battery is dying so it sounds like Satan's giraffe.  Adorable.

Just some of the cute cards we've received.  Plus my dad's old lava lamp and a Darth Vader bobble head, because why not?

Here's those fabric blocks and ball I was telling you about.  They are the coolest.  Plus books and more stuffed animals.  Yes, that bear is missing an eye.  Only the best for my child!

Poorly-lit closeup of the matching blanket.  It's full of insanely soft fabrics and ridiculously adorable prints.  Thank you Sembur!

And lastly, a closeup of the paper star garlands I made, that keep falling off because they are only taped.

Okay so I lied; these pictures make me totally happy.  Like I've said before, I know this is all mostly for my benefit because James won't care that he has cute stars above his windows, but I love preparing for his arrival.  It's important to me to cultivate our space to be calm, comfortable, and clean so I can better take care of him. 

So that's that.  Tony is patiently waiting for me to stop blogging and go get started on something to feed our faces with.  Food, is what I'm saying.  It's dinner time, yo.

House We Own Tour

As promised, albeit late, here's some true before pictures of our new house.  These were taken by I-don't-know-who, before we bought it.  We're still not even close to being fully moved in, but I was thinking of taking my own pictures with our own stuff in it anyway.  We got some paint swatches the other day to hang up everywhere to help us decide what colors we want, but I get the feeling painting is a ways off yet.

Anyhoodle, here's the front door.

Someone told me it looks like a gingerbread house, and I've learned I'm okay with that.  Most importantly, do you see the trees?  Trees are important things to have around. 

Here's the front from the other side, and our garage. (!)

Front/living room, and also the kitchen:

Our cabinets are green, and I'm pretty much in love with the kitchen.  The pictures don't show the windows that look on the backyard, but they're big and they're beautiful, and there's tons of light in there in the daytime.  Probably because we don't have curtains, anywhere.

I know pictures of empty rooms are boring and make no visual sense, but for the sake of documentation, here's our bedroom and the "extra" bedroom:

The paint color doesn't look too bad in these, but I promise it's dreadful in person.  It has this way of sucking up all the light and tricking your eyes into thinking they've gone colorblind, because there is no name for this color.  Mud Vomit?  Orc Skin?  The important thing is that everything is painted this color, and that includes the ceilings in the whole house.  Our desire to repaint is basically a living thing.

Last but not least, our very own backyard.  :)

It's funky in that it's long and narrow, and wonderful in that it exists.  It has grass and flowers and trees and a fence, and Maya is like a puppy reborn when she's running around in it.

So.  We have lots of plans, but since it's OUR house and we don't plan on going anywhere any time soon, we don't mind fleshing things out slowly.  And we love it.