Knox officially has a space all his own - his nursery is (mostly) done. I am excited about how it turned out. It's always so much fun to see a concept in your head come to life.
The changing table was one of the first pieces I had made for Olivia Charles Antiques and we ended up keeping it for ourselves. It found a home at our family cabin on the Coosa River, but we reclaimed it once I decided it would work perfectly as a changing table for Knox.
The silver mint julep cup is Parrish's, the vintage train bank was in Cannon's nursery, and the lamp was an inexpensive find from Home Goods. I love that it mimics the lattice pattern of the rug and fitted crib sheet. The "K" card has Psalm 34:13 printed on it - "Keep your tongue from evil..." This is one of the first bible verses I memorized together with Parrish. The alphabet bible verse cards were a shower gift from a friend and the plan is to switch them out often in both Parrish and Knox's rooms. The cards are as much for me as they are for them. Little reminders of God's truths as I go through my day looking after the little ones he has blessed me with. You can purchase them at
Favorite Laundry.
I got the primitive drying rack from one of my favorite booth's at Hanna Antiques (they're having their anniversary sale right now, btw) and love the form and function of it. I've hung baby booties and the cute sock monster my friend Deanna made for Knox from it. I think there will be endless possibilities for using it...I can see Knox's hospital bracelet on display along with other special pictures, baby gowns or momentos.
My original plan for the Blah Blah owl mobile was to hang it from the ceiling, but Cannon came up with the idea of tying it to the drying rack. Knox will still be able to grab it while I'm changing him and we've secured the rack onto the wall so well I'm pretty sure a tornado could go through the room and it would still be there. The antique baby carriage print was in Parrish and Olivia's nursery.
The vintage sign-letter "k" is from my favorite shadesoflight.com. I have seen similar letters at antique stores, but I went the easy route and bought this one that was pre-lit. The less steps in the process the better, right?
The rocking horse was mine when I was little and already has a hole in the wicker from Parrish's toddler years. He loved riding that horse. Heirlooms are no good unless they can be used and enjoyed in my opinion, so I'm sure that Knox will finish off the wicker destruction when he's old enough.
Knox's nursery is small, which means I didn't have a lot of wall or counter space to display pictures and I had a lot I wanted to put in the room. So when I saw this
Umbra Vine Mobile in a magazine feature being used as an outdoor chandelier it gave me the idea of turning all of my b&w family photos into a mobile for the baby. It's perfect because it holds 50 (or more) photos so I was able to put lots of Parrish & Olivia, our family wedding pictures, and pictures of us as babies, etc. Since babies can't see color as newborns the b&w is perfect. We plan to raise it as we lower the mattress and Knox gets old enough to start reaching for those pictures! But for now it will give him something sweet to study while in his crib.
The crib by Bratt Decor was used by both Parrish and Olivia and I love it as much today as I did when we purchased it almost 6 years ago.
The antlers are from Parrish's room at our old house and the mirror was handed down to us from Cannon's parents. I love the carving and the sturdy, masculine lines of the frame for a little boy's nursery or room.
Our old glider took up a fourth of this small room when we moved in so luckily I was able to get my sister-in-law Christy's old glider that's petite proportions work great in the room. The cream canvas fabric is original...I just gave it a good scrubbing with Oxi-Clean. (As a side note - did you know you can combine oxi-clean powder and warm water using an electric mixer to make a foam that can be used on delicate upholstery? It works great.) I found the green and grey wide-stripe velvet fabric at King Cotton and was in love. Unfortunately, it cost a small fortune so I hatched a plan to just recover the glider's seat and buttons to keep costs down. Luckily I had some left over and was able to use it for a fixed roman shade in the room as well.
I used the green geometric fabric on the ottoman as well as the changing table pad. My seamstress friend was able to build the ottoman or pouff out of remnant foam she had left over from other sewing projects.
The only thing missing is this lumbar pillow I found on
etsy to put in the glider. I hope to get it soon. The designer of the pillow is going to hand stitch Knox's name in green with the antler. I can't wait to see it and again, carry some of that grounding black color to another area of the room.
I found this precious round side table when I was pregnant with Parrish. I love that it rotates and holds books by the rocker for easy access. The handmade octopus from my friend Autumn's sister-in-law's new company (Cotton & Quill) was a purchase by Parrish at the West Indies Festival. She designs and prints her own fabrics to use for her products and they are really amazing. The sheep and block were also in Parrish & Olivia's nursery. The block was from my sweet friend Courtney - she had it carved with all of Parrish's birth stats. Love.
The blanket (temporarily) draped over the crib was hanging on my nursery wall when I was a baby. I love begging vintage family items from grandparents to incorporate into nurseries (or other rooms in the house). The mix of old and new gives the room that collected look that keeps it from looking like a furniture show room and being surrounded by things that have special meaning to you makes a house a home.
I found the black wooden boxes behind the changing pad at Hobby Lobby. They are great for holding diapers, creams, lotions and other baby necessities within arms length. I used three back-to-back to give the appearance of one longer box and use one for diapers, one for paci's and other gear, and one from diaper creams & lotions, etc.
We made the light fixture from an old fishing basket I found at Hanna's for $24. Cannon groaned when I brought it home and told him that we were going to make it into a light fixture. He is used to this and tries to pretend like it drives him crazy, but I think he is secretly excited for a new lighting feat to conquer. This one turned out to be pretty easy because we were able to use the flush mount light fixture base that was already there. We just removed the globe and screwed the basket into the base after removing some unnecessary plastic pieces from the basket.
A lot of you told me that you were confused about where we had installed the bead board in the room after reading my last post about the nursery's progress. I'm hoping these pictures give you a better idea. We installed a trim band at the tops of the doors and windows around the room and then used our
Olivia Charles Antiques bead board above it. The walls are Benjamin Moore's Silent Night (I hope that name is appropriate after Knox's arrival but somehow I think it will be more like wishful thinking) and the trim and distressed bead board are Benjamin Moore's Rock Gray. The ceiling and tall chest of drawers are painted Benjamin Moore Oregano and we left all of the doors in the room the original off-white color.
Over the last month I have helped 4 clients pick paint colors and I would love to help you, too! Also,
if you are interested in purchasing antique lumber from us for your own home project, we can do that! We can even paint it in your desired color and then distress it or just provide it in it's raw fashion. We also take orders for custom furniture pieces topped with bead board like our changing table. If you have an idea we can probably make it happen. Just email me at info@oliviacharlesantiques.com and we'll see what we can do.
The nostalgic little boy holding his teddy bear is a music box from Cannon's baby days and the rattle was given to Knox by my aunt.
And I couldn't resist a little fun with Knox's name by framing the old press photo I found on ebay of Fort Knox. The plan is to hang a free bible verse printable I found over at
laybabylay.com above it, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.
Isn't it pretty? I love the reminder of the verse first and foremost but think the reference to watching over goes well with the image of Fort Knox and the black background will carry the black from the changing table over to this wall of the room. If you haven't checked out laybabylay.com and have a baby on the way or are decorating a big girl or boy room, please do. She does fabulous design boards and provides lots of inspiration for designs as well as fun, free downloads.
This chest of drawers was in Parrish & Olivia's nursery but got a face lift with a coat of Oregano paint. The lamp is one we made from an old mercury glass bottle I got at Renniger's using a do-it-yourself kit from Lowe's. The shade is burlap and a good balance to the shiny silver of the base. You can't see them very well in this picture, but the stack of fabric blocks were a gift from a friend's mom and are handmade. I'm smitten with them.
The angel painting was in both Parrish and Olivia's nursery. It is bittersweet to look at it. In ways it's a comfort to us because we imagine God sending his angel to carry Olivia to be with him in heaven, but in other ways it's another reminder that she is not with us when we so desperately wish that she was. But I decided to keep it up in the room because Parrish loves to talk and think about Livy's angel.
For something different we hung it from black chain to give it the look of being hung from a picture rail. I think it turned out great and definitely plan to use that hanging technique again.
Now that the nursery is complete, all we need is our sweet baby boy to bring the room to life. I absolutely cannot wait.
As we get closer to Knox's due date excitement is my main emotion, but of course the worry is there too. The baby gear being pulled out, a constant reminder of both what we lost and are about to gain. Before bed each night when things quiet down is when I tend to let thoughts of the fears and unknowns take hold of me the most. The only thing that helps is reading God's word. Each night before I go to bed I think of this verse:
I will lie down and sleep in PEACE, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8
I know I will be repeating this verse to myself every night as I lay Knox down to sleep.
