restoring the roost

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style
since 2010

decorating the roost

Spring is Coming!

· decorating the roost, gardening, Homesteading

It’s always exciting to me to see the first harbingers of Spring. After months of winter, even though I do love the snow, those early warm sunny days tease and remind me of how wonderful North Carolina Springs are.

Some of the first signs here are the blooming of the daffodils, or as some people down here call them, the “buttercups,” and tops of tulips pushing through the ground. In our yard, the Hellebores are in bloom!

In the vegetable garden, tiny seedlings are sprouting while colder weather lettuces, collards, cabbages, kale, and onions are growing stronger and bigger before harvest.

Last year’s pullets have all begun laying now, and we are getting armfuls of eggs each day! Perhaps later this spring we will let another hen go broody and hatch a clutch of chicks.

Inside the house I’ve stripped winter’s decor and added some lighter Spring touches to enjoy and remind us of the season we are in.

I like for us to reflect the season in our diet too. We will be eating in-season vegetables such as cold-weather greens, asparagus, spinach, and the like. Traditionally we should be eating what we “put up” and preserved last summer (if only I had done more to preserve our harvest). This year I’m determined to be more motivated since I’m not carrying the weight of two babies around anymore. Of course, those babies now keep me extremely busy in other ways!

Because of all the extra time that goes into caring for the twins, we will not be raising turkeys this year 🙁  I’m really trying to simplify and do a good job with my top priorities in homesteading and maintaining a healthy lifestyle before delving into too many new pursuits. I must master the big things first!

Happy Spring,

My Diapering Station

· decorating the roost, family

June and Georgia LOVE (usually) getting their diaper changed. I like to make it a fun time while they are up more at my eye level and they always have a ball kicking, smiling big and “talking” on the changing pad.

 I’ve been encouraged to share my diapering station and system that we have for the babies. It’s very simple really, and what makes it so nice is that everything is within reach and easily accessible.

I have our changing pad on top of a dresser, the top drawer of which holds wipes and the diaper creams/ointments.

Above the changing pad hanging on the wall are two decorative baskets that hold diapers. When these get almost empty, I refill them with diapers that are stashed just to the right of the dresser against the wall. We keep other supplies here too for easy access within reach.

My mom got these colorful rattles and hung them from the baskets so the babies would have something to look at that makes noise while getting their diaper changed. They LOVE this- they know these rattles are there and always look up in wonder and smile big when I move them to make noise.

The sweet little lambs are also really soft rattles that we tied onto the baskets. We will get these down soon for them to play with.

I have the hamper placed right beside the left of the dresser on the floor so that when I’m changing clothes (located in the dresser drawers below) I can just toss the dirty ones down into the hamper without having to move or take my eyes off whichever baby I’m changing.

The diaper pail is placed on the wall below the window to the right of the changing station so that it too can be easily accessed without having to move or take my hands off the baby.

We originally intended to go with cloth diapers once the girls were big enough to begin wearing them (into size 1 diapers). However, this plan has not panned out–I confess, disposables are just too convenient at this point and honestly, I’m not sure the extra time spent having to wash loads of cloth diapers each week is worth it when you have twins to care for! Now if we had a cloth diaper service, I’d do cloth diapers in a heartbeat.

What about you? Do you have a special place or system for diapering that you would recommend?

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Creative Uses for Vintage Bottle Crates

· antiques and collectibles, decorating the roost

My husband got these wonderful old soft-drink crates from his sister for his birthday this past year. We are just now getting around to finding some cool uses for them.

These particular ones were used to hold Ale-8 One bottles. If you grew up in Kentucky, you know this is a local soft drink that tastes sort of like a spicy ginger ale (but with caffeine). It’s one of our favorites for sure when we treat ourselves to a sweet drink!

The first thing he did was to hang it above the stove for use as a spice rack. I think it would be prettier with little glass jars in it holding the spices, but for now it serves its purpose and there is no mess having to transfer spices to the glass jars. Simple and functional!

Next I thought the second one would also make a great container for seed storage with our gardening supplies. It works perfectly to fit all those little packets. I used a different slot for each plant and one slot holds all the herbs and one holds the flowers.

Another use could be as a decorative wall element to hold small trinkets. I also love the idea of it functioning as a table centerpiece filled with glass bottles and flowers. the crate can hold utensils as well. A rustic way to brighten a table when entertaining for guests!

source
What ways do you like to use old wood crates? 
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The Nursery: Details

· antiques and collectibles, decorating the roost

Thank you all for your sweet comments on the nursery. It was certainly a joy to plan and decorate this precious space 🙂

I wanted to highlight some of the details of the nursery for you and provide some sources for our furnishings and decor. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me and I’d be happy to give you more information on where we found things.

This little round pillow was mine as a child growing up; it winds up and plays a lullaby. The little blue plaques above the cribs are for their initials/names after the babies are born and we know the genders. 
These picture holders we plan to use for newborn photos of the twins or perhaps to hold each of their baby books so that they can be easily accessible for recording memories and milestones. 
Aren’t these hand-crocheted bibs and washcloths so sweet? A friend of mine made them for the twins and I can’t get over how beautiful they are! 

A few crafty projects went into the nursery decor, one of them being the vintage children’s armoire makeover. This was a piece that was originally my mom’s as a child, then she used it for me, and since then several other women in our family have used it for their babies. It has been painted several times and although it was a nice white I decided to paint it Annie Sloane’s Duck Egg Blue for a nice pop of color in the room. Please visit this post to read a more detailed account about the armoire’s makeover.

The armoire gives us so much extra needed storage for hang up clothes, baby carriers, crib sheets and blankets, first aid supplies, socks and shoes, and even bibs. We do have a closet in this room but more than half of it is being used to store other things.

Another project was my bulletin board project with fabric that I already had on hand. I simply covered the bulletin board with fabric by using decorative tacks and then strung up family photos using clothespins. Easy as pie!

Using the same fabric, my mom sewed a pillow for me that looks so pretty with our glider and ottoman.

The brass “shell” floor lamp I found on Craigslist for $12. At first I wanted to age it a bit somehow to give it a deeper patina, but I am running out of time now and just decided to use it as is. I placed it on a pile of sturdy books to give it the height that it needed for reading in the chair.

Our family photo gallery wall was another big project that took some time. Just getting the photos in from family members, making prints, and selecting frames was a big chore. Some frames we had on hand or were already with the original photos, some we bought and painted from thrift stores, and a few I found for great deals at HomeGoods. Most of the photos are in black and white, but a few originals we just left in color rather than changing them out. We plan on adding several more photos to this wall- it’s a work in progress!

I’m really happy with how the gallery wall turned out and excited to share and teach our little ones the faces of their family members and a little about their family history.

Below is a source list for the rest of the furnishings or purchases for the nursery. Items that we already had include the bookshelf, table lamp, an antique rocking chair, framed botanical prints, bulletin board, and a few of the accessories.

Jute Rug

  World Market Basket Weave Jute Rug  We liked that this rug was so neutral and durable, and that it was made from all-natural materials. I’m usually not a fan of jute to walk on, but this one is surprisingly soft for jute.

Armchair/Glider and Ottoman

This chair is a Little Castle brand armchair/glider with round ottoman. We really liked the style and that we would be able to use it anywhere in the house besides a nursery after the twins get older. We were able to choose the upholstery we wanted from a wide variety of fabrics from the manufacturer, and I chose this chocolate brown and white toille. I’ve always love toille in a nursery and I think the chocolate brown works well for either gender and as more of a neutral for any space. The chair was purchased at a 10% discount at a wonderful local baby store called Green Pea Baby.

Cribs 

 We chose white Jenny Lind Da Vinci cribs and ordered them off of Amazon. The crib mattresses pretty heavy duty (spring-loaded like a real mattress) and are by Sealy.  Each of our moms bought a crib and crib mattress for us 🙂



The crib skirts came from Pottery Barn Kids, link found here: Pottery Barn Ruffle Crib Skirt in white (we had an unused gift card for PB thankfully!)

We found this great dresser at a local antique shop for $170 that we are using as a changing table!

I ended up getting most of the baskets in the room from places like Home Goods, TJ Maxx, or World Market. We are using them to store toys, stuffed animals, diapers and supplies, blankets, and other odds and ends. Baskets are such wonderful solutions to pretty storage!

The large wire basket with liner on the bookshelf I’ve decided (for now) to use as a little nursing station. It holds burp cloths, a few bibs, lanolin cream, nursing pads, bottles of water, a breastfeeding reference book, and a journal for keeping track of feedings.

The baby blankets hanging on the cribs were hand crocheted as gifts–one of them was for me when I was a baby and the other was made by my Aunt Judy who was extremely talented with needlework and handicrafts. The little bunny pillow was something I purchased a long while ago before I found out I was pregnant and the round pillow was mine as a baby (it winds up and plays a little lullaby).

The curtains are actually from the living room but are so much prettier in the nursery. My mom has since helped me make new curtains for our living room that look fabulous and SO much better with the wall color and furnishings.

I’m sure we will have a few extra things set up in this room once the babies come that are not currently pictured here, such as a cool mist humidifier that we already had on hand, baby monitors, a bobby pillow, and the diaper pail that we temporarily moved out of the room for the photo shoot. I’m really hoping to use this nursery as much as possible for their sleep, nursing, and even play time, and I think it will work out well especially since our bedroom adjoins the nursery directly through a side door and since it will be so close there is no need for bassinets or baby supplies in our bedroom.  I pray that they have fond memories of their nursery as a place of peace and comfort.

The Twins’ Nursery

· antiques and collectibles, decorating the roost

We have finally finished our sweet little nursery for the twins!!

It’s a good thing too, because two weeks ago I had a scary episode of preterm labor. I am currently resting at home and trying to “cook” these precious little ones for a while longer. I’m 31 weeks currently, and praying I can make it to 34 weeks or longer. Thanks to my mom and hubby for helping me finish up the nursery in case the babies make their entrance early!

I just love to go into this room and quietly sit, relax with a book, look around and imagine what it will be like with the babies here (a lot messier I’m sure, haha!).

In addition to being gender neutral, I wanted it to have a very calming feel. We went with a lot of neutrals more of a vintage/cottage theme more than anything else, with some playful touches. I think it fits in well with the rest of the house. I stole the curtains that were in the living room for the nursery because I had planned to make new living room curtains anyway, and I think they look so sweet in this room.

One of our decorating projects we included was a gallery wall of black and white family photos. All of the photos are of relatives or ancestors, some of themselves as children or babies, and we included myself and BJ in the mix too. I’m hoping that having this will help the babies to become familiar with the faces of their family, those already gone before us and still living.

We plan to paint each baby’s name or initials on the little blue plaques on the wall above the cribs

We moved the vintage doorknob shelf (a DIY project detailed in this post) into the nursery and I think it works perfectly!

the baby shoes on top of the shelf were my mom’s as a baby, and the ones hanging on the knob were mine 🙂

We ended up pushing the two cribs up against the wall opposite the main door to the hallway, since this is just about the only position they fit without taking up too much wall space.

An antique chest of drawers used for a changing table occupies one wall next to a large window. We simply put the changing pad on top and hung baskets on the walls above for holding diapers and supplies within easy reach. The top drawer of the dresser holds additional diapers, wipes, burp cloths, and supplies. A wire basket with burlap liner on the floor beside the dresser will serve as a hamper for dirty clothes or blankets. We will likely eventually move the diaper pail over here too.

The opposite wall of the changing chest is separated into two sections by a door into our master bedroom. One side is bumped out with the addition of a closet. The other side of the wall we have placed a vintage children’s armoire, lamp, and basket of soft toys. The diaper bag hangs on a hook nearby for easy access.

Even though my husband has been using the closet in this room as his, we plan to store several things in it that we have no other place for, like the baby stroller, booster seat high chairs, toddler feeding supplies, and any other odds and ends. Some things like an activity gym mat and a bouncy seat we were actually able to store underneath the crib until we need them!

The children’s armoire was originally my mom’s as a baby, then mine, and used by my cousins for their kids. I repainted it using Annie Sloane Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue, then distressed the already painted original knobs. To read more about the makeover of this armoire, visit this post. It is wonderful for providing storage and space for hangup clothes (without taking extra room in the closet).

An upholstered armchair (also a glider) with ottoman sits in the corner along the wall adjacent to the hallway. We left the filing cabinet here as it had been when the room was an office simply because we have no where else to put it. Baskets on top of the filing cabinet hold play mats, blankets and supplies. We chose a soft chocolate brown toille for the armchair fabric before placing the order and a brass floor lamp ($12 Craigslist find!) provides targeted light for reading or late night feedings.

A bookshelf with baby books, basket of toys, a breastfeeding “station” basket, and other special mementos sits along this wall next to the chair. We placed a vintage mirror and a few more framed photos above the bookshelf. I decided to paint some of the bargain thrift store frames with the Annie Sloane Duck Egg Blue paint as well for old photographs.

And just a few more shots….

The two white crocheted blankets are very special- one was mine when I was a baby and the other was hand made by my Aunt Judy who has since passed away. It’s nice to have something from her that I treasure and can pass down. 

pinit.js

A snapshot of the Bible verse I painted for some “wall art” above the closet door

I hope you enjoyed our little nursery tour! This post gives an overview of the nursery and in my next post I will expand upon all the details for you, including a list of sources where we purchased any items that were new. We are thrilled with how the nursery turned out, and hope it will be a place of comfort and joy for our little ones.

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