Dabbling in DIY | The Nursery

I've been wanting to showcase this little DIY project my husband and I tackled before having our baby girl. 
What better venue than right here in my little corner of web space!

So let's be real for a second.
I am not a big DIYer. 
I have the dream but not necessarily the discipline! 
and let's be honest... nor the talent! 

However my husband and I did tackle one pretty stellar DIY project as we prepared our daughter's nursery. 

The Nursery Dresser 

Photo Credit: Jurina Photography

When we were first designing the nursery I really wanted light "ballet" pink with grey and white but my husband really wanted a darker pink with grey and white. 

We compromised

Cause that's what marriage is all about!

 and did them both! 
 I am so glad we did because I love the combination! 

That little organization box was another easy DIY!
Photo Credit: Jurina Photography

It really just worked! 
Good idea, babe! 

Photo Credit: Jurina Photography

I love the softness of the crib area. We had our white crib, pink and white sheets with birdies and then the gorgeous mobile from my mother-in-law that was also birdies to match the sheets! 

I loved it! 

Sheets are from Pottery Barn (no longer available) Similar here.
Photo Credit: Jurina Photography

Now, In terms of furniture for our nursery I would have loved to buy a custom, matching nursery set with a gorgeous upholstered arm-chair glider. However, finances were not there for such a thing... so this is where we started getting creative!

I am SO glad we did!

The lack of finances really can act as quite the catalyst to great, creative, masterpieces!

So... I started brainstorming.

I really wanted something to be a stand-out piece. 
I wanted it to pull the room together color wise. 

So... my incredibly talented husband got to work!

(well... I helped too. I had to find the old dresser on Craigslist.)

Let me tell you it was a challenging find!  

One: Because lots of people want too much money for junk. 
Two: Because my specifications for the dresser were so... well, specific! 

Lighting: Ikea
Photo Credit: Jurina Photography

Since it was to serve the duel purpose of a dresser and a changing table it needed to be a certain height. And since it was to fit between two windows it needed to be a certain length. 

Not an easy find, folks! But I did it! (yay!)

I wish I had a "before" photo of the dresser but... I don't. 

It was your traditional late 1970's early 1980's dresser... you know the type! 
Brass hardware. Dark Brown. etc. etc
It also had a mirror attached which we just removed and saved for down the road to DIY-it into something beautiful. 

So for all those who wanted to go down that road as well here's our little step-by-step DIY: 

First: remove all the hardware. If you are going to reuse it be sure to save each screw and piece in a little baggie so you have it all when you need it again!

We weren't re-using them so we just got rid of them! 

Second: The sanding! The whole thing needed stripped so that it was the right texture to grip the paint.

My hero! 

 Once each nook and Cranny was sanded they looked a little something like this: 

It is usually recommended to do sanding outside since it makes a MESS!
But we were doing it over the course of many days and didn't want to drag them in and out and we were in a condo community with very little outdoor space so... drop cloths and my husband's careful touch were key to this sanding process! 

Third: A few coats of the white paint! 
(it already looked WORLDS better!)

We just used a matte white from Sherman Williams. Nothing fancy. 
(we did a lot of searching online for the best type of paint! And we bought samples to try first)

It took 2 coats to get it to cover the brown and look smooth and professional! 
This is time consuming just waiting for each coat to dry... and I'm impatient! 

**Be sure to paint most of the underneath part at the bottom of the dresser because the brown wood down there will stand out against the white!) 

Once the white paint was dried and we liked the look it was time to tackle the PINK!

Fourth: the accent color!

Be sure to compare paint cards to other items in the room to be sure the pinks are close-enough if not exact! 

Taping is very important! That white paint took forever and you do not want to have to start over!

Also we used a mini foam roller which really was perfect for texture and coverage!

We had a few touch-ups here and there but over all the lines were crisp and the pink against the white was divine!

My husband is meticulous! I am not. So he did the finishing and edging and technique work!
I took photos! :) 

If by chance a little pink bled onto the white greg chiseled it off and then just touched it up with white paint.

We did two coats of the pink.


Final Step: Hardware. It really is the "final touch". Your drawer pulls can truly make or break this project!

There are SO many options out there for what you can do.

Things to keep in mind:

•   style: what are you going for? Modern? Traditional? Vintage? Ethereal? 
•   Number of holes: This will decide if you have a handle pull or a knob pull. (Unless you want to drill new holes; which is a whole step we didn't want to do! Plus I liked my pulls! 
•   screw lengths. You have to measure this and look at the ones you are purchasing to be sure they won't be too long going through the drawer or too short! 

We wanted a mixture of styles.

For the top I did shabby-chic floral knobs to go with the romantic feel of the nursery.
The large, bottom drawers I did antique-like glass knobs.

I'm so pleased with how they look together!

Now, let's talk hardware here for a sec.
Don't go cheap! We looked at Home Depot / Lowes and at budget places online as well as eBay and the knobs were cheap (Like plastic, poor quality, cheap!) or they were incomplete and over priced (ebay) plus those big home improvement stores really didn't have the selection of sizes/styles so our options were limited!

What's a girl to do?

 I called Matt at Knobs N' Knockers and he offered me a wealth of knowledge. I explained what we were going for and what our price range was and he sent me over a number of options! (so helpful!)
They have a brick and mortar in north eastern PA if you are near there otherwise you can call and have anything shipped! (Call and ask for Matt.) 

We LOVE these drawer pulls! (Matt also did the pulls for our Kitchen. Once we are in our new home he will do all of our pulls and hardware throughout. We don't mess around with cheap-o hardware!)

So when all was said and done we were SO happy with the end result and we really think it "made" the nursery!

PLUS - This is a dresser that can grow with our little girl. She will have this throughout her young life and maybe even into her adolescent years.

I can't even think about her being older. Gasp! Cry! 
Okay. Moving on. 

 It isn't cheap balsam-wood furniture like they make now-a-days. It's well made. And pretty.

WIN-WIN

Photo Credit: Jurina Photography

This really is a great way to work with furniture that does not match. If you have a modge-podge of furniture and don't have the resources to buy a whole matching set you can paint a dresser ANY color to match the color-scheme. It's really very inexpensive and (unless you are a perfectionist like my husband) not outrageously time consuming!
Our friends did this: their crib was oak and their dresser was a different wood. So they painted the dresser a light shade of purple to match the crib bedding. It looks gorgeous! 

If I didn't cover something and you have questions you can comment below.
Also
If you give this project a try please post a photo!
I would LOVE to see how yours turned out!