I've finally begun work on the nursery! Since we recently found out we are having a baby girl, I started narrowing down my options for the nursery. The walls are a baby blue, but I really don't want to paint the entire room because of all the other projects on my pre-baby list. So I decided that we would keep the wall color and just pick some extra girly colors to complement it. After little deliberation and lots of Pinterest inspiration, I settled on pink, gold, and white.
The theme of the nursery was a little harder to decide. Before we knew whether we were having a boy or a girl, I really wanted to do an animal theme. But after we found out the gender and picked the pink, gold, and white colors, I got hooked on a princess theme. Naturally, I decided to just combine them. Who says you have to have one solid theme for a nursery? If anyone insists on a name for my theme, I will just go with "Queen of the Jungle". Done and done.
As for the nursery projects, the list is long. We bought a crib, and I'm going to turn my old childhood desk into a changing table, and I am attempting a closet makeover. Those are all projects that will take time, and I have plenty of it. But I wanted to start on something that I would be able to post about now - not three months from now. So I decided to hit the thrift stores for some animal and princess related items. And let me tell you, there is definitely no shortage of animal items at any thrift store. I came home with a few exciting prospects.
The theme of the nursery was a little harder to decide. Before we knew whether we were having a boy or a girl, I really wanted to do an animal theme. But after we found out the gender and picked the pink, gold, and white colors, I got hooked on a princess theme. Naturally, I decided to just combine them. Who says you have to have one solid theme for a nursery? If anyone insists on a name for my theme, I will just go with "Queen of the Jungle". Done and done.
As for the nursery projects, the list is long. We bought a crib, and I'm going to turn my old childhood desk into a changing table, and I am attempting a closet makeover. Those are all projects that will take time, and I have plenty of it. But I wanted to start on something that I would be able to post about now - not three months from now. So I decided to hit the thrift stores for some animal and princess related items. And let me tell you, there is definitely no shortage of animal items at any thrift store. I came home with a few exciting prospects.
What we have here is under $10 worth of nursery decor. The elephant called to me because it was already white and gold. So I don't even need to do anything with that. The bowl shaped like a crown is pretty self-explanatory. As for the horses, I thought they would be a great addition as well. The larger, brown horse is hollow and would look great as a vase, and the horse that looks like it belongs on a merry-go-round just seemed fit for a princess. You can ignore the mason jars. They were dirt cheap and I figured they would be a great addition to the continued garage makeover series. You might see them again in a later post.
After my successful thrift store shopping spree, I wanted to get started on my projects right away. I didn't even have anywhere in the nursery to put them yet, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I started by finding a few shoe boxes. I like to use cardboard boxes when I use spray paint so I can contain the mist as much as possible. I placed my items in the boxes.
After my successful thrift store shopping spree, I wanted to get started on my projects right away. I didn't even have anywhere in the nursery to put them yet, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I started by finding a few shoe boxes. I like to use cardboard boxes when I use spray paint so I can contain the mist as much as possible. I placed my items in the boxes.
Then I used a primer to spray an even layer of paint over the items. I waited half an hour or so in between sprays before flipping the items over. It took sprays from a few different angles to completely cover them.
Once the items were completely covered, and fully dry, I picked out the colors I wanted them to be. I went with a metallic gold for the crown bowl, and a glossy white for the two horses.
I repeated the steps I followed for the primer spray with the other sprays. I flipped the pieces over enough times to cover them in color. The results were exactly as I pictured!
I figure the little gold bowl will be perfect for all the cute bows and headbands that baby girls wear. As for the merry-go-round horse, I added some bling to the very top of it to give it just a little extra. Then I made a few pink and gold fabric roses to fill the hole in the other horse.
I am totally in love! Having these few items definitely helped me solidify my pink, gold, and white color scheme. They look great together! Now all I need is some furniture in the nursery to display them. I think I will eventually find a small bookshelf that I can use for display items such as these - and books, of course. Lots and lots of baby books. Planning for babies is so much fun! I will keep you posted as the nursery continues to evolve.
Materials:
- Thrift store items
- Rust-Oleum Universal Bonding Primer
- Rust-Oleum American Accents 2X Ultra Coverage Spray Paint
Steps:
- Make sure surface of items are clean and free of debris
- Place thrift items in a cardboard box outside
- Spray the items with primer until covered
- Wait approximately 20 minutes then turn items over
- Spray again with primer until covered
- Wait until the items are dry
- Spray all sides, drying in between, with selected spray paint color
- Embellish and display!