My best friend is expecting her first baby (it's a girl!)
and after years of beaming over how I've painted every room in our first home
and then showing off the latest painting projects to her in our new place, I
guess I shouldn't have been surprised that I found myself agreeing to paint her
baby's nursery.
At first, I didn't think I could live up to all the
expectations… it's like trimming your own bangs - it's easy when they are yours
but then when a girlfriend asks you to do hers, you suddenly panic and doubt
your scissor skills. Okay, that's a really specific example, but you know what
I mean.
So I took on what ended up being an adventure of many
painting "firsts" for me. Not only was this the first room I painted
not in my own house, but my bff wanted to go with contrasting stripes and I had
never done anything like that before. The pressure!
I felt like if I messed this up, this child would forever be
scarred and if she ended up in jail at 18, I could see my best friend coming to
me, weeping as she said, "If only you had painted her nursery better, she
wouldn't have taken this path." The future of this unborn child rested
solely in my paint brush holding hands.
Luckily, my bff is the sweetest person in the world and her unwavering
confidence in my abilities gave me the push I needed to tackle the project…
well, her and that adorable baby girl that is currently baking in her belly.
So here's the low down...
First, this is going to be a girl… and a GIRLY girl no doubt
because my bff is as fabulous and trendy as they come. But the room they chose
for the nursery was a blah, boy blue:
My bff came up with the greatest color scheme… the furniture
is black, the accents are hot pink and she wanted the striped walls to be
shades of warm white. But to ensure that the white paint would be true to color,
I had to use primer over the blue to create a more workable surface. That was
phase one.
Then we moved onto phase two: putting on the darker, base
color, which was called "California White:"
I learned that do ensure crisp stripes, I would need to use
"edge lock" tape - 3M sells it and its competitors offer similar products.
Because the edge lock-specific tape is really tacky to
ensure that no paint leaks through, you must allow your base color to cure for
at least 2 weeks before taping otherwise the tape will take it off and damage
your recent paint job.
So a few weeks went by and then I embarked on phase 3: the
stripes!
I have to tell you, I was losing sleep over these stripes. Sure,
its not rocket science, but I just didn't want to let my bff down! I started
slow and steady and started creating 8 inch stripes painting the contrasting
stripe in a eggshell color, which was lighter than the base:
These were all my bff's design choices, so I can't take
credit for the great color choices, but if you're looking for a dramatic look
without dramatic colors, doing stripes in whites is really a great way to do
it. So ready to see how it turned out??
I'll be honest. The stripes aren't all even or straight, but
I tried. Luckily, the dramatic furniture will mask the imperfections. And when
the baby is old enough to notice the inconsistencies, I left this behind to
remind her that its not HOW the room was painted, rather what it was painted with…
LOVE!
To create this "painted with love by Aunt
Stephanie" sticker, I used standard card stock paper (I found a hot pink
color to match the bedding) and just printed it off my home computer. I then
used modge podge to adhere it to the wall. Super simple.
Phew. The pressure is off! And I KNOW I met the baby's
expectations… do you want to know why I know? She sent me this note from the
womb… she's already a genius (and a fashionista!)…
