Big Girl Furniture has Arrived!

Well if you think about our furniture situation (baby wise) for more than a minute, you would know that we have a need for different furniture in Brookelynne's room since Braxton is going to use my baby furniture just like Brooke has. The catch? Brooke-e will only be 15 months when Braxton is born, and realisticly, should have her furniture at least a month or so before he comes so that there can be as little 'change' as possible when he comes home. (As it will already be a big adjustment for the sweetheart!) SOOOOO, we need to have a crib, because any of you with 12-15 month old babies just aren't ready for a toddler bed yet! (Esp since Brooke has just started to attempt to climb out of her current crib!

Therefore, I started looking for furniture for Brooke's room new and used, and was getting very discouraged. With Brooke's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a new baby on the way we are obviously a little strapped for cash, so we didn't want to spend more than $500. So, while I could find a couple convertable crib + a dresser sets for good deals, they were still over $500 (running closer to $700) and they were only the two pieces and I really wanted 3 pieces, one that could double as a changing table, but wasn't going to look dumb in her room once she's done with diapers. So I was leaning toward used, and checking craigslist regularly, but were finding one of two things.... Either people were selling an entire bedroom suit (3 pieces) for barely less than they paid for it ($900-$1500), or they were just selling a crib or just a dresser.

So after more than a month of this, I was becoming very discouraged. Tuesday I decided to check craigslist again and found a set that was very close to what I wanted. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was lighter color wood than I wanted. I talked to Mitchell about it and we both agreed that if we could get the furniture for $450 it would be worth it to get it and paint it black to match Brooke's room, as long as it was in very good condition and was well made (since we are planning on her keeping it for a long time!) So I emailed/called/discussed the details with the sellers and worked it out for us to get it for $450, and pick it up yesterday (Thursday).

So BoggaBoo and I got up yesterday, ran some errands and got to Grandma's house around 9:30 to meet Uncle Josh (who helped us load and  transport the furniture in his truck). We went down to Oakleaf, and the furniture looked just as good in person as it did in the pictures, so we bought it. We loaded it up and ran over to the Target (because the sky was black) to buy a tarp and cover the furniture just in case. Uncle Josh carried Brookelynne through Target and they were so cute playing! Brookelynne kept squirming and wanting down, at which point she would run from Uncle Josh. It was very cute (it would not have been cute if she did it to me! lol) Then we got on the road and headed home! Bogger was practically refusing to take a nap, and by the time we got home she had slept for just long enough for her to not take any other naps for the day.  :(

When Mitch got home, I ran up to Home Depot to get some black paint (because we were somehow missing the half gallon we had left over from a year ago) and when I got back, Mitch was like "I really like the furniture the way it is and think it will look good in Brooke's room like it is." So we pulled the headboard into her room to compare it to walls/bedding and see. I still didn't think it would look good, but he was pretty adamant that he wanted it in Brooke's room just the way it was. So, before he went to sleep, I had him bring in the big pieces from the garage and take out the chest of drawers and changing table that were in there. I had already called and asked my mom to come up and help me for the afternoon (thinking I would be painting and unable to be interrupted by my baby girl), so she got here shortly after Mitch went to bed. She then entertained Brookelynne and helped as I needed her to as I took one crib apart, put the other one together, put all the bedding back on and reorganized the necessary things (ie we didn't want to go overnight with no changing area).

And I was honestly surprised at myself, but I really like it! There are still some more touches that will have to be added or tweaked to make it flow as well as I would like it to, but I'm really happy with it. Brookelynne seemed to like it too! She loved the fact that there were doors and drawers! She kept wanting to open and close them all. :) Good thing is that when the doors are closed all the way, she can't open them without help, so I won't have to worry about her getting in there when I'm not around, at least not yet! :) haha.  Soooo, for all of you who have been patiently waiting in suspense, here are the before and after pics of her room (before being my baby furniture, and after being her 'big girl' furniture!)

BEFORE

 Brookelynne's bedding in my baby cib!

 AFTER

 

Brookelynne's Bedding in  her "Big Girl Crib/Bed"

 BEFORE

The window, rocking chair and chest of drawers.

AFTER

 The window, rocking chair, and changing area

BEFORE

 Brookelynne's Chest of Drawers, candles and cork board

AFTER

Brookelynne's new dresser and changing area. 

It's a little different to have the changing area on the opposite side of the room, but I like it!

BEFORE

 Changing table/area

AFTER

Brookelynne's new armoire, placed where her changing table had been.

So what do you guys think? Do you like it? Anyone think it should still be painted? Let me know!