shopping Archives - Life's Tidbits

23Sep 2013

French Dresser – Inspiration / Mood Board

by Nicole ⋅ 8 Comments

Long before we found out Jellybean’s gender I started pinning ideas for the baby’s nursery. It started off being both boy and girl room ideas. If Jelly had been a boy we probably would have gone with a nautical themed nursery. One of the very first things I fell in love with was a mint green french/vintage dresser (below). It didn’t take long before I had pinned a variety of dressers all with the same feel, but in a number of different colors and details. The more dressers I found, the more I feel in love. Who needs to find the perfect crib … when swooning over the perfect dresser! LOL.

Here is my mood board and inspiration for a vintage / french dresser:

All found via Pinterest – On to Baby / Source / South County A to Z / Mama Say What / Blogs Baby Center

From Pinterest I clicked through to a number of different blogs and read about their nursery decorating decision AND, most importantly for me at the time, where they found the vintage dresser enter … Craigslist. Ugh, while I love Craigslist it is sometimes like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Luckily we have/had time on our side. Once or twice a week I would search vintage dresser, french dresser and shabby chic dresser on Craigslist. There were always at least a few good options available. It was hard to find the perfect combination of affordable price, not too far a drive from DC and the condition of the dresser.

After my 24 week doctor’s appointment my sister and I started doing some serious online browsing for the nursery. We were discussing color, overall vision and style of the room. While we chatted I browsed Craigslist for a dresser … and BAM the perfect dresser appeared. It was exactly like the mint green dresser (above) I originally fell in love with, but in white … PLUS a BONUS … a nightstand with the same vintage/french look was also for sale.

The next day we drove out to take a look at both pieces. Though originally we hadn’t planned on purchasing a nightstand, the husband and I couldn’t pass it up. We scooped up both pieces of furniture and two days later they were delivered to our place. Yay for a delivery option. Made life SO much easier.

It is so exciting to have furniture purchased for our little girl’s room. It makes this whole “we are having a baby” thing that much more real!! Dresser, nightstand … check and check. Back to tackling the crib I suppose. :)

What was the first piece of furniture you purchased for your baby’s nursery? Where did you get your dresser from?

Happy Decorating!

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03Sep 2013

Cribs – Splurge vs. Save

by Nicole ⋅ 2 Comments

I’ve been trying to get started on the decor for the baby’s room and despite pinning a lot of cute nursery’s on Pinterest I really haven’t made much progress. In the past when decorating I have picked the big pieces and then the small details/accents seem to fall into place and the room comes together nicely. The problem with the nursery is the hubby and I just can’t seem to decide on any single piece of furniture so far.

About the only decisions we’ve made is to paint the walls gray (shocker I know!) and for the crib to be white. You can probably see why we haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet. :) It wasn’t long after I started researching cribs that “sticker shock” set in. While it would be nice to pretend there is no budget when it comes to our little one … I know there is. To get us started I compiled a short list of cribs that fell on the splurge list and then found similar crib designs that would save us some moolah.

{1} Isabelle Iron Crib from Pottery Barn | {2} DaVinci Jenny Lind from Amazon
{3} Emelia Sleigh Crib from RH Baby | {4} Stork Craft Vittoria from Amazon
{5} ducduc Oslo Crib from Land of Nod | {6}Babyletto Madison from Target
{7} Juliette Crib from Pottery Barn Kids | {8} Million Dollar Baby Ashbury from OverstockWhile we still have plenty of time to decorate the nursery I am getting nervous we will never make a decision … or maybe it’s more I’m worried we will start going in one direction and then realize we should have gone another.

I can’t decide if we should splurge for the “perfect” crib or save on one we like. I mean the baby is only in this thing for a couple years, right? It’s not like a tween bedroom set that might last them through high school if chosen correctly. Help please!! Did you save or splurge on the crib? Any recommendations on where to find the perfect crib?

Happy Decorating!

Linking up at Savvy Southern Style, The Style Sisters and Chef-in-training

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13Aug 2013

Filling the Nook but Not the Cranny

by Nicole ⋅ Leave a Comment

Get it? Nooks and crannies? Yeah, I know, I am horrible at blog titles! After finally getting around to purchasing and hanging the sunset canvas wrap it was time to finish up the nook in our dining/living room area. When the 10% coupon from Crate & Barrel arrived in the mail I could barely wait for the husband to get home from work and to give sign off on purchasing the sideboard. The sideboard (aka a china cabinet or buffet) completes our dining set, which previously included a dining room table (with leaf, which come in handy!) as well as a wine rack. The sideboard not only completes our set, but also gives us extra storage for all our serving platters/bowls/dishes/etc.

BEFORE:

Doesn’t the nook look sad with just that little end table?

AFTER:

Now the space looks appropriately filled.

And a vertical shot of the space ….

This sideboard totally makes our condo look like real adults live here. AND we had the perfect number of picture frames to place on the sideboard so no additional purchases were necessary.

Happy Decorating!!

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10Apr 2013

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

by Nicole ⋅ 1 Comment

Who’s the most excited of them all?! Oh that would most definitely be me. As I’ve shared (here and here) we’ve been doing some decor updating in the living/dining room as well as the hallway (here and well here too). I’m not sure if I should qualify this area by the front door as the hallway or the living room, but either way we have a new mirror on the wall!

When we first move into our condo the electrical box was kind of sticking out like a sore thumb. The dark gray contrast on the painters grade white paint was like BAM as soon as you walked in. The plan was to find a painting or a mirror at some point to cover the box, however in the mean time we needed to make it less noticeable. So while we were painting the living room and hallway the electrical box was also painted over.

Before:

Progress: Added a couple coats of primer on the electrical box.

I don’t have an after picture of the box painted … I’m a bad blogger, I know (hangs head in shame). I always peruse the Joss & Main and consider buying all the great items they have. Then one evening I found the Andretta Wall Mirror, which the husband agreed would be a go to hide the electrical box. I waited too long and the item was no longer available … bummer! A couple weeks later I happened upon the mirror again and decided I would purchase it as soon as the husband got home and confirmed he still liked the mirror.

Just a few days later the mirror arrived at our front door. I was shocked at how heavy the mirror was, but managed to carry it up the stairs and into the apartment. The poor husband had barely walked through the door when I began asking (read nagging) him to hang the mirror. Being the good natured guy he is out came the tool box and level and within no time the mirror was hanging on the wall. =)

After:

Now I think a new chest/table with drawers for under the new mirror is needed and we will be done with this area of the apartment. I’ve had that semicircle table since COLLEGE! Although it has held up well, it is time for a change/upgrade. Plus something with storage would come in handy for scarfs, gloves, sunglasses and other stuff of that nature.

For now though I am happy to have the electrical box covered and a mirror to double check my outfit/makeup as I walk out the door! LOL.

So what do you think of the new mirror?

Happy Decorating!!

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20Mar 2013

Impulse Buying – Updating the Living Room

by Nicole ⋅ 2 Comments

I’ve been on a bit of a buying binge. For the most part they been pretty “small” thing, but they make SUCH a difference around the house. The new tidbits are great additions to the condo decor and only make me want to buy more details for the house. The husband has been joking that he might have to take the credit card away if I keep this up LOL. All joking aside he has completely agreed with all my most recent purchases.

The library table (as the husband calls it) from his bachelor days is definitely on its last leg. This side table has held up well and successfully made it through three or four moves. The table has a number of sharpie pen “paint touch ups” and kind of rocks if you even slightly touch it.

Around Christmas time I was browsing Overstock.com and came upon a black table I thought would be the perfect replacement. With my 10% off coupon in hand I convinced the husband we “needed” the table. Like so many other pieces of furniture we own it came dissembled and the husband was responsible for putting together our new table. It didn’t take him too long despite assembling the legs backwards on his first attempt. :)

The next day I went ahead and took some after pictures. I really like the curves and character of the new table. The fact that it doesn’t shake when I pick up the photo album is a bonus hahaha!

The new table also has an extra level of storage at the bottom. The only problem with that shelf is it seems to collect dust and dog hair. Maybe that means I need to vacuum more … hmmmm ;)