Baby's Room : Curtain dilemma

I obsess a lot about curtains. Maybe I am the only one. Forever ago, I bought beautiful curtains at Bouclair for our spare bedroom in an apartment we lived in. When we moved, they sat in a box. The idea was to reuse them in the baby's room. Unfortunately, they don't quite match the bedding and they let some of the light in. We had roller shades (yuck) in the bedroom but we won't be replacing those ugly things until we replace the windows next year so I am stuck with them in most bedrooms... except the baby's... because we lost the brackets to put the ugly roller shade on the wall. Hence, I needed curtains that would block the light... but I hate blackout curtains. They are soooo plasticky? Double yuck. Anyway, I spent most of my weeekend trying to find the perfect curtains that would match and block most of the light. At the end of the day, I was mostly tired, hadn't found any curtains but I had purchased 4 pillows (don't ask!). Then I found something called "Blackout liners" at Lowes. I had heard about them but at $40/panel, I didn't want to splurge. Well, Lowes had them on sale for $12!

Blackout Liner Panels

The package says it includes 2 panels but I needed both to cover 1 of my curtain panels. They came with the hooks too (picture below)

Blackout Liner Panels - Hooks

How to add them to existing curtains

All I had to do was put the hooks into my existing curtain and then there is a series of little loops at the top of the blackout liner, just insert them in the hooks and tada, your blackout liner is hiding behind your existing curtain.

Instructions

I took a picture of the instructions... it works with all sorts of curtains (not just grommets). I was pretty excited. So now I have found the perfect solution for the existing curtains. They will just have to do for now... until I find a good sale on my dream curtains for the baby's room!

Linen Closet - Organized!

This past weekend, my husband surprised me with just about 10 guests. I wasn't too pleased with that as I like to be told in advance when people will be crashing at my place but there were already in the house and there was nothing I could do. I quickly cleaned the main bathroom which also serves as a guest bathroom. Believe it or not, everything on the countertop got dumped in the linen closet, conveniently located inside the bathroom. That's when the mess there reached an all-time low (I wish I had a picture). So, on the same night, I couldn't help it... I had to organize.

I am a big fan of the Home Depot clear shoe boxes which they sell for less than a dollar! So I took everything out and sorted:

- Make up
- Personal Hygiene
- Dental
- Travel size
- First Aid

I put all the sorted items in clear boxes, rearranged everything on the shelves and voilà! I was done. Some of my own personal items went in the master's bedroom bathroom but the rest can stay in the linen closet. The First Aid Kit is in a small fishing tackle box I bought many years ago at Wal-Mart. I'll do a post some day!

Linen Closet

Now there is still room for improvement. I could put all the Bath & Body Works soaps in a box, same with the shampoos... but for now, it's a bit more organized and it's making me happy!

IKEA "Flaxa" Bed

In my first post about my daughter's bedroom I mentioned that I had made slight changes to the IKEA Flaxa bed we had purchased. The storage drawers were black and there was no option at IKEA to get a different colour. I painted them to match the bedroom walls "Hot Chocolate" by Benjamin Moore Aura Paint (2 coats on each side) and then used a clear coat on top (2 coats on the front). This is the final product! Tada


IKEA "FLAXA" Bed - Painted



Kalanchoe

 Well, it's been busy around here. I tackled too many projects and ended up in the hospital with a kidney stone and here I am, tackling more projects. I am nesting so much, anticipating the arrival of baby #2, that I am even buying indoor plants at this point. How typical. Today I purchased a Kalanchoe plant. Apparently it is one of the 8 hard-to-kill houseplants for a cursed green thumb. I am not quite certain I am that cursed but you never know!



Kalanchoe Plant



Tonight I shall put it in a beautiful pot in the living room and call it a day! I have a few projects on the go. Last Saturday night I decided my linen closet needed a makeover (or maybe just a clean-up) so I will post pictures tomorrow. The linen closet is in our main bathroom which also is used by guests when they come to our house. Imagine how happy I was that our Sunday night guests accidently opened that little door! It was actually clean! I have also been working on the baby room. It's nearing completion! Yay. Pictures will come soon :)

Baby's Room: Crib Bedding

I have the hardest time finding crib bedding I like at a reasonable price. I really lucked out with my daughter because I ended up paying $50 CAN for the wonderful Jillian McDonald "Lullaby Breeze" at Toys R Us. It was on clearance and I believe the regular price was close to $150 if not more. I was very proud of myself!

No such luck for Baby #2. I went to every store I could think of and it seems like the same crib bedding sets in the USA are cheaper than the ones in Canada. The prices are just ridiculous. And I also tend to be picky, even when I find a sale! I ended up on Walmart.com and found this gem:


Nojo - Baby Buccaneer 3pc


You can also purchase the bumper pad on their website. Lo and behold, they ship to store! Which is extra convenient because we are going camping in Montana this weekend. So I will be picking up the baby bedding when we are there and this cute set only cost me $50 US. I am excited! We will start working on the baby's room when we come back!

Personalized Vinyl Calendar

SayItWithStyle - Personalized Vinyl Calendar

I am in love with this vinyl calendar! You buy the decal from SayItWithStyle Etsy Shop and apply it in a regular 16x20 frame that will match your decor. I am not sure if we would have use for it since my husband and I tend to put our appointments in our Google calendar and sync it to both our phones. How do you keep track of all your appointments?

My daughter's bedroom (Part III)



The chalkboard!

It is done! We bought a chalkboard at Staples. I thought about painting the wall with chalkboard paint but it would have cost more than just buying the chalkboard itself. If I ever decide to cover a bigger area then the chalkboard paint would be handy. I painted the trim with white semi-gloss Aura paint and did 2 coats and hung it on the wall. She loves it! And now, I can move on to my next project!