Baby Projects: Eleanor's New Room

I can't help but feel a little guilty for Baby #2. So much of our baby preparation has actually centered around Eleanor, and the room situation is an area where that becomes very clear.

Many people have asked us if the baby's room is ready, and we say, "Oh, we haven't really done anything with the baby's room, but Eleanor's new room looks great!" We moved Eleanor into her "big girl room" after her birthday in July. She got to pick the paint colors and the general loose theme of "flowers." (Okay, if it were really up to her I'm sure it would have been princesses, but she did have some censored input.) We talked a lot about how awesome it would be for Eleanor to have her own reading corner and a big girl bed and so many amazing new features.

We thought we should move Eleanor in early just in case she wasn't fully on board, so we had a few months for her to move back and forth, and say good-bye to her old room. The room was habitable in late July, but it's taken me this long to post about it because it took us awhile to add all the finishing touches. Like how I forgot that she would need a laundry basket. Whoops! And we also bought some small speakers for her hand-me-down iPod Nano so she can listen to the all-important white noise during nap and bedtime. It also took me weeks to finish her new curtains, but sewing projects are a separate post, so more about that idea-gone-awry later.

At this point, her clothes are all moved over and (pretty much) organized. The walls are decorated (apparently her fairy friends like to sleep on the flowers by her bed, Eleanor has informed us). The only project left is the most challenging one. And, even better, it's not mine!

Keith and my Dad are most of the way finished with building and painting custom bookshelves that will be on two walls of Eleanor's purple book corner. The shelves, plus the comfy beanbag chair and soft rag carpet make me very jealous of her book corner. I've never had such a nice reading spot all for myself!

And, for the record, the baby's room is nearly ready too. We haven't forgotten about Little Sibling! It looks a little odd to be a baby's room again, instead of a 2-year-old's room. The baby boppy is back, and all of the diapering supplies have been washed and stacked. We've gotten the baby toys out of storage, and there's a pile of board books next to the rocking chair.

I'm not sure when Keith and I get a room makeover, but I'm trying to figure out where to put my reading corner...