Cooks 6, IKEA 0

We waited to start Naomi's room until we knew it was for Naomi. Some people adopting before or after infertility are able to start preparation for a little one before they reach that milestone. We are not one of those couples. We were only able to start creating her space once we knew we could walk by her room and envision her playing on the rug or sleeping peacefully in her bed (they always do that, right?). Also we wanted it to suit her personality. That may sound odd given we have never met her face to face. From the moment we saw her photos however we started to get a sense of who she was. While very few can understand a connection with your daughter you have never held or heard make a noise, it happens and you start to think about who they are. Naomi....we have a feeling she's a strong willed little girl who marches to her own beat. We hope in the end her spaces end up creative, fun, and unique.

When people asked us what we were painting her room and we said, gray!, it sounded pretty boring. But stick with us! We added a 

new light fixture to start with.

 Then came IKEA purchases. I was so impressed with myself for putting together the dresser, which is quite possibly the most complicated piece we have ever done. It literally had 250+ screws, dowls, washers. But I beat it! With the help of a few beers and 3 and 1/2 hours.

I did it, with a little help from Miller Light?

Worth it!

Best find was this chair. We weren't looking for it and weren't sure what would go in the space and found it for $75! It's the perfect size to sit in and put a little Naomi on your lap to read stories to. It rocks a little bit and low enough she can get in it. I still love my gray "pouf" which I have to admit I bought a long time ago for her room.

Obsessed with FLOR carpet tiles too. We got this imperfect ikat pattern for pretty darn cheap and if one gets ruined you swap it out for another. FYI we went to the flagship store in Chicago to actually look at the quality before we purchased and if you call the store and order they give you half price shipping and no sales tax. Awesome deal! Now time for the fun stuff, fabrics, art and more!

We also started her playroom in our family room/ basement. We don't have a ton of storage in this old house so we knew we needed a ton more with her arrival. We got three cheap armoires from IKEA to function as built ins and a rug so far! Tip for those building ikea furniture....Adam came up with the brilliant idea of sawing off the end of the allen wrench and sticking it in his cordless drill, worked like a charm and saved our wrists from all that turning!

Baxter had to move out of his room for Naomi this week as well which was a bit traumatic for him but we made him his own special room we will have to show later. He handled it well thanks to tricking him that he always get bacon in his new room. He doesn't think he's going to need Prozac, maybe just some "talk" therapy.

Creepy photo of me laying on the rug, it's soft.