Now that Clark is almost 2 months old (Where does time go? Seriously.), it's probably about time to share his nursery. During my pregnancy I was all worried that we wouldn't finish in time. Our baby would totally think we were failures because we didn't have a room ready for him. Turns out he could care less. Babies are weird like that.

I'm breaking the nursery posts into two parts. There are lots of pictures and we spent a lot of time in here. One post didn't seem to do it justice. My gerbil attention span also does better these days if things are broken into segments.

Up first, the built-ins. Nate worked his magic once again. He's seriously so talented.

(This room is tough to photograph. It's not very bright (even though that window above appears otherwise.)

We wanted to add some life to this room (you can see the before here) and built-ins seemed like a great solution. (We also like to make way more work for ourselves than probably necessary. Throughout the process I kept questioning why we couldn't be like normal people that paint the walls and throw a crib in the room.) The built-ins add much needed character and also a ton of storage. The room isn't huge so the extra storage comes in handy. I can't believe the amount of stuff one little human acquires. The built-in drawers replace a large dresser. The room also somehow feels larger with the built-ins. I have no clue how it works but everyone comments on it.

We originally had a more hipster plan that really didn't look like a kid's room at all. The more we discussed it, we wanted the room to actually look like a small human lived there. (Not that there is anything wrong with a beautiful hipster nursery. Nurseries are totally for the parents because babies have no idea what's going on.) We ended up with a more vintage-y schoolhouse "theme". It made most sense to fill the shelves with useful items. It seemed a little sad to fill the shelves with things that were only for looking not touching. One of our favorite things during pregnancy was searching for items to fill Clark's shelves. Some of them are old. Some of them are new. All selected with love. Aww. Darn baby giving me feelings. Clark's cousins have tested a lot of the toys out and it appears we did well.

Bright, cheery and a little quirky is the name of the game with these shelves.

I'll link to sources for new items. If it's not linked, it's more than likely old. Super helpful, right?

We're using the fox in Clark's monthly photos. Ike thinks he looks pretty tasty. He is a Wire Fox Terrier after all. Poor Ike. This would be an expensive dog toy. It's one of those things I ordered when we first found out little man was on his way. Hormones do crazy things to you. Like pregnancy induced on-line shopping. (Which is suprisingly nothing compared to newborn fog on-line shopping.)

Sources: Ikea Abacus, Hazel Village Fox Boynton's Greatest Hits: Volume 1), Boynton's Greatest Hits: Volume II, Andy Warhol's Colors, The Noisy Book, A Book of Sleep, Barnyard Dance!, Ten Black Dots, Counting with Wayne Thiebaud, Goodnight Moon, Hello Ninja

The dog is recent from Target but I can't find a link. I found all of the Dr. Suess books at the Salvation Army for 35 cents. Clark received so many books at our showers. We already love reading! Or is that just me and he's pooping? Eh. Either way.

Penguin in Peril, Paul Thurlby's Alphabet, Press Here, Wish, Courage, What Do You Do With an Idea?, Goodnight Little One, SLEEP TIGHT, SLEEPY BEARS,

Ikea Stacking Rings, Melissa & Doug Wooden Fire Truck

One of the most important parenting responsibilities is forcing your child to like something you always wanted as a child yourself. Case in point, the window seat in Clark's room. I totally always wanted a window seat and the spot between the shelves was perfect for one. I've already sat here multiple times. It's fantastic. The window seat also doubles as a toy chest or extra storage!

Fancy, right? The hinges are even soft close to protect little fingers. And clumsy mom fingers.

Nate used this fancy drawer system. We'll share more on this in the future. Notice I didn't say "near" future. Just future.

The drawer pulls are the Antique Iron Cup Pull from D. Lawless Hardware. We wanted something with a bit of a vintage feel to it. The finish on these is fantastic.

We continue with the bright and cheery quirk on the right side. This side also houses our Nest monitor and sound machine. We have an outlet behind one of the drawers. Nate drilled some holes in the corner of the shelves to snake wires through. He's good.

(Don't freak about the blind cord. We'll work on that when he's mobile. It's a long ways from harming him right now but we do recognize it as a hazard. It's sad I have to type this disclaimer.)