baby animals

Eleanor's Nursery

It’s amazing how many hours went into planning, researching and designing this nursery. It is by far the most well thought out room in our home. Funny how that happens because we’ve been in our house for 5 years and still have items that I want to add/replace but when you start with a blank canvas, designing is certainly easier!

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Eleanor’s nursery was originally our guest bedroom but we chose to move our guest bedroom back to where my office originally was to have her a bit closer. Also, because our home was built in the 1930’s it has great features such as original hardwood floors and lots of character in its crown molding and paned windows BUT can also be a bit drafty. This room is better insulated than our back bedroom/office.

Before we knew the gender of our baby, we had decided we’d go neutral on decor but of course once we found out we’d be having a little girl, the obvious choice was to accent with… you guessed it, pink. The goal however was to simply make it feminine.

The first item I purchased was our rug which is in my opinion a neutral blush patterned rug. The rest of the design came to life around that once laid down. It can be so nerve wracking buying rugs online and I felt like I researched the longest on this one item. I knew I wanted something neutral, something with a pattern and not just a solid color but also something that would grow into another home or big girl room down the road - with the help of my mom we found the perfect rug and it was exactly what I was looking for. Thankfully it exceeded my expectations in person as it is seriously so frustrating having to return a rug via mail (been there, done that. no thank you.)

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The dresser came next as I knew that this item would double as the changing table, no need to take up extra space with a separate table so I wanted something large enough to play double duty. Also because our home is old, the closets are SMALL. This dresser has so much space and we are able to store clothes she wears now plus extra blankets and crib sheets, sleep sacs, items for diaper changing and I even use a drawer for extra bottles and other things we’ll need down the road.

I purchased the HEMNES IKEA dresser in white and did a quick upgrade by simply changing out the hardware.

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This shelf with knick knacks is just so sweet and something she can add to as she collects other thoughtful piece over the years.

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My mom and dad had these animal prints framed and are so cute above her crib. The antique shelved mirror you can see partially on the wall was a piece that hung in my younger sister room when she was a baby and a great find by my mom at an antique store.

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Our house lacks storage so we purchased this shelving (bottom) for extra storage (you can see girlfriend has a TON of stuffed animals already from family and friends) and hung the above shelves for extra decor and books. She also has a large collection of books on the very bottom (not seen) that she can pull off when she’s more mobile and interested in flipping through her books on her own :) won’t be long now!

Rug: One Kings Lane

Dresser: Ikea, HEMNES

Chair: BuyBuyBaby

Swan Lake Mobile: Pehr

Curtains: Joss and Main

we ordered long curtains with grommets and I then had them hemmed/the grommets cut off to fit the length we needed

Gold Mirror: Target

Changing Mat: Keekaroo Peanut

Curtain Rods: Target

Dresser Knobs: Target

2 Shelf Bookcase: Target

Animal Prints: Etsy, The Crown Prints

Sweet Woodland Themed Baby Shower

Just a few weeks ago my one of my sister's dearest friends Emily, my mom and myself threw my sister Seldon the sweetest baby shower. When finding inspiration for this theme, I of course turned to Pinterest and kept seeing lots of orange and grey and just really wasn't thrilled with what I saw. Don't get me wrong, I saw a ton of super cute ideas but I really wanted it to be feminine and softer since Seldon is having a baby girl. My feelings on Pinterest have been summed up on a previous post found here, but quickly again- Pinterest is so great for drawing inspiration but one of the things we strive for at Like the Dazzling is really making each event unique and truly personal. I think we hit the nail on the head with our feminine woodland shower personally but maybe my opinion is biased so you be the judge... 

sweet woodland owl centerpiece

sweet woodland owl centerpiece

Mom and I had the best time making these cute floral arrangements with gorgeous Anemone, Roses, ranunculus, Hypericum berries and Silver Dollar Eucalyptus. We added moss right from the backyard into the bottoms to give them each more of a natural, woodland feel. 

These little animals were just the metaphorical icing on top of each arrangement. So stinking' cute with their little heads popping out of each one! 

lettered wood rounds

lettered wood rounds

We used small handmade wood rounds for the Baby Girl on the mantle and also with each guests name for place cards. You'll see below one in the carousel below with Aunty Sug' written on it.... Thats me! :) 

The cake was inspired by something I found on Pinterest and the County Club did a beautiful job and took the design we chose for inspiration very literally so we can't take credit there. I did however find the original designer and they have the cutest cakes! Check out Petite Homemade

We chose a brunch instead of lunch because who doesn't like to brunch? I sure do! I actually have a Pinterest board called 'Ladies who brunch'.... you can check it out if you like here. We did a sweet and savory menu of french toast with pecans and raspberries, tomato broccoli and cheese quiche and a fresh fruit salad. 

Well, what do you think? Did we or did we not bring new life to the woodland theme? 

Venue: Country Club of Asheville

Design, Styling and Florals: Like the Dazzling 

Catering and Cake: Country club of Asheville

Sidenote: I need to start using that expensive camera I have instead of snapping photos on the trusty iPhone.