Making it Lovely » Nursery

Wide Angle Lenses

Making it Lovely — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:23:19 +0000

I rented two wide angle lenses this week: a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM and a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX. I wanted to try them out to see if that might be the next type of lens I’d like to own. They are certainly not for everyone. They’re pretty much limited in use to interiors, landscapes, group photos, and not much else. Since I do photograph interiors though, a wide angle lens would be a very useful thing to have.

Take a look at August’s nursery, as seen through my usual lens.

my typical lens, a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8

I was squished with my tripod in the back corner, and that was as much of the room as I could show you. Now, going wider and wider (but not moving my tripod), check out what these lenses can do.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX for Canon

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Nice, right? I liked both lenses, but I think the wider focusing range of the Canon would be more useful. That f/2.8 on the Tokina is tempting, but I’d likely be using this type of lens on a tripod for still shots, so it isn’t as important to have that low, fixed aperture as it would be with other types of lenses.

Have you ever used a wide angle lens? Or a fish-eye (they get a similar wide shot, but with more distortion)? And did you know you can rent lenses? It’s such a great option. I’m glad I can rent again until the day I plunk down the cash for a wide angle lens of my own.

August’s Nursery

Making it Lovely — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:57:32 +0000

August’s nursery is finally ready for the little guy!

He slept in a cradle in our bedroom for the first few months, but Brandon and I started putting him to bed in the crib a couple of weeks ago. Until yesterday, the room was still in all of its former pink glory.

I sewed those curtains and crib skirt from fabric by Joel Dewberry, and the brown polka dot crib sheet (no longer available) was from the DwellStudio for Target line. To the right of the crib is the odd sunken end of the room, which continues to function well as a play space.

We moved in a fun rug and an orange play chair. Obviously, August is much too small to play down there, but Eleanor loves it.

There are more stuffed animals in a basket next to the crib.

Opposite the crib is August’s dresser. There was a vintage dresser that we painted pink for Eleanor when this was her nursery, but that’s now in her new bedroom. We replaced it with this wooden one. It’s more masculine, and I really like the addition of the warm wood tone in the room. Plus it’s named after our town, Oak Park! I think it’s funny that Eleanor has her namesake mirror, and August has his hometown dresser. And that zombie clock above it cracks me up.

I’m still loving my glider and ottoman. I usually keep a water bottle and some books on the side table next to it, and it’s a nice spot for nursing. I also read to Eleanor and August in that chair, rock August to sleep, and occasionally fall asleep myself there. The Artistamps print above the table is by The Small Object, and it used to hang in my former studio.

The changing table is still made up of two IKEA Effektiv bookcases. I love the setup because we have tons of storage for all of the necessary but unlovely to look at baby items.

I keep a basket for laundry at one end, and there is a diaper pail tucked away on the other side.

I linked to many of the items above, but there is also a separate page of sources, so take a look if you’d like to know where something specific came from. If there’s anything I missed that you’re curious about (I didn’t list every tiny little thing), I’d be happy to answer questions in the comments.

It’s amazing how just a few changes from Eleanor’s nursery make it feel so different for August.

Sewing Today

Making it Lovely — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:48:45 +0000

I’m sewing curtains for August’s nursery today. With drapery hooks. Wish me luck.

August’s Nursery Design (Sources)

Making it Lovely — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:04:55 +0000

Now that Eleanor is in her new bedroom (which I’ll share soon!), I can finally concentrate on August’s nursery. There aren’t too many big changes to be made, so it will be a quick makeover. I just need to find time to sew curtains and a crib skirt out of the Joel Dewberry fabric I bought for the room.

This was the plan for Eleanor’s nursery:

And here is the new plan for August:

Consistency in design and reusing furniture in different ways seems to be a calling card for me, yes? Making it Yours, baby. Making it Yours.

We’re keeping the same crib, lighting, glider and ottoman, side table, bookcases (used as a changing table), and the paint color. I’m swapping out the curtains and crib skirt, as I mentioned, and bringing in some more orange pieces. Eleanor’s pink dresser is in her new room, so I have a more masculine wood dresser for the nursery now. Plus it’s named after my town, Oak Park! I’m switching the art to a print that I bought at the Renegade Craft Fair years ago by Three Sheets 2, and I also brought in two little orange chairs.

I’ve made a page with a full list of sources (and Eleanor’s is here). Now hopefully I can find a little time for some sewing… and let’s hope it goes well!

New Nursery Sneak Peek

Making it Lovely — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:14:40 +0000

It’s going to be a while before I can share the complete new look because the room is currently occupied by its first tenant.

Fabric for Our Boy’s Nursery

Making it Lovely — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:36:13 +0000

I would still like to use orange in the new nursery, but I love orange paired with chartreuse/green, and I had wanted to use those colors together all along. I was just waiting to find the right fabrics to really finalize the design, and I think I’ve finally found them. Hooray!

The tree print (Modern Meadow Grass Majestic Oak JD38) will be for curtains, and the herringbone (Modern Meadow Grass Grass Herringbone JD36) is for a crib skirt. Both fabrics are from Joel Dewberry’s latest line for Freespirit.

If you google the full fabric names you should be able to find it in stock somewhere. I ordered mine here.

Orange Nursery Ideas

Making it Lovely — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:17:47 +0000

I’ve chosen orange for the new nursery. It’s such a fun, poppy color, and it could easily work for either gender (we’re having a boy!). Once you veer from pastels though, it’s hard to find essentials for the nursery like bedding and changing pads. Here are a few of the things I’m considering for the room:

Crib Recall

Making it Lovely — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:10:24 +0000

Our Jenny Lind crib is part of the massive recall in drop side cribs. I know many of you have the same one, so I wanted to bring it to your attention in case you hadn’t heard already. Free repair kits are available from Da Vinci / Million Dollar Baby.

We stopped using the drop side a long time ago, when the first recalls were announced (under different brands and styles). We also turned the crib around so that that side would be against the wall. Our crib is still sturdy, but we’re glad our repair kit will be arriving soon.

Elephants for Eleanor

Making it Lovely — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:23:58 +0000

I tried to resist. I really did. I didn’t want to set Eleanor up for a lifetime of elephant gifts (or worse an unfortunate alliterative nickname), as cute as the pachyderms may be. Then I saw these little guys and they were only $6.

(from Cost Plus World Market)

Sorry, baby. Years from now when you’re surrounded by stuffed animals and figurines, all elephant-themed, you can blame me.

Eleanor’s Nursery

Making it Lovely — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:32:25 +0000

OK. Let me start by saying that I love my glider. LOVE IT. It takes up half the nursery but it’s my favorite spot in the house. I nurse in it, I rock in it, I sleep in it.

Our changing table is just a changing pad set atop bookshelves with doors. The pink flower knobs help the unit look like it belongs in a little girl’s nursery instead of an office space (which is what it’s meant for). Also, I’m glad my mom recommended getting a lamp with a dimmer. I can have just enough light to change and nurse Eleanor when she wakes in the middle of the night, but I can keep it dark enough to signal that it is still nighttime (and that she should be sleeping!).

Behind the bookshelves you can see the closet and its little built-in shelves. Quite a while back, I had decided to fill those shelves with wooden blocks and spools. I’ve also added a vintage pull-toy that I picked up at a garage sale and a name train that we received as a gift. We’ll have to remove some of these toys once we really start baby-proofing, but for now they all look cute.

Here’s a view of the other side of the room.

Both Brandon and I slept in Jenny Lind cribs when we were babies, and now our daughter does too.

I bought the mobile that’s hanging above the cribthe mobile that’s hanging above the crib a few months ago with the intention of altering it slightly because it was far too big. It’s now much better suited to the small scale of our nursery.

We have some paper suitcases from my shop on top of the dresser that we painted pink. There’s also a big metal ‘E’ and a pink vase from a garage sale, along with Brandon’s childhood stuffed bear. He loved that bear so much he hugged the stuffing out of the middle! It’s incredibly sweet, and we hope Eleanor will love it as much as he did.

The little sunken alcove next to the dresser will be a play space for Eleanor once she’s old enough. I wrote a little more about that back in January.

And now I’ll leave you with this parting shot, the view from the doorway…

I’ve listed all of the nursery resources in a previous post, so take a look if you’re wondering where something in the room came from. Thanks for letting me share Eleanor’s nursery with you!