I Love a Little Dot

The nursery is really coming together now. Hollie's parents got us the mini-crib we wanted, and it's set up where we want it. The futon is staying, although we still need to find an appropriately colored sheet to match the room. One bookshelf remains in the room, just moved slightly, and it's already filled with some great books (Thanks, Jim and Stan) and other stuff (monkey clock, thanks to Alissa; piggy bank, thanks to Hollie's family; giant stuffed duck, thanks to Liz).


Curtains are up, as noted earlier, with blackout drapes behind to help block out light and unwanted noise from our constantly karaoke-ing neighbor. She sings in her house constantly, which wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that she seems to be miked. In her own house. At all hours of the day and night. There's nothing wrong with The Carpenters, but if wanted to hear Close to You at 11pm, I'd fire up the iPod and use some earbuds. It's seriously strange, folks.

When we looked at changing tables, we were shocked at the price of the stupid things. Hollie recently read a list of absolute essentials for bringing a baby home, which included only five things, none of which were a changing table. The author advocated changing the baby on any available surface, including, but not limited to, the bed and the kitchen table. Now I like to save money, and our house is small enough that we briefly considered the possibility of no changing table. Then I considered poop, and I realized I wanted it as far away from my bed and kitchen table as possible.

Solution? Cheap IKEA dresser for which I will construct a changing top. All the benefits of a changing table, and we get a functional piece of furniture at some point in the future. I'll post more about this when I'm building. IKEA hacks. Not just another blog, it's a way of life.

And yes, I'll do something about that modem and wireless router on the floor. One thing at a time, people. Incidentally, that vacant space above the dresser will soon be filled with PAX cabinets... that I bought more than a year ago. Nothing like a baby to make you get off your butt and get things done.

And finally, the part of the room of which I'm most proud (at least until those cabinets are up). After several weeks of using 50% off one item coupons at A.C. Moore, we finally bought enough Wall Pops colors to finish the crib corner. Green, in particular, was very hard to track down. But there it is! Bright, high-contrasty color! I used a mat cutter with a set of circular templates to get the dots cut cleanly (thanks to my parents for the idea and the use of the equipment).

It's actually a good bit brighter than it looks in pictures. For some reason, even with the camera flash turned on, the room just looks darker than it really is. I blame the blackout curtains.

You can really see how mini the mini-crib is, and that's exactly how we want it. We still may put up some star and moon lights on the green wall or ceiling. Not sure yet. In any case, it's coming along just fine.