Painting the Nursery When You Are Not (And Seem to Never Be) Expecting

I think that I may have mentioned that (on top of everything else) Mark and I are currently remodeling - we are actually remodeling about 2/3 of our house and have been in a state of construction/destruction since September.  And yes, I am getting very tired of it and can't wait for it to come to an end (about a month?).

We are currently at the stage where we are painting.  Everyone thinks that this means we are almost done - not even close.  We are painting before carpet/trim/light fixtures/tile/cabinets, etc. etc. so as not to get paint all over our "new stuff".

I have picked the paint colors for all of our rooms except one - the nursery.  I have been dreading this task.  I am finding it hard to pick paint when I have no idea what the theme of the room is, what furniture we are going to have, what sex the baby is, or even if there will be a baby at all.  Really it's the last part that has been making this so difficult.

Since I am trying to be more positive and get out of my downward spiral of negativity (I feel like I should trademark that term by the way), and because carpet is coming soon and I just can't put it off any longer, I buck up and agree to go to Lowe's to pick out a color.

I am very lucky to have a friend at work who has gone through infertility that I can talk to about these things.  She gets it.  I find it hard sometimes to find people who "get it".

Her (always) wonderful advice was to pick something very neutral - tan or yellow, that would go well for either sex.  BUT, make sure that it is a warm color.  Something bright, yet soothing, nothing too colorful.

Everyone keeps throwing green into the mix.  I like green, but green feels more masculine than feminine to me.  I personally really would have liked a soft yellow, but Mark HATES yellow.  I just found out that his room was yellow growing up - interesting.

So I am left with tan.  I like tan, but my foyer and hallway are already tan and I would like a different color for the nursery, something softer, more soothing.  I think that I have found it.  I choose "Heavy Cream" a cream color similar to the picture, but a little less yellow.  It really reminds me of the color of vanilla ice cream.  Not the "good stuff" that is actually nearly white, but the "cheap stuff" that we had growing up.  It makes me think of a soothing bowl of vanilla ice cream, it makes me think of soft (more traditional) baby things like lambs or teddy bears or bunnies.

Painting the room was also a more interesting exercise that I was expecting.  There are some people out there who love to paint, I am not one of them.  I would love to find one of those people and have them over to do the painting for me.  I was really not looking forward to painting also because I thought it was going to be hugely depressing to paint a room for a nonexistent baby.  A few weeks ago that definitely would have been the case, thankfully I am working my way out of my mud.

Unless you move into a brand new house that you built yourself, you are always dealing with someone else's stuff.  For some it is wallpaper, ugly carpet, ridiculous paint colors, you name it.  In the nursery it was chocolate (I hope) handprints.  It felt good to cover up someone else's scuffs, holes, and handprints.  It felt like a fresh start.

Here's to a fresh start.