And I’m here to report that I haven’t held back any when it comes to the details in van’s nursery.

{it’s the designer in me- what can I say?!?}

Here are a few sneak peaks…

We’ve still got some painting left to do and we also have to get the closet organized, but I think we are in the home stretch!

I’m really excited at how it is coming together.  Kinda hard to believe that in about 13 weeks it will be occupied by Mr. vB’s mini-me.

Like Father like Son..

{thanks Martha and Marty- we LOVE this onesie!!}

Seems that Mr. vB has been drinking from the “same water” that I have been.  Meaning that he too put it in high gear this weekend to get some major things accomplished in van’s nursery.

Remember me mentioning that our plan was to incorporate a sliding  “barn” door into our design?  We figured that would be the best way to close off that 6 foot opening between our bedroom and the nursery, but also allow for great flow when the door was open. Plus it wouldn’t take up any extra floor space as it would easily glide and sit against the wall.

But we had to accomplish a few steps before we could put the door up.  First, hang the flat screen tv INTO the wall vs. onto the wall so the door could pass in front of it.  {See that mess project here and here.}  Second, find and buy budget friendly barn door hardware.  {Did that here and here.}  Third, design door layout and figure out how much wood it would take to build.  No sweat right?

So by this weekend, we were ready to roll. TV was safely hanging in the wall and door hardware had arrived. All that was left to do was beg brother-in-law Justin to help Mr. vB put it all together.

Here’s their progress in photos.

The Blank Canvas

The 10′ Rail that had to be bolted into the beam.

Only had to move it 3 times to get it to the right level.  Gotta love old houses- neither the ceiling nor the floor is square.

Time to make the donuts, oh I mean make the door.

I would love to know what Justin is thinking in this photo.  Maybe- “A barn door- really?” or “I shoulda said I was busy.”

I like the way Mr. vB worked the letter V into the design.  Subtle but personalized!

Ready to hang!

TA-DA! Opened…

And Closed… PERFECT!!

And here’s the view from van’s nursery.

It is definitely a bit more massive than I imagined, but it IS a 5′-8″ wide by 8′ tall slab of wood. I’m not sure what I was thinking- it certainly wasn’t going to be dainty. Now it is my job to prime and paint the door and repaint the wall where the TV is.  Justin had a good idea that since the nursery side of the door is plain, we should incorporate some type of mural or design onto the door.  Interesting. The idea got both our wheels turning.  We are throwing around a few ideas. Will keep you updated with the progress!!

Apparently receiving “baby stuff” has put me in full gear to get van’s nursery finished.

I spent last weekend measuring and taping off the final stripes.

And by mid-week I was finished painting!

Pretty cute, if I do say so myself!!

{please excuse the mess in the corner}

And then yesterday, American Express delivered us a great Baby gift.  What? Do you not have that kind of relationship with your credit card company?? ha-ha  Let me explain.

On one of my recent business trips, I was hanging in my hotel room surfing through my favorite blogs, when I came across this post on Nursery Gliders over at Aubrey + Lindsay’s Blog.  Mr. vB and I have been debating on the kind of glider we want for our little guy, so I clicked on the links she provided.  Next thing I knew I was on the Restoration Hardware Baby and Child Site staring at this beauty.

I wasn’t sure if it was that big red SALE sign that attracted me or that it came in aqua with white piping, but I was in love.

But here is where it gets really good.  So I have been saving up my American Express Reward Points for the past 4 years figuring that one day I would have enough to spend on something nice.  Lately I have been thinking I could put the points towards a glider at Pottery Barn Kids, but those gliders seemed very large and out of our budget even with the rewards points.  After I saw this glider at Restoration Hardware, I quickly went to my rewards site to see if they were a participating vendor.  And guess what?  THEY WERE!! The next day I called and I was able to score a $500 gift card to put towards the purchase of this chair.

BUT WAIT- it still gets better.

I was telling my buddy Adrienne about my score purchase and she told me that Restoration was running a promo that if you signed up for their online Baby Registry you could get a $100 voucher towards any purchase over $400.  I quickly headed over to their site and sure enough, once I signed up for a few items, a $100 voucher was headed my way.  I thought it might be too good to be true that I could use it in conjunction with my gift card, but I called Customer Service to ask.  Sure enough they said I could!!  Another Score!!

But we’re still not done saving money…

I then received an email from Restoration Hardware last week saying that my chair had gone on clearance and that I could save an additional 10% off the purchase.  Again I picked up the phone and called my friends at RH to see if I could get a price adjustment to reflect the clearance price.  And guess what they said?? {I’m starting to feel like a broken record here} YES! YES! YES!  Actually that is probably what I said after I hung up the phone.

Here’s the final breakdown in case my super long story has got you super confused.

The Classic Track Arm Swivel Glider…originally $999 but on sale for $599.

So $599, minus $500 Amex Points, minus $100 voucher, minus 10% extra off for clearance...

EQUALS an almost free chair.

It’s like they are paying us to take it from them.  All we have to pay is about $150 for freight and tax.  Plus I think they actually owe me $60 because the total of the chair came to $439 before we used the $500 gift card.  {Have no fear I will be calling my buddies in customer service shortly to inquire! ha-ha}

I’m excited to report that yesterday afternoon about 4:30 Restoration Hardware came knocking on our door.

And here’s the beauty they delivered..

Sorry for the wrinkles.. I was too excited to get the slipcover on to steam it first.

And isn’t the aqua fabric the perfect match to my stripes?!

I’m in LOVE!!!

Thanks American Express!

As promised, Mr, vB and I got to work finishing up the mess he we made in the master bedroom last weekend.

Actually let me clarify, Mr. vB worked on the drywall, spackling, etc to finish off the construction of the recessed TV.  While I continued to work on painting the nursery. BRAVO to my readers who spied the horizontal stripes in the background of this photo.

What you didn’t see is that the stripes are actually going to be turquoise and white.  My scheme is to keep it simple and fresh looking by playing up the turquoise chandelier and the turquoise/white knobs on the dresser {soon to be changing table}.

Plus since it’s going to be a fairly small nursery, I thought some stripes would really give it the punch that I am looking for.

Here’s the only other sneak peak I’m going to give you until it is all finished.

And here’s Mr. vB’s progress on the big ol’ hole in the wall.

Now we just have to sand, apply another coat of spackle, sand again, and paint. All I can say is that I hope after all this work, the dang sliding door works like we want it to!!

So on my lunch break yesterday I popped into Anthropologie.  BAD IDEA! So many cute things not meant for a pregnant person to wear.  It was almost cruel.

Once I stopped focusing on the clothes and onto their home-goods is when the real fun began.

I came across this and just COULDN’T leave it at the store.

It/He {still working on the perfect name} was begging for me to buy him and hang him in the nursery.  I did check with the clerk and if worse came to worse and Mr. vB thought I was crazy, she did say I could return it.

But, no need to!  Mr. vB loved him!

And as I type, Mr. No Name Zebra Head is hanging in his new home!

Now maybe I need to focus on more baby related things for the nursery, like say a crib?

Mr. vB and I got to work on the nursery for the first time this past 3 day weekend.. and WHAT A MESS we created!!!

I worked in the actual nursery, while Mr. vB created the mess worked in the adjoining master bedroom.  Remember how I hinted that we were going to do a sliding door across the opening between the 2 rooms?

Well we ran into a bit of a snag.

The wall on the nursery side wasn’t long enough for the 6 foot sliding door to sit against. While in the master bedroom we had plenty of room, but our flat screen TV was in the way.

So what did we do?

Typical vB style, we ripped a gigantic hole in the wall so the TV could be recessed into it.  Which in turn would allow the new door to slide seamlessly in front if it.  A great solution right?  Mr. vB did warn me that it was going to be a gigantic mess, but it never really hits me until I see it for myself.  He was correct.  It was a MESS!!

Here’s the play by play…

First Mr. vB taped off where the TV would sit into the wall.  Then using a circular saw he cut the square out.

This is where the mess came from.  Of course this wall was one of the original plaster and lathe walls as you can see below.  This meant that the plaster crumbled every time Mr. vB removed a piece.

Finally he cut out the existing studs and relocated them with new 2×4′s for wall support and  TV support.  He also relocated the power and cable.

And viola… 3 hours later, a recessed TV.

This picture immediately makes me think of the movie The Money Pit. {remember with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long?} I think it is because of the crumbling wall and exposed lathe.  Very classy looking I know.

This coming weekend we plan on removing the TV, dry-walling the opening, adding some trim and then painting it all.  At that point it should be less Money Pit-ish and more High Dollar!  Or let’s at least hope so!!!

P.S.  If you look really hard at the photo above you can also catch a glimpse of what I was busy working on in the nursery!  Any guesses?!?

This one has been going on behind the scenes for a little over 3 months now.  It’s the true reason for my lack of posting, our lack of taking on new renovation projects, and {TOTAL} lack of feeling like doing anything else than laying in my bed!!

Have you guessed yet? 

WE’RE PREGNANT!!!

Mr. vB and I are so excited. You’ve seen in previous posts, how much fun we have with all our niece and nephews.  Now we get to spoil our own kid rotten!! {have no fear Maddy, Travers, or Philip- we will still spoil you too!}

We just finished up our 1st trimester and I’m anxiously awaiting the morning sickness and hyper-sensitvity to smell to come to an end!!  I literally cannot walk anywhere on the 1st floor of our house with gagging. {I blame it on the new sisal rug in the kitchen and dining room.} It REALLY puts a cramp in my everyday routine. Also no more coffee, no more fried foods, and no more cooking in general.  Poor Mr. vB hasn’t had a home cooked meal in over 2 months!!

But I am quite excited to get working on the nursery!!  We are planning on using the small sitting room right off the master bedroom, which will be just perfect.  Enough room for a crib, changing table, and a glider!  But it will require a bit of work.  We will be adding a door that will slide across the opening between the 2 rooms, as well as doing some fun painting.  I’m envisioning a very fresh, crisp nursery that isn’t overly boy OR girl.  Ideas are swirling in my head!  Can’t wait to get Mr. vB focused started on it!

Here’s a sneak peek at the room before. (Disclaimer: the room is still junked up from when we moved everything upstairs to refinish the hardwood floors.  You know I’m not normally such a pack rat!)

So now you know and I ask you forgive me for the lack of excitement around this blog recently.  Things are gonna pick up soon I promise!  Stay Tuned!