Pregnancy has a lot of side effects. Some are well-known, like growing bigger and having morning sickness, but some are more strange, like craving weird things, getting an outie belly button, or having a change in skin tone/hair color.
Another pregnancy side effect is something called nesting.
Urban Dictionary defines nesting as “a ritual performed by pregnant women in ridding the house (the nest) from anything potentially harmful to the soon-to-be-born child.” I would also add the need to prepare “the nest”, in general, for the arrival of a tiny human. Kind of like the feeling you get when guests are coming to visit, and you want the house to be spotless and presentable. Except this time it’s a permanent visit, so every corner of the house needs to be cleaned, organized and on in it’s best appearance.
(Note: I understand that all pregnant women do not get this urge to nest).
I’m in full nesting mode. I want to make my own cream of chicken soup, my own taco seasoning, my own EVERYTHING. I want to clean out every nook and cranny of the house, including the basement and the garage. I want to rid the house of cat fur, air it all out and redecorate several rooms. I don’t know how long this itch is going to last, but I’m using as much of it as I can to GET. STUFF. DONE.
One room of the house I’ve been eying is the living room. We have two mismatched couches, both from a curb. We have two mismatched shelves, both from Target. We have curtains that came with the house, and while they are amazing (I get so many compliments on them!), they just don’t match everything else. I have lots of outdated pictures on the wall. I have a big empty wall where a desk used to stand, but the original owners asked for it back.
I’ve already layed out a plan in my head of what I want my “new” living room to look like. I want to stay cheap and in budget, both because we don’t have a ton of money to spend, but because that also fits our personal style.
Here are some of my ideas:
First up…some slipcovers to make our couches match…each other AND the rest of the room!
Next up…panel curtains for our huge window. I love curtains that go all the way to the floor, and I love that shelf, especially with the baskets (wont that be perfect for baby girl’s toys and other paraphernalia that ends up spread all across the living room?)
via
I also LOVE the panel curtains with the patten in the middle.
Finally, I have got to get my hands on a new desk for our desk-less portion. I have always loved secretary desks, so we are keeping our eyes open on craigslist and local garage sales for a gorgeous secretary desk.
And above that beautiful desk, I’m thinking of making one of these gallery walls. I’m not quite relaxed enough to make it completely random, but I love the idea of pictures here and there, and adding other framed mementos such as our wedding invitations or baby girl’s ultrasound photos (until baby girl arrives- then I’m SURE I won’t have a shortage of pictures to put in picture frames!)
So what do you think? When you were pregnant, what was your big nesting itch all about? Do you have any input for my living room plans? And if you live in the area, keep your eyes open for a secretary desk, and let me know if you find one!
I think to-the-floor curtains would be great in your living room. Just make sure you have ones that can be easily opened and closed….that morning sun that comes in is fantastic and you want to take advantage of that while still being able to keep out peeping eyes at night. I did to-the-floor in our bedroom and am glad I did. It makes the windows look less boxy. I wish I were there…..we’d make a trip to Ikea together! š
I used to have a gallery wall of pictures. What we did is find frames that were different sizes and shapes, but kept them to light wood and black. Since it was just 2 colors, it blended well together. But the frames weren’t all the same so it was cheaper to find (garage sales, dollar store, etc). Just an idea!!
Ooooh, I love that idea with the frames! I might add a pop of color on a few of them, but I do like something that will tie them all together.