Pepper Design Blog

Project Nursery: A Much Needed Lighting Update

What happens when your family comes into town for Easter? Little projects that have been shelved for months get a bit of attention.

We’ve finally installed a much needed lighting update over the changing table! If I could move the entire sconce down and a bit to the left I would… but given the previous state of the light I’m loving the improvement!

My parents visited us for the weekend and decided to help tackle a few projects around the house, changing out the light fixture was at the top of my list.

I’ll apologize right now for the horrible lighting in the room (especially at different parts of the day, like above).

But yay for a new light! And the new sconce sits so perfectly below the little nest that Aunt Karen & Momma Eileen painted. The little birdie is Liv, and Kevin and I are the poppa and the momma flying down to the nest. So sweet.

The added butterflies (from a baby shower gift) are a neat little detail and will tie into the new mobile project. Now when Liv is on the changing table she stares up at the bright, shimmery colors.

So the hunt for the new light began a while back but I couldn’t settle on the look that I was going for. You might remember the makeover we did on the pendant in the center of the room and it brought such a wonderful, modern update to the space.

But… all of the modern sconce options were a little too modern.

Lamps Plus George Kovacs

I love these vintage industrial-style lights, perhaps to nicely balance out the modern pendant in the center of the room? But they might be better suited for the new office.

Lamps Plus

We decided that we liked the style of the swing arm sconce. We can easily move the light over the changing table or the reading area with the glider, and little toys (like the butterflies) or a mobile can hang from the arm to entertain Liv.

Why the randomly placed sconce was installed in the first place makes us curious (here’s before pics of the room). Actually, the previous owner has found this blog, Hi Patt! and there’s probably a great reason behind it, like perhaps a desk or bed used to sit below it, or perhaps it was even installed many owners ago. But by happenstance the changing table fits nicely beneath it’s current placement, so we’ve found a good use for it.

Lamps Plus, Target, Pottery Barn

I was on the search for a sturdy, low priced version and had finally resigned to pay $100 plus when I scooped up this version for $40 from Lowes!

We modified it to hard wire straight into the existing electrical box and I left off some of the more ornate bulb decor (is that what you’d call them?) for a cleaner look.

So one big item crossed off of the nursery list. Just a few more to go!

More Project Nursery posts: basket liners part 2, basket liners part 1, the great glider makeover, sewing the curtains part 1, part 2, part 3, nursery fabric board, curtain fabric selection, rocking horse find, new pendant light, vintage wall art addition, changing table makeover, nursery wall striping tutorial, painted animal project, the initial inspiration board and the before picture posts.

Easter Fun + Bath Progress + Mantel Feature

Hope your Easter weekend was full of time spent with family and friends! We had both staying with us for the holiday and it was a happy weekend.

Here’s a quick shot of us on Easter Sunday morning with my parents who drove down from Santa Cruz, California.

And how adorable are these cake pops? They’re well worth a shout out – our friend Stephanie whipped these up to share at an Easter brunch and they turned out terrific. I have tried to replicate Bakerella’s fabulous desserts but without much success. These chicks and eggs, however, take the cake.

Easter was also a deadline for the bathroom – oh how sweet to have a guest bath for the guests! But we’re just a bit behind so the guests will have to wait a couple more weeks.

But we have made one huge step in the right direction – a commitment to our tile! It can be time consuming imagining what the final look will be for several different tile motifs, let alone making a full commitment to move ahead with a final choice (feels so permanent…). The above tile was from our original inspiration board but we tossed around 5 or 6 before taking the plunge and ordering enough Elida Ceramic Recycled Glass Tile (in moonlight) to tile the entire shower nook.

More on that soon.

Some exciting news to share – the new living room mantel made it on Centsational Girl’s Best of the Blogosphere Round-Up! Check it out (and many more great projects) here. Centsational Girl is one of my daily reads, so inspiring.

But before I sign off for the day, take a look at this cute little conversation Liv and I had while she was desperately trying to distract me while I was getting some work done (she’s in her little Bumbo seat):

I’m pretty sure it went something like this:

Liv: “Hey Mom, watcha doin? Are you listening to me? Can we play and ogle and coo at each other for a while? Pretty pleeeeaase with cherries on top?”

Oh those sweet eyes. And with that the computer screen closed.

Project Nursery: Basket Liners Part 2

Back with a quick update on the nursery… it’s nearly finished (as Olivia rounds her 3 month mark!) but I’ve learned that sometimes these projects just take a while (sigh). Most of what I’m waiting on has to do with little DIY projects that I need to find time to sit down and knock out.

Speaking of DIY projects, remember when I shared the changing table basket makeover? Well Kevin’s Aunt has done it again with these adorable basket liners from extra nursery fabric (pearl trellis and baltic stripe by Thibaut):

The original plain brown fabric boxes looked fine, they blended in well with the Ikea Expedit bookcase and held all of Liv’s fun toys and stuffies. But there’s just something special about these colorful liners that add a little ‘pop’ to the bookcase! And I love that it ties into the rest of the room in such a subtle way that it doesn’t appear matchy-matchy.

As far as storage goes, we keep her bath time toys in that water-friendly green pail, her snuggies and stuffies tucked away in one of the baskets while rattlers and other noise makers go in the other – that green lidded box on the lowest shelf holds all of her keepsake pieces such as her birth announcement, cards from family and her footprints from the hospital (having it easily accessible means I don’t forget to store away important items). Her library really grew when books were substituted for cards at one of my baby showers. Instead of signing a card with their gift, guests were asked to bring a book with a special message written inside!

To create a really simple basket liner pattern, check out this post. Thanks, Aunt Laurie!

As for that bookcase, it’s a piece that I spruced up by adding a fabric backing for this design show last year, where I presented a few fabric remnant ideas for quick decor updates.

The step-by-step for adding the backing to the backless Expedit bookshelf is posted here.

That beautiful fabric is Flower Field Sand Dollar, I noticed that Calico Corners carries it in pink now too.

Working on Liv’s mobile now! I’m working on a felted project that will tie in perfectly with the theme… but that’s all I can share for now .

More Project Nursery posts: basket liners part 1, the great glider makeover, sewing the curtains part 1, part 2, part 3, nursery fabric board, curtain fabric selection, rocking horse find, new pendant light, vintage wall art addition, changing table makeover, nursery wall striping tutorial, painted animal project, the initial inspiration board and the before picture posts.