Feathering the Nest: The Changing Table

I have been slowly working on readying the nursery for baby, which involved moving 2 other children into different rooms in the house, eliminating the office/sewing room, moving the computer and desk to the kitchen, and doing a major declutter of my sewing/crafting supplies to fit everything from the office into a room the size of a laundry room.  Furniture has played musical chairs, rooms have been painted, light fixtures moved, and I think I finally have the room ready for this little one.  I am thankful that while the bedrooms in our house are rather small, they are plentiful!

I still have the white furniture from my nursery and bedroom when I was a child.  When my oldest was born, we used that furniture in his nursery, the dresser serving as a changing table.  I always wanted a Winnie-the-Po*h nursery, and the walls of that room in our first house happily were a blue that perfectly matched the bedding my parents bought us for the crib.  Some people redecorate the nursery with each child, but I never could see fit to let go of the beautiful things I had already, so the nursery has remained a constant, with only small variations as we moved from house to house.

Our youngest, Dimples, stayed in the nursery until just a few months ago, and actually stayed in the crib until she was four!  Mostly I was just torn between moving her in with one of her sisters versus redecorating the nursery as a bedroom for her, and she loved that crib.  We did finally clear it out.  Last summer we got rid of it, got a "big girl" bed for her, and kept her in the same room.  I didn't make any major changes to the room, but I did decide that white dresser/changing table was due for some freshening, so I decided to try my hand at chalk paint, and give it a pretty coat of green.  I am terrible at before photos, since I usually start a project and only after I get going think about taking a before picture, so here is the one I took after I had already painted one drawer.  I was a bit skeptical of the claims on this paint, no need to prime, thin the paint with water if needed, and finish with a coat of wax?  Sounded too simple considering the number of furniture refinishing projects I did back in the days when I only had two kids!

I started the project in early December, about 4 weeks before we found out that we were expecting another little one!  So, that dresser that was intended to hold Dimples clothes, has once again reverted back to a changing table.

Here is the finished product.  I love how it turned out!  I learned a few things - the paint does better if thinned - and I think a few spots needed another coat, but since I was already planning to sand the edges and give it a distressed look, I don't think it is a big deal.  I wish I could find better handles, but that was the best I could find that fit the existing holes in the dresser.  And the gown to the left?  First baby gift, from my mom - for our little boy!