Saying Goodbye to the Old Nursery, and an Ice Storm

I feel like we could probably get a lot more done around here if Dave kept having every other week off of school because of bad weather. He was already supposed to have this Friday and Monday off for Presidents Day, but now he’s been home since Tuesday because of our big ice storm. So we’ve made some unexpected progress on Abe’s new nursery.

We’ve also played board games, baked muffins, watched movies, played video games, and attempted to slide down the end of our driveway, aka the only slightly hilly part of our lot.

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(for that second shot, I made use of the very rarely dragged out zoom lens that came with my camera, because I refused to venture farther than right outside the front door while the sleet pelted down on me).

So, yeah, that’s a sheet of solid ice on the street out there. Which means there’s nothing for us to do but stay home and paint.

(Incidentally, in the time it’s taken me to write this post, a couple of inches of snow showed up and covered all the ice, and now it’s all rapidly melting).

I am easily distracted by all this SNOW and ICE! Where was I? Ah, yes, so we painted Abe’s new room.

We decided to stick with Benjamin Moore’s Newburg Green, which is the same color we used in his old nursery (and our master bedroom, i.e. the other half of the room Abe sleeps in now) because 1. it’s the best paint color ever, and I still love it more every day and 2. less romantically, we still had 2/3 of  a gallon left and didn’t want to spend more money than we needed to.

Also, all the same stuff was going in the nursery, so we couldn’t just paint it purple or something. I did briefly consider going with a similar color that I’d like to try out (like Hale Navy) or maybe something like painting the walls white and doing the trim and doors a bolder color instead. But practicality and my love of Newburg Green won out.

But before we turn to Abe’s brand new, room, let’s (cry a little bit and) say goodbye to his old room. In the process, you can get idea of the parts he’s outgrowing that we need to change in the new room. Nothing’s changed dramatically in here since the beginning; there’s been some little additions here and there….plus lots more books and toys than he used to have:

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(Excuse the blown out windows. That’s not poor photography; there was an ICE STORM out there. Yeah, that’s the problem).

It looks the same, but more lived in than before. So most of the changes in the new room will focus on more space for books and toys. I mean, you can barely even see the squids on his bookcase anymore behind all those books!

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And then more books over here:

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Incidentally, if you are interested in buying the BEST TOY EVER for your baby/young toddler, I highly recommend the Fisher Price Discovery Cottage. Abe LOVES this thing:

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I got ours, complete with 4 Little People plus a tricycle for like $2 at the thrift store, but you could buy one for $25 or so on ebay instead. Worth it! The Little People go down the chimney and come out that door on the side. Fun! Mid 80’s Fisher Price did not travel through time to compensate me in any way for this post, by the way.

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I highly recommend that you take small steps with these kinds of milestones for your last baby. Don’t just redecorate their nursery into a big kid room in one fell swoop. It will be far easier emotionally if you move them to a new room with all the same decor and just some minor changes first.

Here’s our 2/3 gallon of paint and the old yellow walls in Abe’s new room (next door to our room):

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We made it most of the way through the first coat and realized we were definitely going to need another gallon. So our last trip out before the roads got bad was to the Benjamin Moore store (and to pick up pizza; it was BOGO day!)

I’ll post more about the new room next week; we have one other project finished in here, and it’s one I’m pretty excited about. But for now here’s a preview of the finished paint job:

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Comments

Saying Goodbye to the Old Nursery, and an Ice Storm — 22 Comments

    • I think I’m the kind of crazy person who will enjoy every snow day even if there are 100 of them. I always got giddy about snow, even when I spent 6 winters in Ohio and then Boston and really should have gotten over it. But it’s a lot more fun when you can stay home!

    • I know! It’s crazy up there! They were threatening 7 inches here last night, which is pretty much unheard of, but it wasn’t more than maybe 2, I don’t think. stay warm!

  1. Looks like your boys had a blast. We’re on the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s finally get nice here after weeks of snow and super cold. I love Abe’s room so much. That colour is gorgeous. Also, the toys we grew up with were awesome. I’m glad you were able to find that. My mom has a lot of that stuff still and my kids love it!

    • I wish my mom had saved some of my stuff! I’ve reassembled a pretty big Little People collection from yard sales, though 🙂

  2. I love that color. It’s so awesome. I think small steps are the way to go too 🙂 I hope you get just the right amount of snow that Dave is home more, but not so much that it becomes annoying :). The snow… not Dave of course 🙂

    • hee hee…so far he’s pretty bearable 😉 Snow is mostly gone, but with this crazy winter there might be more in a couple of weeks!

  3. THe color is great! And Abe is just too cute. Love it. The number of books these toddlers collect is crazy. But I can’t stop bringing them home.

    • The woman at the thrift store today sort of scolded me for not buying any books for Abe (they were having a half off sale). I was like, “listen, lady–come on over and take a look at his room!”

  4. I have a real problem with the fact that Abe is big enough to need an updated room. YOU JUST HAD HIM. Maybe I’m just sensitive because Weston turned 4 today. Anyway, this: “Mid 80â€ēs Fisher Price did not travel through time to compensate me in any way for this post, by the way.” Best line of any blog post, ever.

    • I have a real problem with that, too! Someone needs to get cracking on this whole inability to freeze time problem that we parents have!

  5. Box sledding! We have definitely done that a time or two… that, and rubbermaid tote sledding 🙂 Keeping it classy as always. Mid 80’s Fisher Price is the best. I’m constantly in search for the classic little people and their sets. I am determined to have a good collection for Evelyn.

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