"Strawberry's" field, erm, nursery

Why is it that you have 9 months to plan and yet you still find yourself at the end of a pregnancy running up against deadlines?

Perhaps it is just me but I sailed through the first 8 months of my pregnancy blissfully aware that I needed to create and decorate a nursery. One would think that having done this before I would be sitting back, enjoying the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. But no, as I type this blog, I sit in what will become our little girl's room. The nursery is a sparse room with a computer desk.

Well, in our defense, at least the nursery is no longer Fiona's playroom. We have made SOME progress. We had to relocate the toys, kitchen set and art center. What was sacrificed to create a play room for our eldest and her sibling-to-be? Marcus's "man cave" - his pride and joy - an authentic English pub. No longer does the Guinness Draught neon sign adorn the walls. No, Todd Parr framed prints have taken its place. It was a sad day as many happy British parties were hosted there and many memories made. Perfect pints and glasses of Rioja are replaced with chocolate milk in sippy cups and Honest Kids juice pouches.

With a clean slate, I have had no excuses not to get the nursery all prepared. (This phenomenon of preparing for the arrival is commonly known as "nesting" for those of you who haven't had a baby). I am delighted to announce that things are finally coming along..thanks to IKEA and a little ole website known as Etsy.

For "Strawberry's" nursery, I knew I wanted something "earthy" - birds, trees, nature theme - and yet, "girly" - in pink and green.

I didn't want to go to Babies R Us or one of those other stores that have prepackaged ideas and the standard crib bedding sets. I knew that I could find something I would like more on my own. I boiled down the necessities and figured out all I really wanted for bedding was a decorative crib skirt and bumper pad. I could provide a cheaper organic cotton option by just purchasing organic crib sheets. On a recent trip to IKEA, I found the perfect cotton canvas fabric. The fabric is bright kelly green and reminds me of grass. (Believe me, the picture doesn't do it justice).

With the crib bedding down, I could focus on the walls and decor. Marcus suggested that we paint two walls pink and two walls green. I loved the idea! So off to find paint.

We had been on a search for environmentally-friendly, low VOC paint for a while. (VOCs are solvents that are found in most paints that contribute to indoor air pollution, allergies and asthma in children, and the destruction of the ozone layer). Most of what we could find online was expensive. But thanks to Treehugger, we found out Lowe's had a great option! Luckily Lowe's carries the Olympic line of paint which have no VOCs, is affordable, come in a variety of colors and is Green Seal certified! Read more about Olympic paint here.

Now for the decor... For this element, I turned to one of my favourite sites, Etsy. com. For those of you that haven't visited the "place to buy and sell all things handmade", you are missing out!

Etsy is great because it allows you to support up and coming artists by purchasing one of a kind items at an affordable price. I knew I could find what I was looking for to decorate the nursery. Etsy didn't disappoint! After a short search for "bird nursery print", I found these two prints. The little bird to the left is in a strawberry patch (how appropriate)!!


I also had a Land of Nod gift card that I hadn't used so I surfed over there to find another fabulous piece - their kids tree removable tree wall decal. This would serve as a perfect mural for behind the crib. Voila!

I love how everything is finally coming together! All I need to do now is to host the French paint and champagne party (are you still up for it, Lu?). I would also love to have Lucie create a personalized art piece for the baby (hint, hint) and then I think the nursery will be complete. Though I have dragged my feet a bit this time, in the end, I think we are all going to love our little one's nest.