I've written before about my affinity for "Grow With Me" nursery themes. I mean, you put so much into a baby's special space... it's nice to see it work a little longer!

I chose vintage cowboy decor for my oldest son and vintage baseball for the younger. Well, it's been nearly nine years for the older, four years for the younger, and we're still rockin' most of their original nursery character.

The picture below is my youngest's room in the new house - pretty typical of the rest of the house. Terrible carpet, bad paint, no lighting.

 

And, here's his room today! A few coats of paint, lighting, new carpet, 2" wooden blinds, and it's now a warm and cozy room for the little tyke. The bedding is a Tommy Hilfiger steal that I found on Overstock.com. It's a comforter set paired with a denim bed skirt.

Remember my subway art project? It greets visitors as you enter the room.

We installed a new closet system to be multi-functional. It's fantastic, but not inspirational to look at so we'll just keep the doors closed for now...

I made a simple bolster pillow with leftover nursery fabric and my sports letter appliques.

My penny-punch art project is hanging proudly on the wall.

And the furniture... can we just chat about this furniture for a minute? We left the nursery furniture behind when we relocated to Pennsylvania and we were in the market for something with longevity. We were so excited to find an Amish furniture store in our local area. We ordered this set and anxiously awaited its arrival for months.

It could not be more perfect - it's simplicity, amazing craftsmanship, beautiful wood... this is a set that will be with us for the rest of our lives.

I seem to end each of these posts with the same closing - we have really come a long way toward making this house a home. I absolutely love it.

We're embarking on our biggest DIY project yet - the master bathroom.

Hope we don't get flushed away!

I’ve been working to finish setting up Ryder’s nursery {can I still call it that?} and, with every box I open, I’m so excited to be reintroduced to my past projects!

For both of my boys, I designed rooms that could grow with them. Dylan’s theme is vintage cowboys. Ryder’s is vintage baseball. At any point, I can make very small changes in their rooms to adjust to their ages or changes in preferences. It’s great!!

Let me give you a quick tour.

I started with a fabric that I loved and complemented it with a red ticking. I’ve long since retired the bumper, but the crib skirt will stick around for a while. I actually have enough of these fabrics to make a cute duvet for his toddler bed.

{Don’t you know the only time I can get a decent photo of my child is when I’m trying to take a photo of something else?!}

Rather than making custom treatments for his room, I purchased navy tab-top curtains and added bands of the main fabric.

I found these really great vintage penny-punch cards on eBay. They were a GREAT find {and in mint condition}! I slapped them in floating frames and… Voila! Instant art!

I purchased this dresser for $35 at an antique store. I stripped and stained the piece a dark brown and applied a crackle finish in a navy blue over the stain. I also swapped out the pulls. I LOVE the results!

I used scraps to make a fabric bunting and a few throw pillows.

I love maximum impact on a minimum budget. Don’t we all?!

Please come back tomorrow! I want to share a window treatment project that I’ve been helping a friend with this week – during our lunch hours! Gotta squeeze in the creative time whenever you can!