Monthly Archives: July 2014

Painting the Hills & Sky

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by in Operation Nursery

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My vision for the nursery walls included soft colors, rolling hills and a neutral sky with clouds. I planned out the landscape first, sketching the hills onto the wall with a pencil, several erasers and a lot of patience. The challenging part was in knowing how my lines were materializing on a 12 foot wall when I’m only inches away from it at any given time. To make this easier, I purchased a cheap art projector like the one below:

projector

Thanks to this little gadget, I was able to sketch my hills out onto paper first and then project them onto the walls and trace them. I definitely recommend this method for painting murals or other projects involving larger-than-life canvas sizes!

With this complete, I tackled the paint. I did the sky first and then the hills to ensure the illusion that the hills were on top of the sky rather than the other way around (trust me, it makes a difference). Two coats were necessary all the way around to ensure coverage of the original yucky mustard-yellow wall color. After rolling on the larger surface areas, I found it helpful to switch to a smaller-bristle art brush for the details.

 

Phase 1 of Painting Complete:

Special thanks to my good friend, Vanessa, who traveled all the way from Chicago to help me complete Phase 1 of the Painting Plan! I love you girl, and your fellow-perfectionist capabilities! ♥ ♥ ♥

Vanessa & Leonie

 

 

The Nursery Plan

19 Saturday Jul 2014

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As with most of my projects, about 80% of the work is in the planning. Well I’ve spent more than enough time visualizing and planning out my nursery theme. And with just a few weeks left to bring it all together, I’ve launched into full blown execution mode.

Here’s a quick reminder of what “The Before” room looked like before I got my hands on it: https://livelovecraft.org/category/operation-nursery/. It needs a lot of work from this point to be transformed into the baby room that truly captures my vision… SO here’s The Plan!

The Walls:

I plan on painting a sky with rolling hills on each wall. In the sky I will incorporate clouds, hot air balloons and other whimsical elements. I cut out some paper shapes here just to play with placement.

2014-04-30 19.39.55

The Paint Pallet:

Soft, calming colors will set the tone. I chose a pastel yellow sky instead of a blue one to help neutralize the space (instead of screaming “It’s a BOY!”).

Paint Pallet

Bookcase Bench:

I want the room to have plenty of space for books, toys and storage, so I’m enlisting my husband to build this built-in bookcase bench that I designed. I’m really excited about this piece. If he can pull it off, it will add a huge custom element to the room, plenty of usable space, and a nice little reading nook right in front of the window!

Bookcase Bench Design A

Textiles: 

I searched high and low for just the right fabrics to accent and compliment the room. I’ll be using them to make a window valence, as well as a seat cushion and decorative pillows for the bookcase bench. I’m going to have a lot of fun mismatching different design combinations from these patterns!

Textile Swatched

Pillows:

Here are some of my composition ideas for the decorative pillow designs using the textiles from above. I want to make enough of them to line the bookcase bench with across the entire length of the window sill.

Pillows Design

Valence:

The window will need to be dressed with something pretty, so I’ve settled on this design for the valence, (using my colors of course!). I like everything about this style, from the shape of the rod to the simplicity of its form.

Valence Design

So there you have it. The plans have been drawn! And of course, as my husband likes to point out, my projects can never just be simple. But what can I say… I’m up for the challenge. And I’m super excited to see how it will all come together!

 

 

Rounding Out at Week 33

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by in Dear Bundle

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Dear Bundle,

We’re rounding out at Week 33 and things are starting to get really busy around here. Our doctor appointments have been bumped up to every two weeks. And by week 35, they will increase to once a week. Weight gain up until this point has been slow and gradual, but starting about now that velocity will ramp up significantly as well. To put it into perspective, you are only about 4 pounds now, but from here until B-Day (about 7 weeks away) you will probably double in size.

Week 33 Bump

At this point in my pregnancy and with the nearing of the much anticipated event, I am preoccupied with a palpable feeling of excitement and joy (you’ll be here soon!), coupled strongly with an equally overwhelming feeling of trepidation and anxiety (you’ll be here soon!!).

I have also been spiked with some sort of inexplicable energy that has me buzzing frantically about with a mission to clean, organize and obsess over everything in the house in preparation for your arrival- some things more random than others. The other day, for example, I fulfilled this incredible unfounded need inside of me to scrub all the baseboards, door jams and light switches in the house (what??). I suppose this is what they mean by the “nesting phase?” Evidently so, I have decided I need to harness this energy (which is undoubtedly fleeting) toward some much more focused and meaningful applications….

So Operation Nursery, get ready! Over the next few weeks I am blessed to have some family and friends coming into town to help me with this. We will be intently working on things like painting the nursery, organizing closets and assembling, well, tons of stuff! We also have plans to take my creative abilities to uncharted territories involving a sewing machine (… Handmade curtains and pillows are the vision)! In addition to this, your dad will be starting on a unique project to build you a custom built-in bookcase bench that I designed just for your bedroom! I can’t wait to see how everything will come together. Stay tuned, as Operation Nursery is well underway!

xoxo,

Mom