LZog's Nest

In keeping with our avoidance of the conventional pink and blue, and even the neutrals, green, grey, and yellow, we present LZog's Nest in the aesthetic that I have dubbed Accidental Vintage (™ pending). We have some new items for LZog, but most everything we either made, acquired as the repository for family furniture and all manner of hand-me-downs, or some combination thereof. For now we have a Pack 'N Play in lieu of a crib (thank you Grandma and Papa), as KZog hopes to make LZog's crib/bed his second major carpentry project. Otherwise we have kept LZog's space fairly simple. Yes, we do have a television in the nursery for me during late night feedings and soothings. We will remove it once LZog decides to sleep through the night.

As Much of the Nest As I Could Capture in One Shot

While we feel pretty good about how LZog's space has evolved, both KZog and I will claim more than a small amount of pride in our family photo project. No, I did not find an example of this on Pintrest, though I suppose I would not feign surprise if I found that someone had already done a similar display in more spectacular (i.e.: expensive) fashion. The most taxing part of completing LZog's Family Album proved compiling the photos. In the end, however, we have baby, or at least childhood, photos of each of our siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

Who Will LZog Favor?

Each row follows a branch of LZog's family tree. KZog, me, and our siblings have the bottom row; our  parents, aunts and uncles grace the middle; and grandparents, the top row. We also discovered photos of KZog's great great aunt and great grandfather who arrived in the United States in 1908 from Holland through Ellis Island. After scanning and printing each photo, I created frames for each (thank you to JHet for help configuring them) and tags with the full name, birthdate, and relationship to LZog. Any information about the photo itself - date, other people, location - I wrote on the back of the frame.

LZog's Family Album

I decided early on that I would prefer  to have a glider in LZog's room, but I did not prefer to spend the $400 or more it would cost for a new one. Luckily, due to our embrace of the Accidental Vintage (™) aesthetic, we already had two in the house for me to choose from. I settled on one that  KZog's family had long ago dubbed "Uncle Harry's Spider Chair." Though we cannot place an exact age on the chair, we have seen them in photographs from as early as the mid-1950s. Unfortunately, poor Uncle Harry's chair does not seem to have undergone any refurbishing since at least that time. Underneath the orangish-brown fabric, itchy and dated, the cushion material had begun to disintegrate. I landed on a gold fabric with a raised circle pattern to keep with the vintage-y vibe of the piece and ordered custom foam cushions to replace the icky ones. The frame of the glider also underwent some rehab, namely the detachment of the complementary orangish-brown ruffle from the bottom and a rub-down with Murphy's Oil Soap.

KZog Disassembling the Ruffle

The Original Fabric

Honestly, this project took me far, far longer than I care to admit. I only followed a pattern in the sense that I deconstructed the pieces from the old cover, and I worried that it wouldn't all quite go back together. In the end it all turned out better than fine, though not without repeated stabbing of my fingers with the pins holding all the layers of fabric together.

Hooray for a Sunny, Comfy Glider

I also made an ottoman to accompany my "new" glider with fabric from my ever-expanding stash and over fifteen pounds of stuffing.

Feet Propper Upper

So, LZog, we have the necessaries for your homecoming - a place for you to sleep, places to hold your clothes and other accessories, and a place for us to rock, feed, and read to you. We won't say we're "ready" for you, whatever that means, but we are ready to have you here with us.

XO,
JZog
Click Here if You Would Like to Check Out LZog's Registry