Dressing It Up

Progress has been a little slow on the nursery with all of the other things we've had going on recently. However, over the last week we got back down to business and made a few more additions to the space.

One thing I was so excited to finally get into the space were the curtains. I knew that by getting those up, it would instantly make the room feel that much more finished. Isn't it great that the right window treatment can do that?

In the spirit of trying to work on a budget, we decided to work with what we had. When we moved into the home we were left with a few simple white curtain panels. They did the trick, but we knew we'd eventually have to do something with them to spruce them up a little (at least I did).

In the upstairs rooms they were far too long, and downstairs far too short. One pair was also tabbed which made it hang and swag along the top in an extremely unattractive manner on our living room window. I decided that those tabbed curtains would be the ones we'd wash and move into the nursery... but first they were to undergo a bit of a makeover using the fabric I had purchased quite a while back.

I wish I had a more detailed "how-to" for you, but my fabulous Mom is the brains behind this operation. My basic knowledge is that she removed the original tabs and then used my fabric to cut four panels for the curtains, and used that fabric to make pockets on the top of both panels. We also had to shorten the curtains to fit the height of this tiny room, and well... here's our nursery now (much more full than it was in my previous post)...

If you look closely, you'll also see that we added a white roller blind to help darken the room for baby naps. Below the window is our new diaper bag (a gift from one of my friends), which we've already started to pack for the hospital trip.

Bedding is on, and bumper will come off soon, but we're currently hiding some tiny clothes and receiving blankets in there until we have the room organization all sorted out. There is also a crib skirt in the works to hide the playpen that is stored under the crib (a gift from my parents at Saturday's baby shower).

She's already spoiled with lots of stuffed animals. The giant teddy bear was a gift from B's parents on Saturday, and those polka dot stuffed animals in the basket were made by B's Mom, using the receiving blankets that match our Dwell Studio bedding. 

... And, just a little look at the stuff we've been collecting for baby's gallery wall. The B was also made by B's Mom for "baby". 

We're getting there, and at least feel confident at this point that if she were to arrive tomorrow, we'd have a comfy little room to bring her home too. I'm determined to get the room organized by the end of this week, but this will probably be your last look until the final reveal... which of course may come after the baby comes.

Now my question to you, as we continue to fill our nursery - what did you find the most useful thing to have on hand in your nursery and what wasn't so useful? Or maybe you have some advice for our overnight bags for the hospital? What did you find best to have on hand for you and for baby in that first day together in the hospital?