For this reason, I hae been a little nervous about decorating a nursery. Do I do bright and fun and with colors this baby can grow into and enjoy for years? Do I do something more soft and muted since babies can't really see many colors at first anyway? I was really stuck between white versus dark wood furniture for a while and had perused a couple of stores (mostly Target and Pottery Barn Kids) for ideas, when I happened upon the most beautiful set in White! Where did I find this perfect pair of baby furniture?
Craigslist!
Oh how I love a good deal and believe me, this was one really good deal. A family in the suburb just north of us has had this crib and changing table for both of their boys for the last 7 years. Its a Berg crib, which has a great reputation, though they are no longer making baby furniture since they were priced out of the market. I had jumped on Craigslist a few times just to see what was out there and hadn't really loved anything I was seeing, or if i did love it, it was still over $500 or $600 for a crib, which could certainly be a good deal for some manufacturers, but I knew I had time to really look around. Then, I saw the post advertising this furniture! The pics were beautiful, it was white and looked big and sturdy and had a really beautiful shape that would work for a boy or a girl! I emailed Colin immediately, directly followed that email with an inquiry to the lady asking if it was still available. She said she'd had a lot of interest and it was on a first come, first serve basis. I convinced Colin to go up to Mason and look at it with me, and we got it! There are a few minor scratches that I can easily paint over and we had a fun time figuring out how to transport it home, we went two nights later to pick it up. This family is seriously so sweet. They aren't planning on having any more kids, and they're moving across town, so it was time for them to get rid of it. The mom was teary eyed as we were taking it away. But get this, in those 7 years, she had kept the instructions, all the additional parts including a few needed if we ever convert it to a toddler bed. So organized!
Here's a pic of Colin putting it back together in the room that will eventually become the nursery (Colin's currently hard pressed to give up his workout room).
He was so cute. He kept exclaiming how well made it is and how he couldn't believe its all hard-wood (no plywood!) and "check out those joints" and "wow, we got a great deal." Let me tell you this, Baby Beck, when it comes to building forts, tree houses, doll houses, etc, you are one lucky kiddo to have Colin as your daddy.
Here are a few pics of it all put together (without the bedding of course, which we're waiting to pick out once we find out what we're having!):
(sorry these pics are a little dark)
We were just SO excited to find something we love at a great price. We've been talking a lot about our budget lately, because its important to us to continue to live debt free (we put a lot of work into paying off our credit cards, school loans, etc and now we just owe on the house) even though I'll be leaving my job to stay at home with baby. So, things have been pretty comfortable with my income and we know we'll have to tighten up a lot when we're just living on Colin's. I want to be smart and its been a lot of fun to get great ideas from friends (especially you lovely ladies at church) about where to get great maternity clothes, kids toys and books, etc for super inexpensive.
For all of you Cincinnati people who haven't been to the Gap Clearance Outlet in Kentucky, CHECK IT OUT. Wendy and I went a couple weeks ago and I got some amazing deals. It is connected to the distribution center that handles all the defective merchandise though and they don't allow returns so make sure to check everything you're buying for holes and stains.
I have so much more to share about the latest shopping, doctor, and baby adventures, but we'll save those for another day. I need to be a responsible adult and go vote!
