Lane & Tom’s Shared Nursery Tour

In our two-bedroom apartment, Lane (age 3) and Tom (5 months) share a bedroom. We call it the nursery.

If it looks big in the photos, it’s because we kept the furniture to a small scale to save space. (For example, Lane has a toddler bed instead of a twin.) We wanted to maximize the open floor space so there could be plenty of room to play.

Our home is grounded in shades of brown — wood, leather, baskets, and linen — and the nursery has its share of brown too. We balanced it with white curtains and bedding to emphasize the light that pours in the southern window. The kids’ toys and accessories provide the bright colors without being too much.

Colorful outfits on wooden hangers announce who lives in this room.

In the center is an iron mantle I found at an antique junk shop. It had an amazing patina, but rusty bare iron isn’t well-suited for a nursery, so we had to paint it. I’m still not sure how I feel about that.

If you’re counting, I have three mantels, but no real fireplace. (The others are the one in the living room and the one we use as a headboard in the bedroom.)

In one corner is the play kitchen, and it’s set apart from the rest of the room by a heavy brown sewing cabinet I bought at a flea market 10 years ago.

Over the years the sewing cabinet has been storage, a diaper changing table, and most recently, a hiding place. A couple of years ago we put a light, a bench, and a secret shelf inside.

The dresser is a Craigslist find. The kids’ clothes fit in the dresser, which makes their closet available for general household storage (the back room).

We turned vinyl rain gutters into book shelves. They can be cut to any length, and these are mounted on the wall behind the door. It’s an efficient way to use space that would otherwise be empty.

Details

The simple chandelier is a single lamp cord with 11 small glass balls from CB2 suspended around it. I made it in 20 minutes, and the instructions are here. Total cost: $30.

We made the bed canopy by hanging a pair of sheer curtains from IKEA on a big embroidery hoop. I wasn’t sure if it would last, but we hung it up about a year ago and it still looks nice. Total cost: $8.

There’s no fancy toy storage here. The shelves are just two boards and a couple of brackets. The baskets are from IKEA.

Lane uses the top shelves and Tom gets the bottom shelf.

We keep only half of the toys available at a time, and the rest of the toys go in a storage box in the back room. It would be better if this box wasn’t see-through.

The dollhouse is the first thing kids are drawn to when they come over to play. Doug built it for Lane from a kit. The furniture is from my vintage Little People dollhouse.

The magnetic boards are great for a child’s room or a homeschool classroom. They are found at IKEA also.

Under the crib makes a nice reading spot. We pile a bunch of pillows and blankets under there to make a nest.

The much-loved cardboard robot was shared here.

~ The End ~

DIY Glass Bubble Chandelier

When we desired a new light to go over the dining table, I wasn’t thinking about making one. Then I remembered designer Jean Pelle’s instructions to make a chandelier at ReadyMade.

A chandelier would be much nicer than our old light fixture.

The original design for the chandelier used porcelain sockets and coiled string. We used galvanized pipe and IKEA.

Materials

• 18 4-inch glass bubble balls from CB2 ($2 each)
• 4 cord sets from IKEA ($4 each)
• 20 gauge floral wire ($1)
• fishing line ($1)
• galvanized electrical conduit and fittings ($12)
• 4 25-watt clear bulbs ($1 each)

Total cost: $70

Method

1. Use scissors to cut the floral wire into 1.5″ lengths, and then bend a small loop.

2. Tie fishing line through the wire loop, and push it into the hole in the glass ball. Now you can hang it.

3. The cords run through the pipe and join at the top.

Is the light off-center over your table? No problem, you can extend it as far as you need. You can also paint it. We like the industrial look.

(Don’t be confused by the change in wall color. Our lease says we can only paint one accent wall per room, so the ceiling and other walls are apartment-beige.)

4. You can see how the lamp cords come out the bottom. Start tying the glass balls to the end of the pipe.

5. Keep adding more until you think you have enough.

And that’s it! We like it, so we made a smaller, easier version for the nursery too.

What is Your Absolute Favorite Cookbook?

photo by yomi955

This year, 2010, is the year I learn how to cook. I just know it.

Up until recently I’ve been getting by with a few signature recipes that I made over and over again until I could get them right all the time. But with my family’s diet changes over the last couple of years, those recipes have fallen by the wayside.

I’ve been exploring new cookbooks from the library, selecting a few recipes from each one to try.

My favorite cookbook (and really, the only one I own) is The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam from Elana’s Pantry.

We open it a couple of times a week to make comfort foods like biscuits and cookies.  The simple, short list of ingredients makes each recipe easy to prepare, and the results taste so good. It’s been the perfect book to cook from with my three-year-old daughter. We bond over baking.

Do you keep anything inside your favorite cookbooks?

I’ve heard from several readers who say they keep little notes, photos, or memory verses inside their cookbooks. I love that idea.

Staying the Course

After a particularly difficult week, it’s easy to become discouraged. Thoughts of “What am I doing here?” and “Why am I doing this?” start creeping in.

I make most of my choices by personal conviction, so in moments of doubt, I return back to the way I felt and the words I wrote when my choice seemed most clear.

When I’m frustrated with the kids and our stuff is impossible to pick up, when I long to have some form of visible proof of at least one thing I was successful at that day, I remember the day I called work to quit my job and stay home.

Or when the day calls for a root beer because that’s what I used to need when I wanted a caffeine and sugar boost. But then I remember declaring I was giving it up in Really Doing It This Time. It’s been about 5 months of not drinking soda (except for a couple of times we were away from home). A thirty-year habit takes longer than five months to completely get over.

When I’m out shopping and the Valentine’s baked goods and bread look really tempting for once, and I regret not being able to have them. The list of foods I’m not eating includes dairy, wheat, corn, soy, green vegetables, citrus, wine, coffee, tea, soda, chocolate, and my multivitamin. But because of what I described in Eating Less and Gaining More, it’s not as difficult as it seems it would be.

Our downstairs neighbor is frustrated with us because we’re too noisy. I don’t think she realizes we can hear her watching TV and singing “Love is All You Need.” And what am I doing still living in an apartment, anyway? Then I think about what I wrote in Finding Contentment Where You Are Right Now.

Or maybe you’re trying to get up early, and you could use a reminder of why you wanted to get up early in the first place, when it’s too cold and the bed seems much more inviting.

Write those thoughts down, and don’t give up. (I’d say hang in there, but that reminds me of kitten posters.)