Making it Lovely

Category: Eleanor’s Room

  • Just to Complicate Things Further

    Just to Complicate Things Further

    I do very much like this Jenny Lind bed.

    It’s funny… I first blogged about Jenny Lind style beds a year and a half ago, after choosing Eleanor’s crib. And now without me bringing it up again, a few people are recommending this bed in the comments of my last post.

    Jenny Lind Beds
    Sunrise Ruffalo’s Home, Marie’s Memphis Apartment

    I’m just too parsimonious to buy one. (That sounds better than cheap, right?) Maybe I should just spring for one instead of trying to go with one of these? The other options are good too though, and more affordable.

    I’m not good at making decisions lately. Can I just blame it on the whole ‘being seven months pregnant’ thing?

  • Which Bed for Eleanor?

    Which Bed for Eleanor?

    Which Bed for Eleanor?

    I’m torn. I love the cool peacock headboard that we have from eBay (to be painted), but I’ve been thinking that the Minnen extendable bed may be a better fit for us right now.

    • If I use the peacock headboard, I’ll have to get a twin-sized bed for it. That’s going to limit my layout options in the room. What I love about the Minnen is that it’s as wide as a twin-size, but the length is adjustable.
    • The peacock headboard would attach to the wall and the bed would just bump up next to it. Maybe this is silly to think, but I feel like the bed will shift away and the pillows will always be falling down behind. No?
    • The Minnen is really cute here, and would look much better with wallpaper (if we in fact wallpaper).
    • I do worry about the slats of the Minnen shifting under jumping kiddos on the bed (since a few readers mentioned that as being a problem with IKEA beds).
    • If we have more kids and two need to share a room, I think two Minnen beds would work well. (But that’s a big hypothetical IF, and many years away.)
    • That peacock headboard is just plain awesome. Although Eleanor may well break off the cirlicues.
    • When we go to IKEA, Eleanor is drawn to the Minnen. But Brandon pointed out that she would probably be equally happy to have the peacock headboard too.

    I don’t know. I can argue for or against each one. What do you think?

  • Eleanor’s Headboard?

    Eleanor’s Headboard?


    First I saw this crazy cool headboard by johnny vintage on Oh Joy. Then I linked to it in one of my Honor Roll posts. Fast forward three months, and a reader sees the same style of headboard in a twin-size for sale on eBay, and emails the listing to me (thanks, lisalinn). It was listed with just 25 minutes left, and I was able to grab it. Hooray!

    The one I’m getting has been painted green, with a distressed black finish. It’s going to get a coat of spray paint, but I’m not sure yet on the color. I am keen on that hot pink version though! I’m thinking I’ll pair the headboard with this simple twin bed and paint the legs to match.

  • Flower Hooks

    Flower Hooks

    I’m going to use these flower hooks in Eleanor’s new room. They would be great in a grown-up space too though, especially if you spray painted them a solid color. They’re nice and sturdy with a good weight to them.

    Also, they’re going to look smashing with the wallpaper I want to use.

    • Pottery Barn Kids

  • Making Room for Baby

    Making Room for Baby

    Among all of the congratulations (thank you!), one question is popping up repeatedly. How are we going to make room for another baby? After all, our hundred-year-old bungalow is just 1400 square feet, and I run my stationery business out of it.

    My Studio

    My sweet, colorful, lovely little studio is going to move into the scary basement. I’ll miss you, studio!

    I’ll be honest. I’m pretty sensitive to my surroundings, so working in our unfinished basement is going to be a bit depressing. Plus I scare easily and I think my assistant Erika might too, and I can see us both being weirded out by spending time down there. It IS a little spooky, but we don’t have any other options.

    IMG_1252.JPG

    Eventually Brandon and I would like to put up drywall and make the lower level feel like the rest of our home, but we don’t have the budget right now. We’ll clean it up and arrange things as best we can, but I fear it will still be icky.

    *Update*
    I mentioned the basement walls in a couple of the comments below, but here is a photo. Unpaintable, bizarre crackled tiles. No ceiling either, and wires everywhere. Here’s a link to view the photo in a larger size.

    Basement Walls

    My studio will become Eleanor’s new room though, and that will make me happy. It’s going to be adorable! And the room (12×12) feels so much bigger than her current space (7×14 with sloped ceilings), so that will be nice for her. The nursery will stay a nursery since it works really well as such. I do plan to make at least a few changes though, regardless of gender. I want the new baby to have a look of his/her own.

    Eleanor's Nursery

    Now all of this puts greater urgency on #9 of my 30 Before Thirty list: Clean out the basement. All of this shuffling of space hinges on getting it ready, and I am SO not looking forward to that task.

  • Wallpaper for Eleanor’s ‘Big Girl’ Room

    Wallpaper for Eleanor’s ‘Big Girl’ Room

    I am in love with this bedroom for two little girls.


    (via Style-ing with Children)

    I think we’re going to move Eleanor straight into a regular bed when the time comes, even though those MINNEN toddler beds from IKEA are pretty cute. The wallpaper though? Love.

    My dining room is wallpapered in Mibo’s Clackett Lane, but before I decided to go with that pattern I had actually bought several rolls of a vintage design on eBay. I didn’t use it for Eleanor’s nursery (obviously), but I have been planning to work it into her ‘big girl’ room when she’s ready. I’ve already used some of the wallpaper to line the drawers of Eleanor’s dresser that I painted pink, but there is still plenty left.

    I know the style is much more vintage and less graphic than the Marimekko Unikko flowers, but here’s another wallpapered wall that’s more similar in style. This has been one of my favorite rooms for a long time, even in spite of the color palette (which is lovely, but I’m not a big fan of blue).

    Bedroom detail 1
    (photo by lutterlagkage)

    Can’t you just picture it? I’m not ready to start on another room project quite yet, but it’s so much fun to think about. I adore working on nurseries and kids’ rooms. I need to get Smart & Lovely (my design service) up and running so that I can do more of them!