INTO THE WOODS...

We finally completed our finishing touches on Cora's new room this evening. The photos don't do it justice (the colors, especially the green walls, are much more vibrant in person), but it was already dark outside and the flash made everything look blown-out with glares on the walls, so I opted to go without it. Perhaps I'll take new photos some afternoon this week when the sun is shining and I have some natural light to work with...

Anyway, what we did was 1) move all Cora's furniture downstairs and move the computer desks upstairs, 2) take the guest bed off it's frame (for toddler safety), 3) replace the bifold door with a real door (to prevent toddler finger pinches), 4) upgrade all the door hardware from 80's gold to matte silver, 5) relocate many of the toys from the living room (including Cora's kitchen), 6) hang her mirror at her eye level (perfect for kissing herself, a new favorite passtime of hers), 7) bring down her 2 pegged wall shelves and the letters her Auntie Taryn painted for her, 8) purchase a bookshelf (that we've already decided increases the desire to read, since all the books face out and are easy for little eyes to find), 9) relocate all the diapers to the changing table (well, we actually did this before we moved her into her new room, since James has been potty trained for almost 3 months now), 10) bring her pretty-in-pink rug downstairs (her floor is so squishy and comfy now, we often fall asleep there while laying down waiting for her to fall asleep in her crib), 11) purchase a new nightlight (in the shape of an owl), 12) purchase an iPod player so that Cora could listen to the RockaBye Baby music on loop all night long, just like her big brother, and 13) purchase a new set of wall decals to turn her room into a bird and owl-filled forest (which took forever to put up, but are absolutely worth it).

Here's the tour...

This is what you see when you walk in the door: Cora's crib and the guest bed (where Mama and Daddy take turns sleeping with Cora when she decides she isn't going to sleep through the night in her crib all by herself - at least one of us gets a good night's sleep upstairs these days! - plus the old black floating shelf, which holds an owl-shaped piggy bank and my old jewelry box)

Here is another view of the crib (and bookshelf), and the changing table beyond.

Looking at the opposite wall, you see the kitchen (that's a cute little wooden doll highchair in the corner that Jean scored for us), mirror, and shelves (housing her bird callers and many, many bows).

And finally, a view back towards the door, where you can see her doll cradle and the all-important baby monitor (strategically placed with a view down into the crib, so we can easily see whether she is fussing in her sleep or jumping up and down holding the rail and demanding to be appeased).

There are still a few things to do, of course. I want to do a collage of photos on the wall above her kitchen (probably white-framed pictures of her family members). I might make a bunting out of her old bumper and crib skirt (or maybe I'll even fashion some drapes to cover the brown black-out drapes leftover from the computer room). And we need to paint that black floating shelf an off-white color to match the rest of the accesories (and trim) in the room.

So what do you think? Any other ideas for us?