May 14, 2009

• The Little White Bed

  I am up from attempting a nap with a 21-month old… Sometimes she settles fine, but this is one of those wiggly, giggly, teasing days. And after about 1/2 hour of neither of us getting anywhere, I decided I’d better try my nap time later – after she’s already asleep!

  I asked Little Baby yesterday if he/she realizes that he/she’s already supposed to be here! I was expecting to go late this time again, but am somehow optimistic that I won’t go 11 days late, like before. Why the hopefulness, I have no idea. But I remain hopeful nonetheless!

  Tuesday: due date, midwife appointment, time to treat myself at Starbucks. I normally drive the almost 1.5 hours to the appointment, do what shopping has been necessary, then drive back again, without stopping at the many tempting coffee shops and bakeries and charming little botiques. But this was a day when I decided the few extra dollars spent at Starbucks will be well worth it! I should have asked if they give free drinks to pregnant women on their due date. I saved the cup and made myself another iced coffee at home the next day…

  

  Tuesday was my due date, and I also had a midwife appointment scheduled. And it was confirmed that the baby is head down! What an answer to prayer! Today is the 4th day in a row that it has been down, so I am hoping and praying that that will be true until delivery! If not however, I know the Lord is faithful and what He chooses for this delivery will be good…

  And since I’m on a rabbit trail already, nothing what the title of the post suggests, here we go again…

  We have been having absolutely gorgeous weather, which makes the days lovely to be outside as much as one likes! That definitely helps pass the time, since my little projects and to-do lists were completed for a little while already.

  Our evenings have been spent on long walks as a family, or picking dew-berries, or just being together. Lovely, lovely! I wished I would have taken my camera last night as we walked the road looking for berries. It was near dusk, and I didn’t think there was enough of natural lighting for good pictures. But just the sight of my little daughter holding her very own little silver bucket, mouth and chin stained from berries, little dress spotted with berry juice, and her little voice constantly piping up that her bucket was empty and she wanted more – all that was enough of delight to make me be okay with not having the baby yet, if I can see such delight on my little daughter’s face!

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  The Little White Bed is a project I’ve been working on the last month or so. A friend of mine knew I was looking for a toddler bed for Zoe’, and a few months ago mentioned to me that she had seen one that was simply adorable in a local antique shop. I wasn’t able to look at it for another month, but when I stopped and peeked, I was totally smitten. And thought my friend completely unselfish for telling me about the bed, rather than buying it herself and waiting until she had a little girl! So, Anita, I am very indebted to you!

  I had some birthday/Christmas/piano money that I had been saving up for something, I wasn’t sure what. When I saw this bed, I knew where part of that money would be used!

  The antique dealer told us the bed came from the late 1800′s, and is solid walnut wood. The detail on this bed just amazed me, because most of the toddler beds I’ve seen are either plastic or else cheaper wood. This is simply an heirloom!

  

  Ben and I couldn’t decide what to do with it – should we strip it and paint it, or should we strip it and stain it? Because it’s an old bed, I was afraid that either one would make it look more new, and I didn’t want that.  We went back and forth, and one weekend when he was gone I decided to just clean it up and see what it would look like then.

  One gallon of bleach later (it was so so filthy, I couldn’t use even a strong cleaner to get the grime off), the bed was clean.  The picture below is the clean foot board and the not-yet-clean headboard.

  

  But too clean-looking for an old bed with peeling paint. Plus there was blue paint in the carving detail that I wasn’t too fond of. So I went over it with black antiquing glaze and let it sit for a little while.

  

  

   

  Then rubbed it off. It looked much the same as before I had cleaned it, actually, but I rather liked that old-fashioned look plus I knew it was clean.  We decided to keep it that way, so that if in the future we decide to repaint or stain it, either one can be done without a problem. But this natural look is growing on me more all the time…

  

  That was fun, although very time consuming. But the most fun part came when we set it up in the nursery, where both babies will be sharing a room. The crib was moved into the closet, and the Little Princess corner began to be set up!

  Because we are in a rental, and not able to do any painting, I have been collecting white/cream/brown accents for the nursery since I was pregnant with Zoe –  that way it has a peaceful and natural look, regardless of the gender of the children. The only exception is a touch of pink around Zoe’s bed.

   I think that perhaps I would like to add a real accent color throughout the nursery though, only I haven’t decided what color! So for now, it’s a white and brown nursery. In the years to come, my kids will probably say, “Mom! You used brown in the nursery?! That is so old fashioned!” Perhaps it will be one day, but I love it for now!

  I debated about using these paper lanterns that I already had on hand, or using a cheap white mosquito net. The net was ruled out because it hid too much of the bed, but the lanterns looked too lonely by themselves so I added a white sheet panel behind the bed. That added what I was looking for.

  

  This bed is just too adorable. The one side is stationary, while the other hinges up and down. (Forgive me, I just have to show every little darling detail!)

  Stationary side against the wall

  

  Hinging side to the room. Most times I put the rail up while she sleeps – otherwise we have a cheery little “Hiiiiiiii!!” several minutes after putting her down for her bedtimes!

  I added a white rug by the side of the bed that was just extra around the house, to try to distract from the rather ugly blue/grey carpet throughout the whole house.

  

  This is one of my favorite features about the little bed – isn’t it just precious???  You know it’s old when you see this!

  

  Then adding accents… Ben and I have a down comforter on our bed, as well as the guest bed, and I have become an ardent fan of down comforters and featherbeds! So I looked on ebay for a down comforter for Zoe, but had a hard time finding the right size. I ended up buying a white down throw, which fit the bed so perfectly, and was also a lot cheaper than buying a twin size!

  

  Then it was all just too white, so I pulled out this blanket that was given to Zoe. It’s a heavier weight cream color with pink edging, very pretty, but somehow I just didn’t use it with her.

  

  But the pink didn’t work with the room, so I used scrap brown fabric to cover the pink. Don’t look too close though – this was my first attempt at this, and as I struggled with it, I was sure there was a secret to doing it, but I sure didn’t discover it!  Hence the far-away picture to hide the flaws!

   

  A little pillow I made when Zoe’ was a baby.

  

  And a second throw pillow for the bed out of scrap fabric, scrap ribbon, and a white flower pin (that I can still take off and use with an outfit on occasion!).

  

  The sweet thing is that Zoe just adores her little bed! She wants to show it off to people that come by, and will often climb in it and just pretend to be sleeping – just for fun!

  And the finished little corner! It’s been a work in progress, pulling together little odds and ends without wanting to spend much money! But a fun little project!

  

  Just perfect for our little Princess!

   

  • 2:10 pm
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