Before and After

I scoured Craigslist for a year, looking for a vintage bedroom set. Not something that's easy to come by around here, I guess. Luckily, my dad is a carpenter. A pretty amazing one. He built the boy a bedroom set: bed, dresser, and bookshelf.

A reminder of what the room looked like before:
 

All the white Ikea pieces have moved to the baby's room. Gulliver, you may not be fancy, but you are a sturdy little crib.

At first I thought I'd design modern plywood-y bedroom set. Low slung bed with drawers, exposed plywood edges. But my mind kept coming back to the midcentury bedroom set I never found. I looked through my favorite catalogs for inspiration and then I shamelessly ripped a design off.

Dad did an amazing job. He usually works in a style I like to call midwestern country traditional. Think honey stained oak with antiqued brass hardware. I like to shake him out of his comfort zone. He always rises to the occasion.

Everything is solid wood, finished with Danish oil and wax by my parents and husband. I love that this furniture will last until my son is grown. And then some.

I bought the side rail at a garage sale this summer for $3 and slipcovered it with quilt scraps and a piece of muslin. The school chair was another steal from a preschool closing sale last summer.

Since there's one less piece of furniture in the room, there's more play space. Something I imagine will be appreciated when the boy has a mobile sibling menacing his toys.

The transition to the big boy bed went remarkably smoothly. I'm so, so happy about this as I'm getting little enough sleep as it is and with the new baby due in two weeks, there's no rest in sight.

Soon: the office/guestroom and baby's room.