Nursery Tour

It suddenly occurred to me that I've never posted a tour of the nursery here at the House of Wood. I've shared bits and pieces of nursery projects as I've completed them, but never a full tour. Evie is now over a year old and it's been complete since... well, before she was born. Yeah, I'm that kind of slacker. At least when it comes to blogging.

It's one of my favorite spaces in our home, mainly because Evie and I spend a ton of time reading, daydreaming, singing, playing, and napping in here. It's a bright, cheery, magical place where anything is possible. So, without further ado... welcome to Evie's nursery!

I love that this little guy offers you his most formal welcome:

If you're interested, our DIY curtains tutorial is here:

And tutorials for the fabric bunting, owl pillow, and bookshelf revamp:

Here's a shot of one of my favorite prints in her room. I did an "Evelyn" search on Etsy and this pretty girl came up. I think this is what Evie might look like when she's older. And look! There's an owl on her shoulder... she fits in perfectly here.

One of the first things I made for Evie's nursery was her bird mobile (which was extremely tedious for a novice like myself) and I love how these little birdies watch over her while she sleeps:

Evie's monogram pillow tutorial is posted here:

So there you have it... a year overdue, but thanks for visiting all the same!

Dresser Turned Sideboard Revamp (Part 1)

This old dresser has been sitting in our garage for months and I'm finally getting around to doing something with it. We bought it from Craigslist, along with the rest of the bedroom set (dresser, bureau, bed, and mirror) for $160.00. It's going to go in the dining room, as a sideboard. I want to refinish it, but I'm stumped as to what to do... stain? Paint? I love its sleek mid-century lines, legs, and the length of it (almost 70 inches long!).

Ideas? Suggestions?

I scoured the web for some inspiration and there is just so much of it! Below are a few great ideas.

Should I...

Paint it white?

Gary McBournie via House Beautiful

via Pinterest

Restain it and add some new hardware?

Design SpongeDistress it?

Graham and Green

Refinish it with a grey wash for that salvaged, reclaimed-wood look?

Restoration Hardware

Paint it a fun color?

Natty By Design

Morgan Harrison Home

Or go two-toned?

Birdhouse Family

House On A HillSo many options... what to do, what to do. What would you do?

DIY: Address Wreath

The Lowdown: I'm taking the Pinterest Challenge! The wha... you ask? Basically, these four swell gals (I don't know why I just called them that - I rarely use the word 'swell' and I've never used the word 'gals'... until now. But anyway. Moving on.), Sherry, Katie, Emily, and Lana have dreamt up something called 'The Pinterest Challenge.' They've challenged themselves, along with the rest of the blogosphere to stop pinning and startdoing. As you may know, I can get lost for days on Pinterest (which is why I didn't answer your phone call or emails... I was missing, you see. Sorry about that btw.) - it's an unending source of inspiration for me and so many others. But, much like everyone else, it's so easy to pin yourself to death curate these beautiful collections and never get around to actually executing said ideas. So... these girls have challenged us to actually complete a project that inspired us from Pinterest. And so I took on the challenge and actually got around to seeing a project all the way through. Woohoo!

And if you want to see the pins that inspire me, I'm here on Pinterest. Let's be friends. It'll be fun.

So here's a quick and easy one: an address wreath! This project took me all of 30 minutes to complete. I simply hot-glued the silk flowers and ribbon onto the wreath. Then I painted the wooden numbers white and hot-glued those to the wreath as well. Easy peasy!

Salon-Style Gallery Wall

The Lowdown: I'm taking the Pinterest Challenge! The wha... you ask? Basically, these four swell gals (I don't know why I just called them that - I rarely use the word 'swell' and I've never used the word 'gals'... until now. But anyway. Moving on.), Sherry, Katie, Emily, and Lana have dreamt up something called 'The Pinterest Challenge.' They've challenged themselves, along with the rest of the blogosphere to stop pinning and startdoing. As you may know, I can get lost for days on Pinterest (which is why I didn't answer your phone call or emails... I was missing, you see. Sorry about that btw.) - it's an unending source of inspiration for me and so many others. But, much like everyone else, it's so easy to pin yourself to death curate these beautiful collections and never get around to actually executing said ideas. So... these girls have challenged us to actually complete a project that inspired us from Pinterest. And so I took on the challenge and actually got around to seeing a project all the way through. Woohoo!

And if you want to see the pins that inspire me, I'm here on Pinterest. Let's be friends. It'll be fun.

So I've been lusting over salon-style gallery walls FOR-EVAR and I finally got around to creating our very own! I'll take better pictures soon and let you in on the complete how-to (or, at least, my how-to process), but for now, here's a quick peek of the gallery in our living room:

And a more asymmetrical mini-gallery hanging in Evie's nursery:

Revitalizing An Old Bookshelf

The Lowdown: I'm taking the Pinterest Challenge! The wha... you ask? Basically, these four swell gals (I don't know why I just called them that - I rarely use the word 'swell' and I've never used the word 'gals'... until now. But anyway. Moving on.), Sherry, Katie, Emily, and Lana have dreamt up something called 'The Pinterest Challenge.' They've challenged themselves, along with the rest of the blogosphere to stop pinning and startdoing. As you may know, I can get lost for days on Pinterest (which is why I didn't answer your phone call or emails... I was missing, you see. Sorry about that btw.) - it's an unending source of inspiration for me and so many others. But, much like everyone else, it's so easy to pin yourself to death curate these beautiful collections and never get around to actually executing said ideas. So... these girls have challenged us to actually complete a project that inspired us from Pinterest. And so I took on the challenge and actually got around to seeing a project all the way through. Woohoo!

And if you want to see the pins that inspire me, I'm here on Pinterest. Let's be friends. It'll be fun.

Evie is starting to collect enough books and toys that I need extra storage for her nursery. My father-in-law built this bookshelf ages ago and it's been collecting dust in our garage, so I decided to put it to good use... but not without a quickie facelift first. So, I broke out my trusty power sander and set to work. 

Viola! I quickly ran the sander over every surface using 100 grit sandpaper. I didn't bother doing a perfect job since I'll be using a primer before I paint. Also, I plan on covering the back panel with a cute patterned fabric or paper so I popped it off and set it aside.

I primed it with a grey spray primer and then hand-painted it grey. Then I sprayed adhesive on the back panel and laid some pretty grey patterned fabric on it. Then I nailed the back panel back onto the bookshelf and Husband hauled it up to Evie's nursery.

Then we anchored it to the wall so it doesn't topple over on her (safety first!).