HOUSE PROGRESS IN WEEKS FOUR AND FIVE

It’s been a couple weeks since my last house progress update and thankfully we have a lot to show for them! As my due date inches ever closer (a little over three weeks now!) it’s been a mad dash to wrap up as many projects as we can and I’m finally starting to feel a little more organized. Particularly once we move into our master bedroom and unpack books into the library this weekend, I think I’ll be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel (until our second round of projects early next year, of course!). We’ll have crossed off just about everything on our first round of projects which is going to feel amazing!

design darling master bedroom progress

We finished painting the master bedroom at the beginning of last week (Will and my dad gave us a massive head start by painting during my baby shower!) and had to wait until yesterday for someone to come out and install new baseboard covers where we moved the wall between the bedroom and the future closet (you can see photos of that process here). We’ll probably wait to paint the closet until we’ve decided how we want to build it out early next year, so for now this space is move-in ready! We’re planning to move our bed, dressers, and bedside tables in tomorrow. I am so ready to be out of our temporary guest room set-up and properly unpack in our bedroom! 

design darling nursery closet before

design darling nursery closet wallpaper

We finally made progress in the nursery this week and I may or may not have cried tears of joy and relief when I first saw the Quadrille Arbre de Matisse wallpaper go up above the beadboard. This is now hands down my favorite room in our house (I find myself stopping by and just taking it in several times a day!) and I cannot wait to make more progress in here over the next couple weeks! My mom surprised me with peel-and-stick striped wallpaper for the inside of the closet as a fun little surprise and I have to say 1) her color matching was spot on and 2) she is the only person who could get away with pulling off a decorating surprise for me because we have such similar taste. We’re going to add lucite hanging rods to the closet before hanging all of baby boy’s cute clothes and I’m so excited to see it all come together.

design darling nursery progress quadrille arbre de matisse wallpaper in china blue

quadrille arbre de matisse wallpaper in china blue in design darling nursery

quadrille arbre de matisse wallpaper in china blue and serena and lily harbour cane crib on design darling

My dad and I just built the crib two nights ago and it’s finally starting to look and feel like a baby will be living here in less than a month (!). We’re still waiting on the changer and the rug but the glider and the side table arrived this week so we’re finally moving in the right direction!

painted pottery barn bedford 6-drawer rectangular desk

Today we’ll start hanging this grasscloth wallpaper in the library off of foyer that will function as Will’s home office (I’m so bad about working from the sofa these days but I’ll share the desk in there if I get back into a normal routine post-pregnancy!). The wallpaper is going to be a subtle color difference from the existing tan walls but I think it will add so much interest and texture to this light-filled space! I ordered this desk from Pottery Barn and absolutely hated the color in person — it was much more putty/taupe than white so we gave it a couple coats of leftover Ultra Pure White high gloss paint to make it look more crisp and less dingy. SO much better now! We wound up hiring someone to hang the wallpaper in both the nursery and the library because the tree pattern was so tricky in the nursery and the backs of the bookshelves will be so time-consuming in the library. After painting seven (!) rooms ourselves over the past five weeks, it feels like such a gift to see progress being made on the house front while I concentrate on other projects like organizing baby gear and washing baby clothes. 

I’ve started to do a little more brainstorming about how I want to decorate each room but I’m determined to take my time and not rush any major decisions since we intend to be in this house for many years to come. I do plan to start sharing different options we’re considering for different pieces (like a bed for our master and a sofa for the living room) as it’s always a helpful exercise for me to round up and visualize various possibilities, even if we’re not quite ready to take the plunge on any of them just yet. I think it will be good for us to live here for a few months before making any more big decisions (we’ve already redone the floors, painted half the house, and moved a couple walls in our first month!) and I’m certain we’ll want uninterrupted time this fall to adjust to our new roles as parents (still feels surreal to say!). It’s already amazing to look back at the before pictures and progress in weeks one, two, and three to see how far we’ve come! 

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