Finley's Modern, Green Nursery...on a Budget!

Why hello there, loyal readers! Thanks so much for sticking around despite my long absence! I've been wanting to return for many weeks now, but boy do my days with little Finley fly. I'm committed to carving out some time to devote to my adventures in the blogosphere; I can't promise posts will be as frequent as they were in the pre-mommy days, but they'll be a lot more regular than they've been in the last 6 months!

I thought we'd jump start my return from maternity leave with a week long tour of Finley's modern, green nursery. In the final months of my pregnancy, my nesting instincts kicked into high gear and I spent many an evening painting, sewing, and surfing the Internet for nursery design inspiration. I wanted Finley's room to be all about harmonious contrasts...calm yet colorful, homemade yet modern, clean yet comfy, playful yet sophisticated...and most importantly green (yet on a budget). Compromises were made along the way -- Walmart. Sigh. -- but I'm thrilled with the results nonetheless. And for the record: Yes, having a pretty room in which to clean your baby's pooplosions makes all the difference in the world.

Let's begin the tour with the nursery's design focal point: The mural. Throughout my pregnancy, I frequently checked out the fabulous OhDeeDoh.com for inspiration, and it struck big time when I saw the Seuss-inspired tree mural created by reader Craig. Following in Craig's creative footsteps, I cut out three different sized circles using soup cans and other round shapes around the house, spent a couple of hours tracing them onto the wall, and then freehanded four wobbly Birch tree trunks. I then painted everything using Benjamin Moore's Natura paint (no VOCs!).


And so -- after a long delivery -- voila! The crisp, whimsical focal point of the nursery was born.



Tune in tomorrow for more on Finley's ecochic pad!