Pepper Design Blog

Project Nursery: Changing it Up

We’ve been on the search for a changing table for some time. Since the rest of the furniture in the nursery is a bit more traditional and boxy in style, I thought it would be fun to find a piece with softer lines, such as this Jenny Lind changing table:

I searched and searched… and being the great price it already is on Amazon was near tempted to purchase, when it popped up on Craigslist one day for just $25!

And so home with us it came and very soon after received a coat of rust red paint. There aren’t many spray paint color options out there so this little combo is actually Valspar’s primer (which conveniently is a rust color) covered by Valspar’s clear satin to provide that shine and function as the top coat of the primer.

After testing in a few places we felt pretty confident that skipping the sanding process would not interfere with how the paint would adhere to the surface. I’d recommend a light buffing with rough sand paper to be sure the wood is paint-ready though. The changing table stayed painted and ready outside for a full weekend so the fumes had a chance to dissipate long before it was brought inside.

The original inspiration board for the room included browns and reds, but with the addition of the awesome animals on the walls (see more on that project here), the bright brick red we had originally envisioned transformed to a rusty, less saturated version of primary red to match.

Now the table works into the palette and looks great with Mr. Owl! (That awkward sconce/light is about to undergo it’s own diy project… it won’t be staying like that).

Next up was finding baskets to sort all of the changing table goodies. Anyone who has hunted down the right sized baskets for a space can attest that it’s pretty tricky! I checked out all of the usual hot spots: Target, Ikea, Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, Kohls… you name it. Finally I took my measurements to the net and found this set on Amazon. I think it might be fun to make new patterned liners one day but for now the baskets do their job quite well:

The room has received several more updates such as the new base board that Kevin installed and a white rug that helps to balance and soften the space. We’re almost there!

Today’s my official due date but babe is still very content and happily curled up in his/her space so we have even more time to build up the nursery in anticipation of the big arrival. We plan on keeping little one in a co-sleeper for the first couple of months in our bedroom anyhow, so even if he/she arrives tomorrow we are more than ready to go.

Wait… Can We Fit in One More Project?

It would not be far fetched to suggest that the projects we’ve taken on this year have grown in equal proportion to the belly.

Quick recap:

We started with a $100 minor bathroom upgrade during the first trimester. No major demo, just a quick touch-up with paint, fabric and fresh accessories.

The second trimester brought with it a major overhaul on the den which became our new kitchen. It’s nearly complete with just a few final finishing touches needed. The above picture is roughly midway through the renovation.

And then this past week…

That would be the week before little Baby S is due, we tore into the old kitchen to create a third bedroom and home office.

Here’s what the old kitchen looked like when we moved in:

We made minor live-in updates, like covering up that blue formica and staining the cabinets a dark espresso. Here’s a look at the space today from the same angle (from the sealed-off perspective and just inside):

Woohoo! Thrilled that we’re tackling this project before little one is here. Dust and debris would not be ideal in the air in just a couple of weeks and thankfully baby is obliging by staying put so far.

A little in-process action:

We knocked down the wall between the kitchen and the front bedroom as well, here’s a look at that front room when we moved in:

Boy did that family love wood paneling! We painted the space to create faux beadboard around the entire room and tore out the carpet, but today the little bedroom received a big overhaul:

We pushed this part of the renovation off until Kevin wrapped up school just last week, knowing full well that if babe came at all early we’d have to hold off for months to turn these two useless spaces (nobody really needs two kitchens…) into a new office and guest room.

Big plans brewing for the new space! And don’t worry – the nursery, master bedroom and kitchen are all receiving little updates (thank goodness for nesting overdrive right now) that I look forward to posting about soon.

Three days until Christmas!

Jazzing Up Ikea Curtains

When I was working on the inspiration board for our bedroom I had my heart pretty set on simple drop cloth white curtains. What could be a cheaper material and a more classic look than basic white canvas?

Ahhh if they only sold basic white canvas drop cloths. I checked five hardware stores (which sort of takes away from the low-cost mission) and came up with tan/natural options only. I even considered a) ordering online and paying to have the canvas shipped to me or b) purchasing canvas fabric from the local discount fabric shop and hemming them myself. Both seemed too time consuming for what was supposed to be a basic project…

Thankfully a recent trip to Ikea revealed white panels for $14.99/pair. Perfect! Drop cloth canvases from Lowes were roughly the same price for a similar amount of material.

Drop cloth curtains would require curtain clips, so I modified my Ikea panels to create a look slightly more jazzed up look by trimming each tab off of the top of the curtains.

Then up went the rods and bamboo roman shades!

I like to hang rods slightly higher than the window frame to add a little drama.

Each curtain panel received a set of curtain clips (you can find these at your local home improvement store or home decor store) and a very thorough ironing.

I wanted the curtains to pool a bit at the bottom so I didn’t bother hemming them (that’s not a pretty pool job above, but you get the idea…). A quick application of iron-on hem tape would take care of raising the length if need be.

And there they are! Not much to holler about but a clean, basic, affordable solution to what were empty and boring windows. It also has always bothered me that the window behind the bedframe was so much smaller than the actual headboard, now the curtains help to balance out the proportions.

One more project for the master bedroom down!