The Nursery… Then and Now

Once upon a time in 1996 there was a young couple in their early 20’s who bought their first house and excitedly decorated the small room upstairs for their first baby boy or girl who would arrive in just a few months figuring this room would service 2 or maybe 3 children over the next few years.

The blue and white theme with adorable farm animals awaited with brand new baby furniture for the anticipated arrival in January 1997. 

I remember wishing my whole house could be as cute and as nicely decorated.  It was so crisp and clean.  And CUTE!  This was the very first room we decorated in our very first house, thanks to some help from my Mom who purchased the wallpaper and border as a 2nd Wedding Anniversary gift.  I had looked at this paper while visiting her that summer but couldn’t find it here at any of the stores.  Frankly money was tight too.  I guess after nearly 16 years the décor has served us well.

A beautiful baby Haley arrived to us at the beginning of 1997 and she enjoyed this bedroom for a little over two years.  Then Lindsay had this room to herself for about two years and then it sat empty as she really wanted to share a room with her sister and sleep in a big girl bed.  About 10 months later we brought home a little baby boy who eventually took down some rather large pieces of blue and white paper which we puzzle pieced back up with wallpaper paste.  Behind the crib no one could even tell there had been trouble.  And when the big boy bed arrived the wall was hidden with pillows.  A few years later the crib graced the other side of the room with a room mate… another baby girl who made the other side of the wallpapered wall match.  We puzzled those few pieces back on the wall; good as new.  She too, moved over with her sisters in a big girl bed after two years.  We repainted the trim and the room still looked great.  We removed carpeting and sanded wood floors contemplated repainting the room but decided it was still a cute room.  Considering that we always planned on moving out of this house before too many years had passed it would have been unbelievable to us in 1996 to think that a fifth baby would have the opportunity to enjoy this bedroom.

Meet Tristan’s long term room mate, Nathan, who singlehandedly took down any wallpaper in this room that he could reach last year.  At first I tried desperately to save the scraps he was pulling off but it wasn’t long before the clear choice was made for me… the room needed to be redecorated but at the end of summer I knew we wouldn’t have time to take care of the room anytime soon.  Then over the winter after the wettest year on record we ended up with a severe mold issue in the house… 85% humidity indoors the condensation was so thick it was raining!!!  More reason to clean and repaint… and purchase a dehumidifier for each bedroom.  Since last year Nathan has attacked several areas of wallpaper in his room and his sister’s room as well.

So we are spending the latter part of our spring break emptying the room, thoroughly cleaning, scraping and painting and saying goodbye to a look we’ve all enjoyed for nearly 16 years.  We’ve gotten our money’s worth.  And thankfully half the wallpaper scraping was already done for us!

Once upon a time a couple in their early 40’s painted a room for their two boys as they anticipated the growing up years ahead.

Work in progress… stay tuned for more photos later.