Preparing a Gender Neutral Nursery Part 2 - Little Foxes

As some of you might remember, we are keeping the gender of our baby a surprise until his/her delivery day in April. I learned from the birth of our daughter that taking care of a newborn and trying to finish a nursery is next to impossible, so I will be creating a gender neutral nursery before our baby's arrival.

There have been lots of changes going on at the Muscari house this holiday break. My hard working hubby was able to take two weeks off and nesting was in full effect for our little bundle. My oldest finally graduated to a full size bed, and our soon to be middle child is out of her crib and in a toddler bed. So, this week is all about the baby's room. We got rid of the lilac walls in our spare room and painted it a white neutral from the Sherwin Williams Pottery Barn collection, Pediment. This is the color I have in my foyer and upstairs hallway, and we had enough left over to finish off the room. Decorating on a budget is in full effect. We will also be using the crib, changing table and upholstered chair from my daughter's room.

Last time we talked gender neutral nurseries, I shared with you my Nautical inspired room. While I still love this idea, I have gone in a little bit of different direction and settled on a Little Fox room.

Preparing a Gender Neutral Nursery

For those of you that might have missed my recent post, we are expecting our third child next April. Like we did with our daughter, we decided to keep the gender of the baby a surprise until his/her arrival. 

There is something very magical about being in the hospital with the anticipation of not knowing if you are about to meet your daughter or son. A little bonus is that it drives our family crazy. Is it wrong that we love to hear them complain and moan about having to wait? Maybe we are a little power hungry or something. 

Like I said, we did the same thing with our daughter, but I have learned a lot this time around. I waited until after she was born to put together her nursery. Since I had a boy already, I knew I wanted to do a totally girly and pink room if I had a girl, so I didn't do one thing to the nursery except get a white crib and changing table. I figured I would have time to put it all together once baby came. I must have been totally delusional. 

It took me about six months to get her nursery together, and in the meantime, I sat in utter chaos and a very starch, uninviting room to feed her three times a night. It just added to an already draining and difficult season. One thing I am sure of this time around is that I want a completed, cozy and soothing room when I bring our little baby home, so I can enjoy those late night feedings and snuggles without obsessing about needing to complete the nursery. And since I have one boy and one girl, I am a lot more open to having a gender neutral nursery.

I am going to bring you along for the ride as I plan and design my gender neutral nursery. Here is the first of many inspiration boards. I already have a baby blue upholstered and oh so comfy  chair and ottoman, so I am working on incorporating that into my color scheme. I could always make a slipcover for it, but my initial research proved that is going to be a time consuming project that I am not sure I want to commit to just yet. So here is my first thought...

It's Not Too Late to Update that Outdoor Space and DIY Nautical Pillow

It might seem like summer just started, but the stores are already reducing their outdoor furniture and accessories to make way for those school supplies. If you are thinking of making any upgrades to your patio or deck, now is the time you could really get some sweet savings, and you still have plenty of time to get good use out of them.

In honor of the stores trying to push fall upon us, I thought this would be the perfect time to share my little deck upgrade with you. I am a huge fan of navy, but it totally doesn't fit in with the color scheme of my house. So, when I was looking for a rug and umbrella to spruce up the backyard, I thought it would be the perfect place to showcase some navy and nautical, two of my favs. 

Guest Post: Getting a Manly, Modern Finish with Chalk Paint®

Hi guys! I'm Bre and I blog over at brepurposed, where I find those hidden furniture gems that most people would toss and turn them into something new and exciting! My journey started last year after I got married and needed a new creative outlet. I hope you'll join me on my furniture adventures and follow along as I stalk Craigslist, thrift stores and friend's basements for whatever I can get my hands on. :)

Guest Post: Five Space Saving Ideas for a Small Home

Hi, Pretty Distressed readers! My name is Krissy, and I blog over at Hot Commodity. I talk about reading, decorating, sewing, and home improvement. I am so excited that Christina invited me to share this post with you today. So without further ado, here are my 5 Space-Saving Ideas For a Small Home!

My husband and I have lived in a small home (1400 sq. ft.) for the last seven years. Over the years, our family has grown, but our house has not, so we have had to come up with some ways to use the space we have as best as we can. So here are five of my favorite space-saving things we have done in our home:

Paint Color Selection for Dummies

Please don't be offended by the title of this post, because I am including myself in the "dummies" category. I have no background or education in design. I am just an everyday gal trying to make my home a space I can enjoy.

I recently repainted every square inch of my first floor myself and found the most stressful part was selecting my colors. I didn't have enough money to hire painters, let alone enough money to hire a designer to select colors for me, so my first stop was the Sherwin-Williams Pottery Barn collection. Clearly, Pottery Barn has tons of people with professional design experience and expertise, so I trust that the colors in this collection are on trend or classics that will stand the test of time.

I find it is easier to pin point what you don't like versus what you do like. My last three homes were warm neutrals, beiges or golds. After trying to decorate those homes, I knew I wanted to steer clear of those color families. I also knew I didn't want anything too bold. So that guided me toward picking a cool toned neutral, SW 7634 - Pediment.

From there I used the Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap® app to find its coordinating colors. I picked up a Color To Go® sample of each color and painted them on various walls around the main floor. This step cost me an extra $50 or so but it is so worth it. Don't trust paint sample chips from one of those strips you pick up at the paint store. You really need to put some paint on the wall and see how it looks in different rooms, on different walls and with different lighting. I decided I wanted a little more contrast between two of the colors and selected one shade lighter than what the app had suggested.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® Video Tutorial #5 - Dark Wax

Today is the final installment of my Chalk Paint vlog series, and we are talking about dark wax. For those of you who haven't worked with it before, this stuff is amazing. It gives your piece a antique look in no time. If you love that lived in, shabby look, you will love dark wax.

Over the River and Through the Woods to Carter's Cottage

Last week, my husband gave me the day off. Yes, you heard me, an entire day without having to dress, bathe, feed or transport anyone but myself. Glorious. So what did I decide to do...hop in the car and drive out to the heart of downtown DeKalb, Ill. to visit my local Annie Sloan stockist, Carter's Cottage.

Previously, I had bought my paint from a local store that shipped to my home and at a store in Tennessee when I went to visit my parents, but from now on I am making the drive out to DeKalb to see Christie. 

Bathroom Vanity Makeover with Latex Paint

Our master bath has been a pretty big eye sore since we moved in. It is your standard builder grade bathroom with no upgrades. It is going to be a long time before we have the funds to remodel this puppy, so I decided to do my best to make it more to my liking the DIY way.

Simple Easter Decor

I hate to admit it, but I really don't enjoy decorating for holidays. The thought of storing all that extra stuff that I only use for a couple weeks kind of gives me hives, but after a long, gloomy winter I decided a little spring decor would be good for the soul.