Our Neutral Nursery

As soon as I found out I was pregnant I immediately began to day dream about our nursery. I loved the idea of getting to create a room from a blank slate for our little bitty baby to begin in. Since we knew before we ever got pregnant that we weren’t going to find out the gender of the baby, nursery planning was a little more challenging but in the best sort of way. We were able to use a combination of things we already had or had been given with new carefully selected items for Baby Clark. My goal was to create a timeless room that was not too “baby-ish” but still sweet, gender neutral and with a few pops of color. I started with our rug and think we ended up with a combination of sweet and neutral — but not too sweet or too neutral. If nothing else at least the nursery is Hattie, our resident nana dog, approves.

Special thanks to all of our friends who helped with decision making (Rachel Turnage, paint color – Benjamin Moore, Floral White; John White, rug resource) and a big shout out goes to Anna Beth Godfrey for her curtain knowledge, expertise and craftsmanship! — She will have an Etsy page soon, and you guys have to check out her work!! The curtain fabric is a neutral buffalo check from Fabric House in Nashville, but looks a little more like a cabana stripe in the lighting of these pictures, regardless I’m obsessed with the way they turned out.

Nursery details:

–Glider – Best Furniture

–Ottoman/pouf – AllModern.com

–Side table – Overstock.com (!)

–Baby armoire – Antique, hand-me-down

–Lamp – Target (!)

–Crib – White Jenny Lind

–Crib Bedding – RH Baby, as well as coordinating quilt on back of glider

–Art above armoire and crib are pieces that we already had – the Winnie the Pooh pastels were in Julia’s and my room as babies.

–Art next to changing table – Lamb by Eden Flora

–Lucite Shelves – Greeting card holders! Found online for $7 each! We have 5 in a row and they are one of my favorite parts of the nursery. Score!

–Changing Table/Dresser – A piece Grant bought on Craigslist years ago. I refinished it with chalk paint from Home Depot to serve as our changing table and dresser. Side note, I am NOT a DIY-er but this was surprisingly easy. I stripped, painted and “distressed” it over two afternoons for about $50. Is it perfect? Definitely not but definitely worth the couple of hours of effort versus spending $1000+ on a dresser from any of my favorite baby stores.

What do you guys think?! I cannot wait for baby to be here and to add some extra touches of pink or blue! Thank you for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers over the last nine months. 

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Easy Orchid Centerpiece

I adore orchids. I feel like one single orchid makes your room feel instantly put together… or really just a little more grown up. Keeping them alive is another story. I am essentially an orchid killer, but I have decided for $12-20 if I can keep them alive for 6 weeks or so then it’s worth it.

I have always loved orchids planted in bowls and feel like it takes the already chic orchid to an entire new level. I set out to make my very own centerpiece. 

Using a McCarty Pasta Bowl that I have always had and loved, I went and purchased three orchids from Trader Joe’s. The only important (and probably obvious thing here) is to buy three of the same type so that look like they are meant to be together. Also cost is important since you’re buying three, which is why I went to Trader Joe’s–theirs are $12.99 each.

Next I went to our local flower shop and purchased moss. It comes in a little $5 roll. I left with two rolls of the moss, but one was more than enough. There are several different types, and I bought the least expensive one.

Last I went to Home Depot with the rest of Tennessee on Saturday morning and purchased Potting Mix specifically for orchids. It was made by Miracle Gro and costs all of $4. When reading about repotting orchids this part seemed important as it helps keep the moisture levels right, etc.

Be sure you do this outside because it makes a bit of a mess between the potting mix and the moss, but it is very easy and took all of 5 minutes to assemble.

First add a couple of inches of the potting mix to the bottom of your bowl. Then add in your orchids (once you take them out of their original containers be sure to loosen up the roots a bit). You will have to play with how you want them to be arranged, but this is easy. Then just fill in the potting mix so that they stay put. Last unroll your moss and add a little bit of water to it.  Once barely damp pull, the moss into pieces so you can place it around the base of your orchids. 

  

   

 

The very helpful man at the Flower Mart told me for their orchids they water each plant 1-1 1/2 cups a month. As we know watering or lack there of is what regularly kills orchids, but he told me to add about 4 cups of water a month to my centerpiece. He also suggested moving the moss a bit when adding this so the water gets to the bottom of the root and is not soaked up by the moss. My bowl does not have a center hole, so I will probably water less than this at first and see how it works. 

 This centerpiece costs less than $50 and should last for several months. Let’s say it last for 4-6 months and then it’s essentially $10 a month, which is a steal for a centerpiece that packs a punch. Also usually I hate a tall centerpiece but since this is not dense I do not foresee any problems as far as visiting with guests across the table. 

   

 

 Please let us know what you think! 

We would love to hear if you have ANY tips for keeping your orchids alive!