Nick and I have been hard at work prepping and DIY-ing in prep for the little one to arrive.  I’ve been imaging and adding (read: changing the scope) to our projects for months.  And it has finally come together! so excited to share our nursery.  I chose a neutral yellow, gray, light green colour theme AND a hotair balloon theme. I love the brightness of the room and I find myself just sitting in the chair imagining hours to be spent here with the baby.

The main focal point is definitely the crib – we chose a crib that was simple and found one at a great price at Sears!

The biggest splurge was the nursing rocking chair…I couldn’t resist – it’s from Pottery Barn – even with their 20% event, it was still an “investment”.

we IKEA hacked to create a window bench – one where we turned a Kallax shelf for seating bench, and Nick DIY a corner chest to connect it together.  I just love it. Made some throw pillows in different sizes to complete the look.  I read also that black out curtains are a must – but couldn’t find any decent ones that are ivory/white colour.  So ordered some Blackout fabric and sewed it to Ikea curtains, and voila!  DIY a window valence (my first ever) from a foam board to make it more polished.

Other decor stuff to add to the completed look

Can’t wait to bring the baby home and start enjoying this room together!

Did I tell you that I have a handy husband?! I didn’t know myself when I married him 😛 I envisioned a window bench where the baby can sit and read with storage of toys and random baby stuff underneath.  Thanks to Pinterest, there are a lot of Ikea Kallax bench hacks, but to my surprise, Nick decided he was going to make a corner chest to connect it together. sure, why not?!

laying down the base

the plans

warning: heavy heavy pictures in this post!

Pinterest strikes again with inspiration for my living room – it’s been missing a coffee table…something I have been shopping around for awhile.  Too bad my taste seems to be out of my desired budget range.  Enter Ikea Lack coffee table hack!  $39.99+tax later, my white Lack coffee table is ready to assemble.   Simple as always to put together, it took longer to get the box to open, and clean up after my puppy Ellie got to the pieces.

Here’s the coffee table as it is straight from Ikea…pretty plain, but size wise perfect! (Length: 46 1/2 “, Height: 17 3/4 “, Width: 30 3/4 “)

I came across a Pinterest post that was super smart and creative – she used Ikea Malma mirrors as the backdrop for her photos.  Brilliant! and so cheap!  I love Ikea hacks!  Rather than getting a typical photo frame that would be easy $5-10 each, the Malma mirrors was $1.99 each!  Plus it is surprisingly hard to find a frame that has a square insert.  Ikea had one, but it was $12 each.  nope.  that just won’t do.

This little arts and craft project was fun and super easy. and really took all of 15 minutes to do.  I would say the hardest/longest part was opening up the tight plastic that came with the mirror!

Oh, and the actual hanging of the frame afterwards by Nick took some time – not because it was difficult – he just put in a screw with a head that would fit into the pre-drilled hole at the back of the frame. He likes to use his laser leveler and ensure everything is measured out and precise. super cute.

Here’s all I used to do this project.  Trusty Mod Podge glue that I already had, paper cutter (already had), a small sponge brush, and the Ikea Malma frames. I didn’t bother sending my pictures to a print shop, I just did it on my colour laser at home.  Total cost including tax: $13.56 for 6 framed Instagram pictures of my puppy!

Since I had my paper cutter, I thought I would bust it out instead of using boring scissors.  made the project seem that much more hardcore lol.  each picture was cut to 3.75″ x 3.75″.  I love my puppy pictures!

My little lemon tree came in a 10″ black plastic pot with drainage holes on the bottom and sides.  Currently it’s sitting on top of a baking tray because that’s the only thing I have at home to hold any water that may seep out.  Not too pretty…so comes project Terra Cotta pot!

Found a 12″ terra cotta pot from Ikea on sale for $3.99.  what a deal!  I decided that I would seal it, paint it, glaze it and voila – as good as any other $30 dollar pots.

Step 1 – grab a 40% off coupon from Michael’s and get a sealer and paint.  Decided on a bright yellow and plain white paint colour.  Bought mod podge sealer.

Step 2 – tape up paint areas – paint away – 3 coats seems to do the trick