Nursery Reveal: Mostly Completed!

It's only "mostly completed" because of our lack of a name for this little guy.  I have two blank walls because the name is involved in my plans for those walls.  Otherwise, it is finished.  Officially, it was finished two days before my due date, which is tomorrow.  Cutting it close this time, wasn't I?

I always pick an artist or work of art and draw the rest of the inspiration for the room decor from that.  Taking colors and a bit of the theme from the paintings I choose to use.  Hannah's was Degas' ballerinas.  Genevieve's was Monet's flowers.  Isaac's was Van Gogh's Starry Night.  Drew's was Paul Signac's sailboats.  For Tad, I first became obsessed with a color scheme, gray, yellow, and some turquoise.  Then I became fixated on horses.  Then the search was on for an artist that did black and white horse pictures or one that had enough highlights of yellow and turquoise to satisfy me.  This was a lot harder than I thought.  Although Degas did have a few drawings of horses I wasn't thrilled about reusing an artist from before.  Brian has a friend from veterinary school, Beau Whitaker, who is an equine vet and draws/paints horses on the side.  He even has an online gallery.  His work is displayed in several places, including Texas A&M University Vet School in the Equine Hospital.  Here is the piece I chose from his gallery, called "Morning Light."

I wanted it big enough to fill that wall and so I got a 30 x 40" canvas print.  It looks great on my freshly painted gray walls. 

Then I added embroidery hoops with fabric.  I had hoped to find more fabric in my color scheme and some with horses, but I had a hard time finding that.  I drew some horses myself and transferred (with a heat transfer pencil) onto the fabrics I found.  Then I embroidered the full horse body, and did a reverse applique for the horse head.  I may do a reverse applique of the first letter of Tad's name later on.  I looked everywhere for a clock that I liked and wasn't too pricey, but I ended up settling on a plain one for now that I plan to embellish with my own horse drawings as well.  That may or may not happen depending on how late this tadpole is.

The cool gray and yellow bag is from Home Goods.  The gray chevron changing pad is from Target.  I made the Batman hooded towel (which I will be adding a name to eventually) that is sticking out of the bag not even thinking of how the colors matched his room.

It's hard to see in this picture, but this is the embroidered full horse.

This is the reverse appliqued horse head silhouette. 

I had Brian hang these two shelves that had been in Isaac's room lower on the wall to serve as book shelves that do not require floor space because that is a luxury in this tiny room.

I found this horse Beanie Baby at a flea-market for $1.  The baby cowboy shoes were a gift to Drew from a friend.  The yellow horse on top, I found at an outlet Carter's store.  The yellow ball is something I crocheted for Drew when I was pregnant with him.

This shelf has Tad's yellow Peep that I bought him on my girls weekend away.  I had to fight for that lamp at Ikea.  It was a display and I had driven so far to get this yellow lamp.  All of the ones that showed up as "in stock" online for that store were displays.  They had only funny colors.  I asked enough people and finally someone let me buy it "As is."  

 Then, in hopes of avoiding the need to set up our second crib that we have in the basement, I accepted this hand-me-down bassinet to serve as the crib for as long as possible.  I made Tad this horse blanket out of the only horse fabric Joann's Fabric Store had in stock and some swirly minky fabric for the super soft backing.

It looks like camouflage until you take a second look.  It's a bunch of horses running.

See it now?  It has some gray, but not enough to be on the walls.

 The piece that I just finished yesterday is the mobile.  I found an inspiration here, and later I found a pattern for sale for these cute felt horses.  I sewed while I watched a favorite series with my husband most nights for a couple of weeks.  My good friend found me this cowboy hat for cheap at a party store.  I put a few holes in it and hung up my gray horses.

 The girls love to contribute to the baby's room.  Hannah mad Drewy a pillow with a lighthouse and sailboats when he was in my tummy.  This time she drew a picture of a horse.  Her German Tutor helped label his parts in German and we decided it was just what we need to go on the name shelf that I don't have yet (since we don't have a name!  It's driving me a little crazy too.  You're not the only one.)

Right now Hannah's masterpiece is hanging out on the changing table.

Genna is a huge horse lover and somewhere along the way she was given this little kit to make a stained glass horse.  She found it a couple of weeks ago and asked if she could make it for the baby.

Genna's horse is hanging in the window.

Okay, actually this piece was the last to be finished.  I saw a Pottery Barn wall decal of a horse made out of the cursive alphabet.  It was in pink and from Pottery Barn, which Brian has a thing against Pottery Barn.  Anyway, I figured I could do a small scale pencil version of this and frame it for something extra in Taddy's room.  It took all of 15 minutes to make.  I have since moved it to the top of one of the book shelf cubbies, next to the yellow horse.

Again, thanks to my mediocre camera and photography skills, you can't really see the cursive alphabet.  

 Here are some room pictures, now that I have shown all the details up close.  I love it!  I like to go just sit and look at it when everyone is in bed asleep.

The adorable down comforter cover and pillow sham is from the Land of Nod.  I stole yellow and gray stuffed animals from the boys' room to throw on the bed.

The rocking chair is not in here yet because it is still being used in Drew and Isaac's room.  My mom is coming to stay with us and the bassinet is moving to my room when Tad comes home form the hospital.  I am disappointed that the curtains don't match, but not willing to part with these awesome room darkening navy curtains.  It will have to do for now even though I am super tempted to take the gray ones out of our bedroom and switch them just to make it prettier.  However, then my bedroom would look funny.

You can follow my brainstorming on my Tad's Nursery Pinterest Board.  That's about it for now.  Hop on over to Beau Whitaker's website gallery if you are a horse lover or an art lover!  His artwork look like photographs.  Unbelievable!