Where Sweet Dreams Are Made

Hello World!  Happy Friday and best wishes for a pleasant weekend!  In my pre-forty life I never really thought about baby nurseries except for the visits to my sister's nurseries for all of her wild and fun little babies.  They are almost all grown with the exception of an thirteen year old still wandering around her house.  But, no more baby nurseries there. 

So, when I got married at forty (met the right man late in life, according to the world's standards), we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.  We were married in Texas (since both of our families are here) in November 2006 and then set up house back in California.  Promptly in December 2006, the Dedicated Husband and I became pregnant.  I didn't even know I was pregnant until the end of January.  All I knew, was that I was sleepy and my tailbone hurt like no other.  We both decided that we wanted me to stay home with the precious little bundle we were going to have.  That meant moving back to Texas.  There would have been no way I could have stayed home with the cost of living in California.  So, we found a house in Texas close to my Mom and sister and moved in late June 2007. 

Here I was, great with child, seriously, I was huge.  I thought about posting prego pics but I was not one of those fortunate women who glow through pregnancy.  I was puffy, uncomfortable and I had a waddle!  So, great with child, new house, boxes to unpack, rooms to organize and then it hit me, "Holy Cow! I have to decorate a baby's nursery in a little more than 2 months!"  We knew we were having a girl even though at the first ultrasound she decided not to show her goods.  By the time the second ultrasound rolled around she gave us a peek.  Thank God!  I really wanted to know what the gender of the baby was so I could start planning The Dedicated Baby's room.   Now we I could pick a color scheme for her room.  Problem entered when I decided no pink.  I have since changed my mind about pink and there will be a post in the future about it.  We are such fickle little creatures. What was I going to do?  I know, I'll go to my special manilla folder of decorating ideas I tore out of magazines over the years.  How old school is that?  Now my folder is online.  The inspiration piece came from a copy of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion which is no longer being published.  I believe the article ran in 1996 and it was now 2007.  Way to carry something around for eleven years...I knew it would come in handy one day.  The article was a layout of Home Stylist, Sunday Hendrickson's home office out in the City of Angels.  She used this beautiful pale blue and pale green color scheme with this way too cute checkerboard theme on the floor.  She carried the checkerboard theme up her walls as a border at the top.  That was it!  I was sold!  Now, just had to paint and paint and paint. 

I looked through all of my files and could not find any before pics.  The room had good bones, empty space with the ever so present Builder's Beige on the walls.  May I introduce 

Where Sweet Dreams Are Made:

  Pillows were made by yours truly with fabric I found at JoAnn's. 

The bedding was a freak find of a discontinued bedding ensemble at Babies r Us. 

The toy chest was given to me when I was working on my Masters at Southern Illinois University by this sweet, elderly couple.  It had been painted several times prior to this coat of blue paint.  I added some new hinges and she was good to go. 

Her room looks so neat.  It never looked like this on a daily basis.

The mirrors were given to me by my sweet friend, Connie who moved to Kansas City.  They were yellow previously.  Here, they have the pale green base with pale blue stars painted in the corners.

The light fixture was given to me by my dear friends, The Underhills.  It was the light fixture they had in their breakfast area in their huge apartment in Hannover, Germany.  I was fortunate enough to get to visit them in Germany when I was singing in Italy.  I'm happy to say they are back in Texas now. 

I made the massive curtains with the help of my Mom.  We basically had to spread the material out on the floor in the entryway to piece and sew it together just because of its size. 

Those are pictures of some of The Dedicated Daughter's cousins and a picture of me with my sister and Mom.

Once The Dedicated Daughter got too big to have a mobile in her crib, I moved it over the changing table.

Well, there it is.  I thoroughly enjoyed decorating her room.  Now, sad to say, the nursery is no more and The Dedicated Daughter is in a big girl room.  But, don't despair, the space is now my craft room.  Well, sort of.  There is craft stuff in there, but it is really the place where all my ironing goes and waits for me.  Yes, I'm a freak.  I like to iron.  The 50's are calling and they want their housewife back.

That's it for today!  I hope you enjoyed Where Sweet Dreams Are Made.  Enjoy your day and remember to be kind to one another.

Toodles, 

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