BEFORE

Before the renovation, the room was painted blue with oak trim and original gold lighting.

AFTER

The renovations of the baby room have included the following painting the base and window trim, crown moulding, new ceiling fan and Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (HC-172) walls.

Curtains are from IKEA which I selected due to the black out effect to help with nap time 🙂

This room has many elements squeezed into one room, which was a long debate for me.  Since I have agreed to take a range in age of children (0 to 4 years old) into my home, I decided finally to keep the full size bed in the room.  That decision made it complicated to get all that I needed for an infant or toddler into the room, but I managed to make it work.

As well with the fostering, I am accepting both genders so I needed to keep a gender neutral color scheme.  The colors I mostly used in the baby room were grey, yellow, a blue-ish green (don’t know the exact color), and ivory.  I also added rustic tones in with the wood and distressed the baby crib.

I decorated the wall above the crib with a mix of art I had or made, along with family baby photos.  I also added the special sign that my amazing friend Ashley hand wrote in chalk for me.  She couldn’t have captured this new journey better!

“You are my greatest adventure.”

I found a precious elephant patterned crib sheet at the Restoration Hardware outlet, along with a bedskirt in the blue-green accent color (not pictured) and a linen coverlet.  I also found at IKEA an elephant themed toddler bedding set.

The crib was an amazing Craigslist purchase from a mother who randomly was friends with a couple from my foster parenting training classes.  The classes were me and about 6 couples, so a very small chance.  Felt like another sign along the way that I was on the right path!   The mother had already painted it with Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint, but her daughter had chewed the crib so it needed some sanding and touch up.  I took the opportunity to sand it quite a bit and make it distressed.

Originally I had thought that I would put the child(ren)’s initial on the wall, but ended up deciding to make something to remember all of the children that become part of my family.  I made this wood sign and added the painted ivory letters with a glue gun.  My plan is to paint the first letter of each child’s name on the sign as they join my family.

I painted an old dresser from my parent’s house with the same Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint to match the crib and update it.  I also added some gold accent rub/polish that brought at the details a bit more.

The full size bed is the same one I used in my room as a teenager.  My mother and I had painted it back in high school, so I just added a fresh coat of ivory spray paint.  The bedding was found at HomeGoods and Marshalls.  The burlap bedskirts are the same ones I use on all the beds in my home which I make with a piece of wood and a staple gun (no sewing required!).  The pillows on the bed show the blue-green-gray accent color… if anyone knows the official name I would love to know it!