I am not one of those people who had the nursery tied up with a bow by the time their second trimester rolled around – in fact, we were still adding the finishing touches several months after our girl arrived! On time or not, I’m happy with how my vision came together, and on a budget of less than $500, too. Let’s take a little tour, shall we? Not to start off on a negative note, but I used Jenny’s pelmet tutorial for the blue buffalo check curtains and MAN it was a beast. I don’t know if I was doing something wrong, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I will begrudgingly admit the pelmet is still on the wall and looks good a year and a half later, though, so I guess it worked out in the end…? The dresser was a vintage find at the Raleigh Flea Market (I LOVE the color of the wood!), and the painting was a very special gift from one of my best friends – she made it herself after the wallpaper I was considering was discontinued! So talented!! One of the main differences between my nursery inspiration and June’s finished room is the crib skirt. I originally planned to do blue toile like Jessie, and even ordered a blue toile skirt off of Etsy, but when it arrived it just didn’t seem right. A few months later I bit the bullet on a favorite Liberty of London fabric, and my aunt graciously sewed it into a skirt. The fabric itself was not exactly cheap, but it’s my favorite thing in the room and added the feminine note the space was missing! That little cat is the first stuffed animal we bought for June, when we were in Paris and I was pregnant! My

Nursery plans! Out of the blue, my buddy Lisa asked me several months ago if I had ever thought about what I would want a future nursery to look like (we take lots of long car rides together and have time to talk about everything). I was a bit taken aback, as, unbeknownst to her, I was already pregnant! The answer I gave her was “not really,” and I wasn’t just trying to avoid the topic – it was true! Though I had collected some inspiration over the years, a nursery wasn’t something I ever had a set vision for. Things stayed that way into the first several months of my pregnancy — I saw things I liked, and even designed the following board which used some of my favorite colors, but nothing ever felt quite right. Then I stumbled across this nursery, and instantly fell in love. We didn’t know yet whether we were having a girl or boy, but I knew I could make it work either way. Jessie gets the lion’s share of credit for my inspiration above — we will be using the same buffalo check fabric, the same light fixture, and similar crib bedding as she did. However, since our room is for a little lady, we’ll be adding a few horse accents — I was completely horse crazy when I was younger, and my Dad grew up on what is now a horse farm. (Actually the oldest continuously working farm in Connecticut! I love having that heritage as a part of her space.) I also think the toile and floral patterns make the overall look a bit more feminine in our rendition. I seriously considered wallpapering one wall once I stumbled across the adorable Collette pattern from Sandberg Wallpaper, but alas they have discontinued