Before and After: From Old Dresser to Vintage Circus Changing Table

Part III: Project Baby G's Room.  I am getting pretty excited- Baby G is due in three weeks!  I am looking forward to her little chubby cheeks, her gummy smile and her little feet.  Oh, there are going to be lots of dirty diapers, too, you say???  Hmm, it sounds like a new project to me!  My mission: To find a vintage dresser and convert it into a changing table.  

I wanted the finished dresser to look beach-boardwalk-y, bright and cheerful, and I wanted it to compliment the fabulos-o circus tent ceiling that my friends already painted in the nursery. Dougie diligently searched Craigslist, and within a couple of weeks he found the dresser.  Craiglist shopping wins again! This dresser was the ideal size for a changing table, it had that vintage circus look, and it had plenty of storage underneath (always important in a small living space.)  I knew I wanted to paint it, so I didn't mind that there was a hodge-podge of hardware.  

Let's Get This (Paint) Party Started! Project Baby G's Room, Part II

Question:  What do you get when you add 3 awesome friends + Paint + Supplies + Pizza + music?
Answer: An Amaaazzzing paint party and a Completely painted Circus-Themed room for Baby G!
I want to thank Amy, Molly and Pips for spending their Saturday helping Doug and me give our second bedroom a fabulous makeover that was a small miracle to complete in a day!  We could not have done it without you ladies.  Here is what Baby G's room looked like before the Dream Team arrived:

And here is a photographic diary of our wild and crazy paint party!

How Baby Rooms are Just Like Bar Rooms (+ Why I Love Them Both)

What do you think bar rooms and baby rooms have in common?  If you are thinking that they are the two best places on earth to meet a vulnerable woman- then you are wrong, Buddy.  What a sick-o!  The correct answer is:  They are the two places that are BEST suited for decorating with fun, no-holds-barred interior design themes.

After a long urban hike around the City, I love to dip into a whimsically themed bar and get whisked away to a far away place.  My favorite theme bar in San Francisco is Big Foot Lodge.  It's lodge decor and life size Sasquatch provide a fun escape from the gritty streets.  A beer or two later, and then...it's back to reality!

 I used to play make believe ALL of the time.  My sister and I would embody synchronized swimmers in the pool, and my brother and I would spend afternoons running away from "bad guys" in the "dangerous woods".  Now, however, I am an grown up.  Mwa, mwa, mwa.......booo!!  As a grown up, the opportunities to dress up and play make believe are few and far between.   Nowadays, most of the time I like to "pretend" that I am pretty refined.

However, there is good news!  I am expecting a baby girl in January.  (Appropriately, I met her dad, Dougie, while working at the famous Pete n Peters (Sports Themed Bar) in Tahoe City, CA.)   Dougie and I are both so excited for our new addition, with all of the new adventures and challenges that she will bring.  As an added bonus, I can get creative and completely THEME OUT Baby G's room!  Over the past couple of months, I have taken the first three big steps to designing Baby G's Room.

Here are the First 3 steps to designing your own themed room: