So it has been a while since my first post on this topic, I bet you are wondering what I have been up to and how that vintage inspired nursery is going.
Getting the Room Ready for Retro Cuteness
Adam setting up his desk in his new ‘man cubby’
I haven’t done as much as I had hoped. The nursery until now has been used as my husband’s office and the guest room, so obviously some major changes have had to be made. Adam’s office needed to be relocated, but firstly there needed to be somewhere for him to move to. Having no space in the house, he with the help of his Dad and brother, built a small office space just outside the kitchen from the bits and pieces of an old shed my parents had in their backyard. Our need came in good time, as they had wanted the shed gone. So, now Adam has this lovely little ‘man cubby’ with just enough room for him and his office stuff. I am pretty proud of their efforts and very grateful to may parents and his brother for donating most of the building materials.
What a blessing our families are!
The finished ‘cubby’
Next I had to get rid of the double bed we have had set up for guests. Once I got around to posting that on Gumtree, it sold within 3 hours. Not bad! After dissembling the bed and seeing it off, there was all the ‘stuff’ to clear out and find new homes for. You know all the ‘stuff’ that gets shoved in the spare room, under the bed, down the side of the dresser, because you just don’t know where else to put it. Well, it is all out now. Yay! The room looks much bigger and I am starting to imagine it as a nursery.
Before:
After:
There is a floor! I haven’t seen that floor in 3 years. lol
Generational Shelving
There are several pieces of furniture that we have already which we will be using in the nursery, but they all need some TLC. I started with the old set of shelves that were in my bedroom as a child. I think my dad made them when he and Mum were setting up my nursery. They had been in storage for a long time, so they needed a good clean, sand and lick of paint. Now they look fresh and ready for the next generation.
How cute is the zebra pull toy? I found it in an op-shop for $2. It clicks when you pull it along the floor. Not too annoying, just a gentle clickity click.
Retro Rocking Horse Restoration
I personally think that no ‘vintage inspired nursery’ is complete without a wooden rocking horse. Now I do like those large, victorian rocking horses with the real saddle and horse hair mane, but they are not really within my budget nor are they terribly space efficient.
At any rate I love the kitschness of the simpler, smaller rocking horses’ of the 1950’s – 1980’s.
They often look homemade and have real quirky personality. I did a search for them on ebay, gumtree and other online sellers and could not find any I liked in my ‘budget’ price range at the time.
However, when I went to my local op-shop to make a donation, I spotted a neglected little fella at the door. In need of some cosmetic surgery but otherwise a sound investment at $5.
This cute as, vintage rocking horse is available to US customers at the lovely Etsy store called Turtle Hill. This shop has lots of delicious vintage finds. Check it out! https://www.etsy.com/shop/TurtleHillShop
So, I was back online looking for looking for inspiration for his make-over and found this darling little rocking horse at ‘Turtle Hill’ (a vintage store on Etsy). They have such lovely things. And this little guy was soooooo cute! I am now inspired!
I know Henry doesn’t quite have the same bone structure, but we can work around that 😉
Since bringing ‘Henry the horse’ home, he has started to experience quite a makeover. First he needed a nose job, as he looked a bit more like a horse/rhino cross. I cut the offending point off his nose with a jigsaw – Yay for power tools! Now his nose is cute and round.
I then used another power tool, the electric sander and removed all the old lacquer. After which, I proceeded to paint him white, but in the WRONG type of paint. Agh! I had read several articles recommending to paint nurseries with water based low VOC paint, so that is what I first used, not realising this only referred to wall paint not to furniture paint. After a visit to Bunning’s to get the coloured paint for the face details I discovered that I should have used OIL based paint, as that does not chip off if little teeth take a nibble or two of ‘Henry’. So, we got some white oil based paint to fix the problem.
The next steps will be giving ‘Henry horse’ some personality!
Other haps
In other news, I was recently given a beautiful gift from one of my Mum’s co-workers. A lovely pram quilt that she made. Now, I was extremely touched by this, as this lovely lady has never met me. She is also pregnant with a little girl, so I decided to make her a thank you gift. Here are the little, girly booties I made for her coming princess.
The quilt made by the lovely Kylie. Thank you!
The booties made by Oh Bless Clothiers for Kylie’s little princess.
It was also my darling nieces 1st birthday recently and I made her this cosy pixie bonnet. I lined it in fuzzy, cosy flannelette. I think she looks so adorable.
The adorable Asha in her pixie bonnet. Cute as a button!
I have also got all the fabric ready to make my nappy bag. I am in the process of making a mock up as I design the perfect bag. I absolutely love the fabric I got, it is oil cloth, which I have never sewn before, but will be waterproof and sturdy. Plus it has adorable fairy toadstools on it!
So, that is what has been going on lately. Next blog there will be an update on Henry the horse and his new look, I will have my latest maternity dress design to show and hopefully some new contributions to the vintage nursery.
Have a blessed day 🙂
Ally