One Saturday last summer, my mom and I were out running around town and found ourselves stopping at a local antique store's sidewalk sale. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but we were always on the lookout for a good deal on furniture that could be used in the beach house. What we weren't looking for is baby furniture. But that's what we ended up coming home with. We both separately stopped and eyed the bassinet as we made our rounds through the tent. So cute! But what would we do with it? We spent a good hour wandering through the rest of the store before coming back to the bassinet. Mom knew that Doc and I were ready for a baby and told me I should buy it. My response? "Uh-uh, no way. I am not letting that thing jinx my reproductive organs." There was no way I was going to buy furniture for a baby that didn't even exist yet. I knew that if we encountered problems along the way I'd blame "that stupid cradle."
So my mom did exactly what I was secretly hoping she'd do: she bought it herself. You know, for "her house." We loaded it up in the back of her car, took it straight to the attic at her house, and never spoke of it again. (Not really, but we didn't talk about it much.)
And now there's a baby on the way! Not only can we now speak of the bassinet, but we were able to pull it out of the attic, dust it off, and give it a makeover job worthy of the little girl that will soon (!) be sleeping in it.
Before we get into the nitty gritty details of this Before and After series, let me tell you that it was white when we bought and then we decided to repaint it white so the new look is not really all that drastic of a change. But it's still pretty darn cute.
Here it is straight out of its hiding place in the attic. It had already been hosed off in this picture.
It doesn't look that bad from a distance, but up close you could see a lot of chipped paint.
A few spots had what looked like masking tape residue on them. (My phone camera thought it was more important to focus on the grass, apparently.)
And there were just a few broken pieces of wicker.
I spent a few minutes making repairs, using glue where I could and sometimes pieces of tape. You can't tell in the photos since it's sitting in grass, but the bassinet has small wheels so I went ahead and taped those off too.
I used our new paint sprayer to get the job done. If my mom was writing this post, this is when she'd probably post a picture of my painting outfit. It was bright and sunshine-y the day I painted so I threw a pair of gym shorts and a tank top into my bag for paint clothes (I painted in my parents' backyard). Turns out that the tank top wasn't exactly sized appropriately for someone who's preggo, so I had a bit of belly hanging out. It was not my best look.
Anyway, I used Home Depot's untinted white latex paint in a semi-gloss finish. Since it was VOC-free I was able to do the painting myself. Here it is with a fresh coat of paint. (We'll come back to the mattress.)
Like I told you, not drastic at all. But at least there weren't any chipped spots anymore.
Back to the mattress. The bassinet did come with one when we bought it but it was a wee bit on the flimsy side...
...and a lotta bit on the gross side. I have never considered myself a germaphobe at all - I'll eat something off the floor even after 5 seconds, I'll share a popsicle with my nephew or kiss my niece's feet, I pack my shoes in the same bag as my clothes, etc - but there was no way I was going to let my newborn, fresh-out-tha-oven baby girl sleep on something that looked like this.
We pitched that mattress. Because the bassinet is not a standard crib size, we couldn't just buy another mattress. Instead, we had a piece of thick foam cut. Using this tutorial as a guide, my mom was able to make a sheet that fits it perfectly. It's made out of the softest pink and white striped fabric ever.
And since it's thicker than the original mattress, it fills the bassinet up a little better.
I like that it has a snug fit. The other mattress just looked like it didn't really belong.
We toyed with other ways we could snazz this little bed up. A dust ruffle? Or maybe threading ribbon through the weave of the wicker? But in the end, I decided I wanted it plain and simple. This is something I plan on dragging all over the house during the first few weeks so I don't want a skirt or anything getting in the way. I do think I want to find a small pink and white mobile to hang from the top. Something sweet and dainty, maybe like this. Here's my very amateur sketch in photoshop of how that might look.
My mom was so pleased with how easy it was to make the crib sheet that the next time I came to her house, she'd already made another one. I think she's more excited about being able to change the look of it so easily than I am. :)
I really like how this pink fabric pops against the white wicker.
Up close it has tiny white polka dots on it.
I am so excited about using this little bed that I couldn't resist; I had to try it out. I picked up sweet baby Henry and put him to bed.
I've heard that dogs are color blind, but something tells me Henry knew he was laying on a pink sheet. He was so embarrassed and would not make eye contact with me for anything. This is the best I could get.
Baby girl may not have a name yet or her own nursery, but by golly she's got a place to sleep! At least for a couple of weeks maybe...