Despite this being my fourth baby, I have never had the pleasure of doing up a nursery before the birth of a child. We moved house about two months before Tom was due, and then the little man decided to surprise us by arriving six weeks early! We had nothing ready, his nursery furniture was all still flat-packed and we had to try to put his nursery together whilst adjusting to life as new parents! Fun! I didn't need to do up a nursery for Lily as she simply used the nursery that Tom had and Tom moved out and into his first 'big boy room'.
Fast forward a few years to a new house and another new baby. The room that was destined to become Emma's room was originally our office (for office, read 'room full of office furniture and miscellaneous junk', it was never actually used as an office!). Emma was seven months old before I got the room straight enough that we could put a cot in there! It's not easy to sort these things out when you have three children under five! Luckily, Emma was tiny, so she was able to stay in her Moses basket for ages. I tried very hard to make the room look as much like a nursery as possible, but there was really no disguising the office furniture she has had to share a room with for the past four years.
This is my last chance to indulge in the fun of getting a baby's room ready, and at the rate things are currently going it is looking like the pleasure of doing up a nursery is again going to have to wait until after the baby is born! Although Emma and Lily are going to share a room, the office furniture is still in Emma's room and Lily is still in her old room (which will be the baby's room). Sorting everything out is proving to be a huge undertaking and at 32 weeks pregnant I may have the drive, but I certainly don't have the stamina or the energy! I tire easily and suffer from back ache if I am on my feet too long. This is driving this nesting Mummy a bit potty as I am desperate to get things organised before our newest addition arrives.
Since the reality is still a long way off, I thought I'd indulge in a little fantasy nursery preparation. I plan to decorate the baby's room with a Beatrix Potter theme. I love the works of Beatrix Potter and think her charming illustrations are eminently suitable for a nursery. They are both gender neutral and timelessly classic and are perfect for baby! Since this is a fantasy and in fantasies money is no object, I have been amusing myself by looking at the delightful nursery furniture and furnishings of Dragons of Walton Street. Way, way out of our budget, but a mother can dream for her unborn child can't she!
This lovely cot is £1355. Ouch!
Pretty nursery bedding, designed by Jane Churchill. This lovely cot quilt will set you back £235.
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How about this delightful beechwood hairbrush for baby? A mere snip at £80!
A personalised print is a mere £315!
I absolutely adore this dresser. Shame it is £2595!
Whilst we are on the subject of fantasies. I would love the Dragons of Walton Street Flower Fairy range for the girls' room. The Flower Fairies were another childhood favourite of mine and I am confident the girls would love this range...
Fun though it is to dream, I know that my baby will have everything it needs regardless of whether or not there is a pretty nursery waiting for it. Stuff doesn't matter, people matter. Our baby will be born into a loving home full of people who will love and cherish it. This baby will want for nothing that actually matters and I am so looking forward to holding him/her in my arms.
The pictures in this post are from the Dragon of Walton Street website. Their beautiful furniture is well worth a look, even if it is very expensive. A cat can look at a king!
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The pictures in this post are from the Dragon of Walton Street website. Their beautiful furniture is well worth a look, even if it is very expensive. A cat can look at a king!
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6 comments:
Oh I do remember that nesting feeling while pregnant! I love the Beatrix Potter theme, such a classic.
I sympathise. We moved into our house 1 month before Rowan was born. There were so many other priorities in the house, nursery planning fell to the sidelines.
It is indeed nice to dream of your perfect nursery! But, £80 for hairbrush!? Cripes.
The hairbrush beggars belief doesn't it!
We have a Beatrix Potter nursery theme but didn't go to all that expense for it! We had some old Beatrix Potter china teasets from when I was little, found a few other things on ebay (including some wallpaper border someone had in his attic since the 1970s!), and framed some prints also found on ebay. We also used some old second hand large sized versions of the books to cut out pictures to decopage onto white things like a tissue holder and organizing boxes etc. Oh, and we found some sweet china drawer pulls with Beatrix Potter pictures on them to add to the dresser/changing table. The whole thing was done economically and has served us well so far!
You used to be able to buy transfers for furniture, I don't know whether they still exist (or indeed whether they exist in Peter Rabbot variety even if they do more generally).
Although for someone as crafty as you, you could "pimp" your existing cot by cutting pictures from books (would your conscience allow it?) and sticking them to the cot. I am sure if you varnished/sealed it afterwards it would be just fine.
Good luck!
Catherine, your nursery sounds lovely! I bought a lot of stuff from eBay when I was doing up Emma's nursery and plan to do the same this time around. I love eBay! I like the decoupage idea, but I can never bring myself to cut up books! I'd have to scan images and print them onto good quality paper I think.
Fiona, yes I've seen some Beatrix Potter wall stickers and have been tempted. I think half the fun of putting these things together is doing it yourself for a fraction of the cost. I can't imagine spending crazy money like that for something that only lasts a few years even if we had money to burn (which we don't!)
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