Custom Baby!

Anyone who has watched their home transform from a nice, clean, adult living space to an overwhelming playground for BABY will appreciate this... custom swing and bouncy chair covers!!!

After inheriting a gently used swing and bouncy chair from a friend, I decided to give them new life and make them coordinate with my apartment decor at the same time... I used the existing covers as the templates and just sewed my cute fabrics right over them.

The bouncy chair required one extra step, sanding and spraying the red frame the same antique white found in the rest of the "nursette."

And after a few hours of drying, here is the bamboo bouncy chair, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby M in just 4 short weeks!!!

If you are interested in making custom baby covers, don't hesitate to contact me for pricing/lead times! (emily@georgeinteriordesign.com)

Baby Maynard's "Nursette" Reveal!

So here we are. 11 weeks until go time and I'm finally ready to debut baby Maynard's "nursette!" Drumroll please...


Let me part our new draperies from the Shade Store (online)... And here is your first peak!


Just to give you a tiny bit of perspective... our little baby room is actually the "dinette" space off the kitchen where we USED to eat our meals. (We now have a high cocktail table in front of the sofa instead). When you only have 500 sf of living space.. you have to get CREATIVE!!! Here is the only "before" pic I have of the old dinette. It's dark but you can see the arch leading to the space.

We have a floating sofa in the middle of the living room and a full wall of storage for my design business. That door leads to the bath and bedroom at the back.

We'll start the baby off in the bassinet which was something I picked up with my mom from a Tiburon, CA. consignment store and drove home a few months back. The chandelier was an Ebay find that sparkles and glistens hopefully much to the baby's delight!


I found this great Thomasville faux bamboo armoire at a consignment store in Torrance called "Deja New" and negotiated a pretty great price to create a closet for my baby girl. It was a little shabby after years of neglect but it doesn't get much cuter than that bamboo trim running along the perimeter and I knew it had potential...

Here is the furniture in the "nursette," right before we painted and my adorable hubby removed the bottom shelf and installed a hanging bar for his baby girls new clothes.

And here it is post-painting with the raffia-covered-backing, hardware, and hanging bar waiting to be re-installed.


And at last... after several weeks passed, here it is painted, modified and raffia'd. Isn't it so cute!! It's even cuter filled with all the adorable infant clothing and gifts given to us by our amazing family and friends (THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!)...





And the little drawers, also filled to the brim:


And my all-time FAVORITE outfit.. You better believe there will be a photo session in this little shin-dig!


Lastly, the changing table -- also a consignment store pick up with a fresh coat of paint.


If only I could decide what fabrics I want to use for baby bedding, etc. I'm also working on what to do about covering up this door... stay tuned for that one or let me know your ideas!!

And finally... the parents to be... in just 11 short weeks!! (or something like that, I guess we'll have to wait and see.)





And last but not least... our first born, George-the-dog, (with niece Luciana) playing the guinea pig in our new Baby Jogger stroller which we couldn't be more excited about. (thank you mom and dad, I love you!!!)

Rael's Nursery

Here are a few photos of the nursery I designed for this sweetie...

I've mentioned earlier that we are currently living in a blah, carpeted apartment and are not allowed to paint our white walls. Oh, and did I already mention the lack of architectural features? When creating my daughter's room I had a few parameters that I didn't like, but had to obey. One, no painting. And two, it had to house my desktop computer and samples. In order to fit everything in and not stare at ugly office stuff from the doorway (I always like the bed/crib to be the first thing I see in a bedroom), this was the floor plan I decided on...

Once the floor plan was finalized, I thought about a starting point. I found this amazing "Rosie Babe" quilt from Monaleisa on Etsy, and the color scheme was set. I love the traditional coziness a quilt brings to a room, but especially like how this particular quilt was made of adorable bright and modern fabrics. This perfect mix of traditional and modern became the focal point above the crib...

I've starting collecting Rs to hang near the doorway and really like how they look together. The fabric and metal ones are from Anthropologie, the white wood version from Kohls, and the craft paper from Jo-Anns. The Morigeau-Lepine crib was a hand-me-down - I love its rubbed finish, straight lines and storage drawer (hidden by the crib skirt). Above the crib I hung a bird mobile from Pottery Barn Kids. I love mobiles that hang almost invisibly from the ceiling and move very slowly...

We went with a yellow dresser from Ikea because I liked the straight lines and the large drawers. It was also the PERFECT size to house a wide change pad and baskets with diapers and creams. To keep all these items from moving around on the dresser, my husband constructed a rectangular frame which we painted yellow and attached to the back of the dresser with metal brackets. I swapped out the top drawer's pulls and replaced them with green glass knobs from Anthropologie. This made the dresser look a bit more unique and feminine. The original photo-collograph print "Fan Training" above the dresser is by printmaker Erik Edson and is one of nine prints in a series inspired by old dictionary/encyclopedia illustrations.

I purchased custom (extra tall) wildflower wall decals from Byrdie Graphics on Etsy because we weren't able to paint. I really, really love the way they turned out - perfectly girlie without being too babyish! We wrapped them around the crib, and even onto the mirrored closet doors. In fact, I think my favorite flower is the dandelion on the mirror (pictured above). I think these are a great way to add color to a room without painting, and there are some adorable designs out there for kids' rooms.

My big splurge was the Luca glider from Monte Design. It is so comfy yet compact, and will work in any bedroom after the babies have grown up. I would definitely buy this glider again! I tested my sewing skills by making the dupioni silk curtains, and found the garden stool perfect for holding some books at Costco. 

I think she likes her room...

And We Have A Winner...

Last night I used random.org to select a

winner for our CSN Baby $60 gift card giveaway.

Congratulations entry #12, k_mortson!

And because you all deserve a prize, some lovely Sarah Richardson nursery pictures. Here is the nursery she designed for her first daughter, Robin. Wish I could find some photos for her younger daughter's room too!

We are going to wrap up this baby-bonanza with some photos of the nursery I created for my little babe.
Check back for those Thursday Friday!

It's A Giveaway, Baby!

We're teaming up with CSN to give one of our readers a $60 gift certificate. You can use it on any of their websites, but we are going to show you some of the goodies found specifically on CSN Baby because we're going baby crazy this week!

To Enter:

1. We've JUST added the follower function to our blog, so please add yourself as a follower.

2. Leave us a comment telling us your favorite baby names right now. I think this will be fun, because I happen to know there are a bunch of pregnant ladies out there currently!

(Also, leave your email address or make sure your name is linked to your own blog so we can contact you if you win)

3. Optional, if you blog or tweet about our giveaway, come back and enter again!

We will be picking the winner randomly on Monday, May 31st at 9pm EST.

Now on to some of my favorite baby items available at CSN Baby. I'm only adding things that I think are really useful, because you tend to go overboard as a new mom buying EVERYTHING, and really not everything is necessary.

My must-haves...

A diaper bag is key. You need lots of space, those little bundles require LOTS OF STUFF. Here are three dot options from three price points. Starting at the top and most expensive is Dwell, then SkipHop, and lastly Carter's.

I really like a mobile, and so does my daughter. She still spends lots of time staring at her birds. I'm a little picky about these, however, and only like the ones that hang from the ceiling on thin wire. I love how they move so beautifully and here are some cute options...

The hooded towel is a good idea. All babies are wiggly, and these help to keep them warm and cozy after a bath. Plus, what baby does look darling wearing a hood?! I love these Dwell patterns...

Lastly, all kiddos need toys. I really look out for non-toxic wood toys, and love these options. My daughter loves her clacking pull toy, shape sorter and is quite the musician with her xylophone...

I better hurry. Speaking of babies, mine just woke up and is demanding rather loudly that I rescue her asap! More baby design coming this week!