Cradle Love

With less than 14 days to go, I finally got around to organising a little nursery nook wall space for the baby in our bedroom.

I have never had a cradle in the house before. I'm far too practical to go to the hassle and expense of a cradle as well as a cot when just a cot will do the trick from the start. But if you can ward off the image of Rebecca De Mornay in the creepy thriller "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" then there is something very nostalgic and whimsical about a cradle don't you think? It was also during our visit to Sovereign Hill while on our big caravan adventure that I fell in love with the gorgeousness of the cradle that inhabited the bedrooms of the 1800's homes that I decided I would take the photos above and seek a similar cradle out in the event we would have another baby.

No such luck finding one that complied with the current safety standards but on one of my recent trips to the Tip whilst looking for some recycled pallets for the veggie patch compost heap, I stumbled on the cradle below. I asked the lady how much it was and she said it was illegal to sell it to me as a cradle. I quickly rephrased my question and asked how much she wanted for the pile of wood that was in the shape of a cradle. She looked at my expanding belly and smiled and said I could have it for $15, since it was absolutely going in the fire and all. Bargain!

It was super sturdy and in excellent condition. I checked the Australian Safety Standards when I got home and it complied with all of the items. In case you're wondering, the main concern is the width of the rails for cots and cradles, which need to be greater than 5cm apart but no greater than 9.5cm apart. Small gaps are a hazard for little arms and legs and big gaps are a hazard for heads. It's common sense really and if you've got a beautiful heirloom piece from great grandpa, there is probably a good chance it complies anyway. I'm actually not a big stickler for these things but I'd hate to advocate unsafe cots/sleeping practices on my blog. My babies actually slept in the pram bassinet right next to my bed for the first little bit and the twins actually slept together in the pram bassinet for the first month before I moved them into separate cots, apparently not recommended. 

I don't go much on cream paint and Teddy Bear stickers so I just sanded it and painted it Grey.  I love grey but there are actually more than 50 shades of grey so I left it all in the hands of the 70 year old man at the local hardware store to choose for me. I just wanted Grey but he explained that if you don't want it to look purple you have to choose a grey with a green base as opposed to a blue base and so he picked Dulux "Timeless Grey" for me. This is great advice and obviously wasn't given to my poor friend whose entire house exterior is purple because of the grey paint they had chosen.

Here is the finished space. 

We literally didn't have a single baby item in the house having sold everything when we left Sydney to fund our caravan trip around Australia. So everything is second-hand from thrift stores or made by me.  Babies really don't need much and I just wanted to make it a bit fun but keep it fairly simple, and uncluttered as this is our bedroom. "Cheap and Cheerful" as my mother-in-law would say :-) I purposely left the space above the cot clear but it looks a bit bare. The kids are collecting feathers to make a mobile. Do you think that would do the trick? Any other suggestions? 

The one exception to the second-hand theme is this most gorgeous bib below that I received from Annie in Wales from one of her giveaways. It was the first baby item to enter the house a little while ago and it is so new and shiny I just want to put a halo around it and frame it on the wall. It features the most gorgeous Liberty of London woodland print in all my favourite nature colours. It's very 'me' and provided the colour inspiration for the space. The bib is from palebluedoor. I also think it's amazing the way the colours co-ordinate with the colours in the granny square blanket I made. Thank you so much Annie and I'm sorry it took me this long to post about it although I'm sure you're not surprised that I've left doing the nursery to the 11th hour :-).

The chook garland was bought in Vietnam for a couple of dollars.

1. Elephant artwork is from Hugs & Inspiration which I won a couple of years ago with a piece of poetry I wrote.

2. The vintage clown print was $5 from the op shop

3. The boy riding the chook is a Propaganda Poster from the  early 1980's bought in Vietnam entitled "Breeding Chickens". It just appealed to me on so many levels.

4. This oil on canvas landscape painting was picked up at the tip on the weekend for just $10. It is titled "Risdon Quarry" which is a local spot near here and I just love the colours. Harriet Wise, if you are out there, I found the painting you did in 1979 discarded at the Tip but it is now lovingly hanging on our bedroom wall :-)

5. These are my teeny tiny 35 year old first baby shoes :-)

6. Vintage wooden side-table $10 from op shop with Ikea lamp, Teddy made by me and daisies from the garden.

7. Retro saucer chair from op shop $20 that I've had for years with granny blanket made by me.

8. Vintage footstool $10 from op shop. I just picked this up on Sunday and it has a gold embossed vinyl which is really awesome but hard to photograph.

9. Vintage trolley with wooden blocks $5 from Sorell Markets.