8.21.2007

Charlie's Closet

We played around a bit with the layout of our house to have a place for Charlie to sleep. We do have three bedrooms, and the boys share one, but the extra room is quite large, right next to the boys, and all the way down the hall from me. OK, so the hall isn't that long, but in the middle of the night, it might as well have the dimensions of Versailles' Hall of Mirrors.

Fortunately, we have a largish closet in our room (about 8 feet by 7) with a little window. It was poorly set up as a closet and we were looking into getting new rods, shelves, etc., when it occurred to me that it could be a nice little baby room. Right next to ours, and not close to the boys where the baby could wake them (or they could wake the baby) at inappropriate times.

And there's a large closet in the hall with rods and shelves that works quite well for a master closet. So we did the switcheroo, bought some paint, and Charlie (since he is already too large for his cradle - waaaa!) is now nicely installed in the closet.

I did take before pictures, but am afraid they were replaced with other files (I was having camera/computer/3-year-old-helper problems a couple weeks ago), so you only get to see the after. But trust me, it's an improvement - David did a wonderful job humoring me. And patching and sanding.

About the time I was trying to decide how to paint the room, Auntie S gave us this quilt, which my grandmother made. My grandma has made such a quilt for most of her 27 grandchildren, and Calvin and Henry also have quilts with her trademark points on the edges. Auntie S also handed down a set of red and white gingham bedding that tied into the little gingham squares in the quilt.

I matched the red color then chose a ccomplimentary blue color with the color selector at Home Depot, and that's where I got the colors for the stripes on the walls.

Then I did a gingham treatment on the dresser drawers (which needs some serious touch-up, but I'll get to it later...)


My favorite part of it is this poster for a book festival David and I went to right after he came home from Iraq. I am going to have it matted and framed for the wall. It has the light blue and dark blue colors (which, in real life, match the walls), and wonderful red and white accents. Plus it's by a Russian artist, Gennady Spirin, whose whimsical and beautiful illustrations I love. (He has a children's alphabet book that I am currently dreaming of and drooling over...)

David says the room reminds him of the Hotel Monaco, a boutique hotel where we've stayed a couple of times. That makes me happy because I like the style - kinda eclectic, with modern and traditional elements and lots of color and bold patterns. I'm going to get a soft rug for the floor and maybe paint some library book shelves for baby board books, but I'm really liking the little space.

Perhaps it will even be boutique enough to be forgiven for keeping my baby in a closet.

18 comments:

Real said...

Wow.

That's really quite beautiful.

Lei said...

What a darling little space you've created. Bravo!

NOBODY said...

Oh my gosh, that IS beautiful. And lucky Charlie! Aves was in our closet. But it was also our closet. She slept under Jay's ties. :)

the lizness said...

at least he doesn't sleep in a dresser drawer. You have that going for you.

Very cute and fabulous! I think I would rather think about how to decorate my non existent nursery than think about all the stuff I will ignore to do after I have this baby :) thanks for the encouraging email.

Anonymous said...

I was all excited a few months ago that you were putting the baby in a closet. I now see your idea is a LOT different then nobody's and myself. SO I am not so excited, more along the lines of shamed:))))) Verry cute room, thanks for sharing. I am going to email you my arrangments for your private entertainment:)

Michelle said...

I love it! No one will know that it is a closet.

The Amazing Trips said...

You've done a great job ... way to use a small space!!

I just read your post below, discussed it with my husband, and our consensus is that the way we cope is to figure out what's important. Quite often, there are things that we have to let slide. Sometimes, it's the laundry. Sometimes, it's not cleaning the bathroom for three weeks. Or more. But, we try to prioritize what is important on any given day ... and usually that is: 1) Feeding the kids; 2) playing with the kids; 3) making sure the kids get their naps.

As much as possible, I do non-related kid work when the kids are napping - or after they go to bed at night. But lately - this is the time that I've been blogging or writing thank you notes.

Housework will always be there.

I'm nervous and yet excited to see how you are going to incorporate school in to your life. I'm also really proud/impressed that you are taking it on. You GO girl!!!

KatieBug said...

That looks great! I want to sleep there! :)

Sketchy said...

That's adorable! When we were trying for our first baby we were living in an apartment that had a largish closet and we were definitely planning on it for the baby's room - so I won't judge! I think its the perfect solution.

Unknown said...

That's SO awesome! My sil's bedroom growing up was probably only about 7 x 10 if that. It was very small, so especially for a baby-sized person, the closet dimensions are perfect.

megachick said...

that looks so comfortable, i can't even imagine it as a closet. too big, i'd think.

Family W said...

Hi, I just meandered over from Morning Glory's blog. The room looks great, I love the gingham!

someone else said...

That's one of the cleverest ideas I've seen lately. What a great makeover idea and job well done.

Ice Cream said...

Wowsers! Would you like to come to my place and fix all my closets??? It looks fabulous.

Shannon said...

Looks great, Traci! I didn't know about color prestidigitation at Home Depot. I'm a paint-o-phobic and have consequently lived in white-walled quarters for . . . um, all of my adult life. You inspire me. . . . That is, you inspire me to do something with my white walls once I move from a location that isn't an ocean away from the nearest Home Depot.

Anonymous said...

So adorable... I love the shades of red and blue you chose. They are very soothing.

Baby Ruth is set up in our closet right now too-- it will make a fun story for her when she's older.

Trina and Jophie said...

I love it! It's adorable!

My sister did the very same thing with their master closet for my nephew...It was just as cute as can be.

Trina

Blackeyedsue said...

You are insanely talented! I wouldn't mind sleeping in the closet if it looked like that!