Style Lush

Nursery Tour

By Jen

I'm back! Now be honest, did you even notice I was gone? Pretend that you did, okay? Anyway, this is what I have been doing:

{All pictures in this post are mine.}

That's Ryan, he has crazy eyes. (No, really. Follow me on Instagram, I do a Crazy Eyes Picture of the Day because he really does have crazy eyes.)

Anyway, since this is my first post back from maternity leave, I thought I'd show you the new nursery.

Here's his dresser with a changing pad on top. I got the letters from a craft store and painted them myself. We are big fans of Eric Carle around here, so I used Hungry Caterpillar wall decals as accents around the nursery.

{Cute little frog basket for holding stuff was a gift from fellow Style Lusher Tara.}

Here's the corner of the room with the rocking chair. Ignore the frame with nothing in it. I'm still deciding what I want in there. (See probable future angsty what-shall-I-put-in-there post.)

I bought some cheap frames and framed a set of Eric Carle notecards that I bought at Kohls. The fourth picture of the little girl is a new baby card that my friend Angie sent me. She painted it herself and it is my daughter holding her new baby brother. I liked it so much that I framed it. Angie has her own Etsy shop if you'd like to see more of her work.

The crib has a Hungry Caterpillar crib sheet from Pottery Barn Kids. The crib rail teether is homemade from The Very Lonely Firefly fabric and the crib skirt is homemade from the Hungry Caterpillar butterfly colors fabric. Thanks, Mom! You can buy Eric Carle fabric of your own, online, here.

(Also, the colors are kind of messed up in this picture. It looks much better in person.)

Loyal Style Lush readers may recognize the tree wall decal from the post I wrote back in June.

{Emily! If you squint really hard, you can see the little wooden cars you sent me on the end table!}

This concludes your nursery tour. I'm excited to be back!

Nursery Tour: Chloe Elizabeth

By Sara

Now that my wee baby is a walking, talking, sassing toddler I thought it high time to photograph her nursery for the memory capsule. Her room isn't perfect; it's small, it's usually a mess of books and stuffed animals but it's full of pieces made and collected over the years just waiting for this little girl.

Welcome to Chloe's nursery.

This dresser was in my nursery when I was a baby and was formerly a blonde wood that I refinished in a semi-gloss white. I love the faux bamboo detail so very much. The curtains are made from flat sheets I found at HomeGoods and then had lined and hemmed into curtains by a local drapery fabricator. I also chose to trim them in a grass green grosgrain ribbon.

From left to right: Tiny little boxes for her first tooth and first curl gifted to her by her great-grandmother. The lamp was gifted to us by my mother and has the sweetest little painted bees and flowers. The elephant "piggy" bank was a gift to Noah when he was born but I thought it worked better here than in his big boy room (and it's from Tiffany so...baby's first Tiffany, hooray!).

The mirror is another HomeGoods find that I bought in 2007, well before children. It started out hot pink which I promptly painted white and tucked it into the closet for 5 years until it found its current home. The book, Chloe by Peter McCarty, was a gift from my aunt and sits nicely behind a sweet floral cross stitch I made and framed. Lastly, the ceramic bird house is from West Elm (2011) and was the FIFTH I had sent to me after the first four arrived broken (I have another one stashed in the closet to be hung on the wall when we get around to it.)

The glider is hideous yet hideously comfortable which is why it survived from Noah's nursery. I would have loved to have replaced it with something prettier and fully upholstered but I knew it would just get covered in spit up. I plan to retire it soon since she refuses to let me rock her now. She's too busy doing who knows what to sit nicely with her mama. We keep bins stashed full of books and a basket for her "stuffies" that she rotates through on a weekly basis. The lamp and table are from HomeGoods (it seems I was on a tear at one point).

Here you have your ubiquitous embroidery hoop "art" installation made with a random assortment of fabrics. My mother thought it genius and completely unique. I didn't try to correct her. 

This is the pencil eraser monogram I made. You can find the very-simple-I-can't-believe-I'm-calling-it-a-tutorial tutorial here.

This is the gallery I've begun over her crib. The pink open frame was a gift on her first birthday and holds a card and her party invitation. The shadow box holds a vintage knit baby bonnet that my mother bought a few years ago and tucked away with the hope of a future granddaughter. The "Believe" art is by Katie Leese bought last month on my trip to New Orleans. I loved her work the minute I saw it near Jackson Square and made sure not to leave without picking up one for each of the kids. I plan to add to this wall as I come across the perfect pieces. 

Oh look! Here's the little lady herself, Miss Chloe. The crib is the classic (and cheap!) Jenny Lind. We also have the matching changing table that I got off Craigslist for FIVE DOLLARS. I think that was my best Craigslist buy to date.

I'm truly surprised she wasn't attempting to scale the crib at this point. 

Chloe's room is one of the happiest in the house and we love spending time in there reading and playing. I hope you enjoyed the short tour of her little room.

 

Must-have for troublesome sleepers: The Dohm

By Manda

My son, who is now just over two years old, has always been what we call a "special needs sleeper." Even when he was a baby he had to have a perfectly dark and quiet room to get any quality sleep. Now let me tell you, as a parent who has an older (and LOUD) child, two unpredictable dogs, and wood floors all in a one-story home (and not to mention we have to walk past the kids' room to get to our bedroom) and you this was formula for disaster. Even as a tiny baby he only napped once a day and didn't make it through the night without waking to nurse or be cuddled for a year. It was CRAZY.

Over the years we've done many things to help our boy sleep better. We moved his crib into his sister's room so he would be trained to not wake with every single noise he heard at night. We added a large fan in the warmer months of the year and that really, really helped mask noise. The problem is, now that it's winter, we exchanged the fan for a space heater that only runs intermittently. My son is cutting his two-year molars and going through his 25-27 month sleep regression. To say that we've gotten little sleep the last few weeks would be an understatement. Even his sister - who is usually a very deep sleeper - has been a hot mess during the day. She dropped her nap long ago and she has been crawling into her bed when we put him down for nap and falling asleep (which pushes her bedtime until almost 10 o'clock some nights. NO BUENO).

So when the lovely Sara wrote about how much she loved her new white noise machine, I had to give it a shot. I was a little hesitant about the price (and my husband was - and is - A LOT hesitant about the price), but I was so tired. TOO TIRED TO CARE. And I had a 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath & Beyond, so there. Friends? Meet The Dohm-DS Dual Speed Sound Conditioner by Marpac.

 

A few nights ago I bought it and snuck it into the kids' room. When I plugged it in it sounded EXACTLY like a fan. The higher level was a little too loud, so I turned it to the lower level. Perfect. And you know what else? THEY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!

Although it's definitely a splurge at $55 (with a coupon at BB&B, but this is the Amazon price), I think it's worth every penny. And it's small enough that you can easily pack it on an overnight trip! I cannot wait to take this thing with me the next time we're at a hotel or visiting relatives. Life? CHANGED FOREVER. If you know someone with a baby on the way, a snorer for a bedfellow, or a noisy officemate I think this would be an AMAZING gift.

The writing of this particular blog entry is also brought to you by my new BFF, Mr. Dohm, as my son is on hour THREE of his afternoon nap. He slept through me giving his sister a shower after preschool, a viewing of How The Grinch Stole Christmas! and the baking of a batch of cookies.

(Photo from: Amazon.com)

Cute Lamp for a Child's Room

by Lawyerish

The reading nook in my daughter's room has needed better lighting for ages now, so finally I bit the bullet and shopped around for a lamp to put on her low bookshelf. I didn't want something overly cutesy, since ideally it will stay in her room for years to come; but I also didn't want it to be a generic bedside table lamp. 

After much searching and consternation, I found the Lolli Living Spindle Base, which comes in an array of colors, and has a bunch of lovely shade options.

Check it:

I went with the white base and the blue zig-zag shade, and it looks way cute in her room (ignore the adorable goofball modeling her Halloween shirt):

(Photo credits: amazon.com and author's own)

How to clean your cruddy BOB Stroller

By Manda

One of my most essential pieces of Mom Equipment has bar none been my trusty BOB Duallie Revolution stroller. It's also one of the best gifts we've ever received ... my husband's generous parents gave it to us the Christmas after I gave birth to our second child and WOW. The thing changed my life! It is indeed large, but it folds down small enough to fit in the trunk of most cars we've tried (we have a large SUV and a pick-up truck so transport really hasn't been an issue), and it fits through a standard doorway with no problem! When we first got it we really only used it to cruise the streets of Disneyland, but soon I started running again and that blessed stroller has now been piled high with kids, toys and snacks and pushed all over our community (and through airports! And race expos! And! And!). Needless to say, it's taken a beating.

It spent the better part of the summer on our front porch (I've been training without my kids in tow this summer, and it's been a game-changer). My daughter is in preschool now and so when I run errands I usually just pop my son in our umbrella stroller and go. Because it was left outside and because we live in a humid climate, when I opened it up recently I noticed some mold and mildew on the fabric (also THERE WERE SPIDERS! And crumbs! And it was just generally gross!). I set upon Google looking for tips and tricks on how to clean my beloved BOB and here follows my cleaning adventure.

The first thing I did was put it in the back yard in a sunny spot and spray it down with a spray bottle loaded up with plain old white vinegar. I wanted to kill the mold but didn't want to bleach the fabric out with chlorine bleach ... and nothing happened. I sprayed the entire thing down to saturation, let it dry in the sun, and when it was dry the mold spots were still there (although? The vinegar did kill all the funky smells going on!). 

SO! I now had a dry, less-funky-yet-still-moldy-looking stroller. A random website recommended using a heavy laundry stain remover, and so when I was at the store I spotted the Oxiclean MaxForce Pre-Treater Gel Stick that Emily recommended and grabbed it along with a stiff-bristled scrub brush (this is the one. The contoured shape worked great in all the fabric folds). Then, with the kids digging in the sandbox, I spent the better part of an hour rubbing on stain remover and scrubbing the living daylights out of the stroller fabric. I could not believe how much "stuff" came off the thing (and could not help but remember all the spilled snacks and sippy cups the poor thing has endured). I rinsed with the garden hose, set it out in the sun, and the good news? I managed to get it MOSTLY clean! My husband couldn't believe how good it looks! I have plans to refresh our messy little Chicco umbrella stroller next!

(photo via REI.com)

I'd like to take one more crack at it before I'm satisfied as there is still a bit of mold staining, but overall I'm pleased. If this isn't your cup of tea and you have the capital, I found a service called Stroller Spa that will service and clean your stroller for you (looks pretty awesome!).

But mostly? I'd just recommend parking the sucker in the garage. Which is where my BOB will live from now on when off duty. Lesson learned!

Have you ever done a heavy cleaning on your stroller? What are your tips and tricks? And have you used bleach to get mold off stroller fabric with any success? Did it kill the mold? Did it ruin the fabric? 

A Noisy Toy to Love

By Leah

Last week I pulled out the bin of old baby toys in anticipation of my second son (who turns six weeks old today!) soon needing something a little more stimulating than me saying "ah-goo" in his face two hundred times an hour. Now, we're not the biggest fans of toys with on/off switches--and not for any holier-than-thou hippy reasons about the Purity of Play or anything like that but simply because toys with sound are usually annoying as all get-out--but as it happens, one of our family's favorite toys is the Mozart Magic Cube, the whole point of which is to make noise. Go figure.

It's marketed as educational, and I'm sure the main reason the creators chose Mozart songs is so they could sell this to parents who wanted to breed and train little geniuses, but from a more practical standpoint, this is a great toy because (a) kids love it and (b) the music is really lovely and doesn't get old/drive you insane. 

The cube plays eight songs using five instruments: harp, French horn, piano, flute, and violin. (Don't get your hopes up about the instrument sounds; they're all electronic, meaning that the "piano" sounds as close to the real thing as my three-year-old's scribbles look like classical oil paintings, but eh, that's not really the point.) By pressing on the pictures of the instruments, you can add or subtract each of them from the songs, which is pretty neat, especially for older kids who can understand more of what's going on with melodies and harmonies and whatnot. Ooh, also, the instrument squares light up in time with the song and according to what instruments are playing, and both my babies have loved watching the flashing lights as much as listening to the music.

Bottom line: Don't buy this because you think it'll make your kid smarter. Buy it because it's a noise toy you won't want to throw on the driveway and back over with your car after having it in your house for only a few months. Great gift. Great hand-me-down/pass-along.

Welcome to the World Shower

By Janet

I am head-over-heels for this "Welcome to the World" baby shower. Full of map and globe themed details, the shower seems like such a lovely way to welcome a baby into the world.

Wouldn't it be fun to scour vintage shops for old globes, maps, and atlases? The atlases could be dismantled and used to make napkin rings, bunting, wrapping paper, and other fun crafts.

Speaking of welcoming babies to the world, the traditional baby shower concept is apparently being replaced (or added to) with parties that occur a couple weeks after the baby is born. These events are known as welcome-to-the-world parties (wouldn't the map and globe theme fit perfectly!) or sip-and-sees (as in: sip Champagne, see the new baby). 

(Photos from: You Are My Fave)

Tree Wall Decals for Nursery

By Jen

So, I am in the process of decorating a nursery at the moment.  And since the path to this baby was a rather long, bumpy road, I have pretty much been decorating this nursery in my head for the last two years.  I do have an older daughter, but we didn't have a nursery for her and just stuck her crib in our room.  Now that we live in a different house, I have a dedicated room for a nursery before the baby even gets here.  Basically, what this boils down to is that I have been obsessing over this room for an extremely long time and I need to pick out the perfect tree wall decal. Luckily, there are lots of different options available. 

(Photo from Lulukuku)

(Photo from JaneyMacWalls)

(Photo from ModernWalls)

(Photo from NouWall)

(Photo from WallInspired)

All of these decals can be customized in color.  I am wanting one with real tree colors- meaning a brown trunk and green leaves.  I'm not having any strong feelings towards accent colors, it would probably depend on which particular tree I pick out and therefore whether I am deciding on a bird color or a hedgehog color. 

What do you think?  Which of these decals is the clear winner and I'd be crazy not to choose it? 

Update: The Light Accent Wall

By Hillary

I had no idea that I could go into a paint store with only a chip of paint from my wall and walk out with a quart of paint in that exact colour. This is why I love the internet. I was fully prepared to paint the entire nursery because I didn't have touch up paint to cover the repairs I needed to do. So thank you, lovely people of the internet. You saved me a lot of time and a bit of money (which means I can buy the alphabet wall decals I've had my eye on for a while.) 

{Photo credit: amazon.com}

Free Printable Art

By Sara

A few years ago, when I was knee deep in the nursery design for my first kid, I came across the Feed Your Soul:the free art project created by blogger Jen Wallace of Indie Fixx. Jen has a passion for all things creative with a focus on indie design and when the economy collapsed she wanted to bring happiness to people through free art. She reached out to a handful of artists she admired and began Feed Your Soul:the free art project to keep the positivity flowing. The art available for download comes from artists around the world and from many different mediums. I found some really lovely pieces for my son's room that I had professionally printed and then matted and framed myself. 

These are just a few of the pieces you can find available for free download at Feed Your Soul. Find your next favorite!

(Photos from: Feed Your Soul)