Starting on the Nursery

We have three bedrooms upstairs, and one of them has been used as the guest room thus far. Now we are transforming it into Nolan's nursery.

We had two major projects in the room: exposing the shiplap ceiling and closing in the door that exists between the room and the sleeping porch.

Exposing the Shiplap Ceiling

From our experience with the ceiling in the sleeping porch/playroom, we knew that exposing the shiplap in Nolan's room could prove to be a big undertaking. But never ones to shy away from extra work (ugh), we thought we'd give it a shot anyway. Our biggest concern, again from our previous ceiling experience, was the potential for coal dust to seep through the shiplap. That concern was very valid, as evidenced by my soot-covered husband and dad as they worked to tear down the sheetrock. The sheetrock came down easily, as did the cheesecloth and wallpaper that was over the shiplap. As did the coal dust.

A little bit of cheesecloth, a little bit of paper, a little bit of sheetrock, a lot of coal dust

This was a very messy job!

We immediately knew we would need to cover that ceiling and install our own shiplap. We installed a foil insulation to provide a barrier between the attic and the room, and to seal the coal dust so it wouldn't filter through the new boards.

We knew we wanted to stain some wood to match the shiplap throughout the house, so headed to our local lumberyard. We had no idea that they had some old wood on hand, but when we found these old floorboards, we knew we had just what we needed!

The planks on the left are the raw wood we got from our local lumberyard.

David has stained and polyurethaned the boards. We're letting them air out in the garage, and plan to rip the planks down into three boards, mill a lap onto either side of the board, then install on Nolan's ceiling this weekend!

Removing the Door

There was a door that connected Nolan's room to the sleeping porch/playroom that we just didn't need. The hall right outside our bedrooms leads straight to that room. We've never used it; in fact, the guest bed and nightstand sat directly in front of it. So we closed it in. David removed the door and frame, attached new studs, and sheetrocked over the space, then mudded and sanded and mudded and sanded and mudded and sanded. As for the playroom, right now it's just open studs where the door used to be. When we tackle that room, we will add shiplap there to match the rest of that room. That's another project for another day!

Nolan's nursery as our guest bedroom, with the door to the sleeping porch on the left.

Studs in place and ready for the sheetrock

The doorway patched up and ready to paint

Painting
Nothing makes a room feel better than a fresh coat of paint. It's an instant facelift and room brightener. I've mentioned before that Bri Moysa with Emerson Grey Designs designed Sagan's nursery, then several spaces in our old house, and now several in our new (old) house. I struggle to make decisions on decor without her help! So as soon as we knew that baby #2 was a boy, we requested Bri's help with designing Nolan's nursery. More details on that to come, but for his walls she chose Benjamin Moore's Seattle Mist. It's the perfect neutral for his room, and makes it feel so much lighter and airier.

I've sung its praises before, but Sherwin William's Pro Classic trim paint is amazing. Painting the trim is the first thing we do in a room, and it's amazing what an instant and dramatic impact it has. When I know we will be priming and painting the walls, I paint the trim and even up onto the wall to make sure any stray wall color is completely hidden.

I love the bright white (left) we have chosen for the trim throughout the house

The lighting in this picture is terrible (while the ceiling is down, we are using a couple of shadeless lamps to light the room) but the paint in Nolan's room is finished!

We have a few more projects to tackle in Nolan's room, then we can finally start placing furniture and art. This mama is ready to start nesting in there. We can't wait to see the room start to come together!

Brightening Up the Kitchen

The kitchen isn't quite finished yet, but I haven't posted a blog update in a month, and we've made too much progress not to share. So, here goes!

First - a secret I need to share. We are pretty good at getting things done around the house. David can build, we can paint, and I'm A+ at buying things, especially shopping online. But when it comes to picking out things and deciding color schemes, accessories, furniture, etc. - we both freeze. And then I run to my laptop to email Bri Moysa at Emerson Grey Designs. Bri is amazing. We first met her when commenting on a pin on Pinterest of a nursery she had designed. One of my best friends reached out to Bri and got her to design her daughter's nursery, then we reached out to her and she put together a design for Sagan's nursery. It was amazing. The guidance, attention to detail - and she just gets us and what style we're going for. We later had Bri's assistance to redesign our living room and kitchen in our old house, which we equally fell in love with. Her talent is amazing! Out of respect for Bri, I won't post source links to all the details, but will try to include them for main pieces.

So, as soon as we planned to buy the Olive on Olive, I reached out to Bri and let her know her assistance would definitely be needed. All that to say - while we're doing the physical labor here, it's under the guidance of the very talented Bri Moysa. :)

To the kitchen...first, I think you need to see some before pics. Excuse the mess - I'm pretty sure this was the week we moved in, so boxes. for. days.

     

Before: Kitchen Entryway

Before: Light Fixtures

Before: Green Island, Unexposed Brick

Before: Microwave Shelf

First, the island. I didn't mind the green color it was before, but we felt it needed an update. We worked with Sherwin Williams to figure out how to paint over the catalyzed varnish that was on there. We lucked out and found that we needed only to lightly sand the varnish then use oil-based paint with penetrol added to help it self-level for a smooth finish. We chose SW's gauntlet grey. It's perfect - not too dark, not too light. David painted it and I'm so proud of how it turned out!

The island is painted SW's Gauntlet Gray.

Sources: Stools | Print | Sugar Pot

Next, the walls. The walls were a light shade of yellow before. We went with Benjamin Moore's Sweet Spring. It has a hint of green, hint of gray. It's perfect for brightening up a room. It's insane what a transformation a coat (well a couple of coats) of paint will do. ESPECIALLY if you also paint the trim. We are huge fans of Sherwin Williams Pro Classic Semi-Gloss in Bright White. We love the bright white and the sheen it provides. It gives the entire room a facelift.

Another thing that immediately changes a space is replacing light fixtures. We swapped out the brass ones that were there for these, and love the huge difference it made!

Sources: Light Fixture | Pendants

You'll notice a special project we have going on over in the corner. We are exposing the painted brick, and it looks amazing so far! It's taken probably 14 hours to uncover as much as you see there. Slowly but surely, we will remove the paint off every one of those bricks and it will be glorious. I'll have an entire post about exposing the brick, the process we're using, and more.

In the entryway, we wanted it to be functional but still pretty. Bri chose a bench, coat rack, and cabinet for us that we love. I think the olive tree, quote, and tray perfectly round out that space, along with the feather prints and pillows. As for the quote - "today is a great day for a great day" - that was a fun DIY project I'll share details about soon!

Sources: Bench | Pendant

Still to come is a command center (David's finishing up the brackets he's making to hang the shelves) next to the door. We also plan on replacing that door at some point this spring. The one other piece we're missing is cabinet doors above the fridge. The previous owners kept a TV up there, but we'd rather have cabinet doors so it's more functional for us and provides additional storage. One of the biggest transformations on that side of the room is the addition of a new microwave and trim kit. Above the oven was an open space with a microwave sitting in it when we first moved in. We love the finished look of the microwave + trim kit.

We're really proud of how the kitchen is coming along. We still need to finish accessorizing and a few of the projects I mentioned above, but we absolutely love how it's coming together.