The Nursery is done!

Well, almost. There still are some final touches left, but the major work is done.

Day 5- Today started off slowly, we didn't have any major plans until my parents arrived from Atlanta. They were coming up to enjoy the Fourth of July on the lake with us and I was getting some free labor from Mom. See, I can roll really well, but cutting in, and touching up really isn't my thing but Mom does it really well. So I decided since mom was coming up I would let her touch up the chair rail. It worked out well, while mom was painting I got to point out all the areas that needed just a few more drops of paint. (Why couldn't the whole room have been like this?)

But after the touch up work by mom. The room was DONE! Finished! Completed! Over!. 5 days of hard work and some frustration and we have a wonderful place for our Itty to come home to. In four months.

So, while the paint is drying we took a little walk to the lake and watched the dogs play in the water. All the while the anticipation was growing. The paint was drying. The crib just sitting in its box.

So upon our return home, with the anticipation so thick you could cut it with a knife we carried the crib box into the nursery. And, the with a flourish of a pair of safety scissors the box was open and Itty's crib saw its first light of day.

It took a couple of more cuts, and tears and pulls to finally free the crib from its packaging. The crib was securely wrapped and probably could have withstood an air drop to a remote village in the Sudan. It was pretty simple to put together, but with 4 Orrs in the room, you would have thought we were building the Eiffel tower. Even with all the experts we managed to get the crib together and after some minor surgery (One hole in the spring frame need to be drilled out to accommodate the bolt.) the crib was complete.

After placing the crib in its new home, we brought the rest of the furniture back in the room and the room was done! Finished! Completed! For Now!





Full visual record of the nursery project. Here

Previous Days:
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1

Project Nursery (continued)

Day 4 -

Today started with a slightly more relaxed start. Dave actually took some time to sleep in before admiring his great second coat and beginning his new adventure with hanging a chair rail. He began by installing his new, fancy miter saw blade. Then after careful measurement (he lives by the motto: "Measure twice, cut once!") the first piece was cut and ready to be installed. Unfortunately it wasn't going to go up with quite the ease we were expecting. After a few choice words and some aggression Dave finally found his groove with hanging the chair rail. Unfortunately, there was another bump in the road when it came time to cope the joints. That's when a very smart decision was made, break for lunch and revisit coping the ends after a nice yummy lunch. We met a friend I work with at Big Bit'z (same place we began Day 1 with) and had a very tasty lunch. It was just the right meal for Dave because he did a fantastic job with the three remaining joints which needed coping.


Dave coping a joint!


A completed joint!

At this point I was thinking we were finished with our home improvement project until Dave's parents arrived the next day, but of course I was mistaken. Dave decided he was going to try to caulk the chair rail himself and did a fantastic job (by far his best ever)!! So at the end of our fourth day Miss Itty has a beautiful moonlight painted room, a freshly painted ceiling, super white trim paint, and a chair rail hung 100% by her daddy's love!!


Dave caulking his magnificent chair rail!

Project Nursery (continued)

Day 3 - (a.k.a. Day 2c)
The morning started like yesterday's with a quick entry into the nursery that is slowly forming in front of our eyes. We were eager parents wanting to see our "moonlight" in the morning sun. Dave plugged in the two halogen lights and began to second guess his task of the day. He wasn't sold on the idea that one coat of paint was good enough for his princess-to-be. So together, we moved the light around, squinted our eyes, took the light to another room we had painted in a very pale color for a comparison, and finally Dave decided the nursery needed a second coat. (I was trying my best to avoid having a vocal opinion since all I could help do was bring lemonade during his breaks... but now, I must say that I agree 100% with his decision!) This second coat went up a lot quicker, thank goodness for his sake, and only one battle wound - a callus on one of his fingers.

Later in the afternoon he then proceeded to paint a coat of super white paint on the chair rail in preparation for tomorrow's big task of hanging it.

After Dave's third day of "vacation" and home makeover we wanted to feel like real progress had been made, so we had a little fun with the camera and nursery accessories we have already purchased for Miss Itty!!

Project Nursery (continued)

Day 2 - Today began with an ambious start. Dave began the day sanding down all of the spots he had spackled. After this chore I was finally able to help some by cleaning the walls and base borads to prepare for him to paint the trim and eventually the walls. Dave then began painting all of the trim in the room, along with the closet doors and bedroom door. Unfortunatly the heat did catch up to him since he had to open the window to help prevent painting it shut, but he pushed through with lemonade and my humorous way of trying to sneak in to take pictures of all of his hard work. This workaholic daddy then moved his work to the garage and began sanding and priming the chair rail!





I eventually convienced him to take a break for lunch and to run some errands, on the way home we stopped at Benjamin Moore and Home Depot to buy the supplies needed to paint the walls. After returning home shortly after 5:00 this eager father-to-be got to work. Hours later, Dave had a stiff shoulder, a sweat soaked shirt, and all four walls painted in Moonlight (a pale yellow).



Throughout the night we both walked through the room admiring his hard work and thrilled with how everything was coming together and matching!

Day 1

Project Nursery!

Day 1 (Monday night after leaving Seabrook and visiting with Mimi) - We began our remodel adventure with a trip to Big Bit'z for dinner followed by a shopping trip to Lowes. After getting the necessary supplies we were back home to begin clearing out the room. While clearing out the room Dave realized two items we forgot to pick up at Lowes - so off to Home Depot we went. Upon returning home he began to spackle some irregularities in the wall and sanded some areas I had spackled last week.



Our excitement led into a 9pm decision to start painting the ceiling. So off to Wal-mart I went to get a rolling pan (yet another thing we seem to have forgotten or thought we had at home and of course after 9 Wal-mart is the only option). While driving home with the rolling pan an anxious daddy-to-be called asking how my trip was going and informed me that he had finished cutting in the entire ceiling. (I was only gone for about 30 minutes total.) So at around 9:40 Dave began rolling on the ceiling pant.


The finished ceiling!!