Design

Here Comes The Sun

April 22, 2014

We believe we should all love where we live.

We’re a couple of homebodies, working to uncover the home our home wants to be. And we’re so happy to have you here. 

Portfolio

Projects

Design

We're Chris + Julia

read more

What we're                   right now

Loving

browse the shop

Befores, afters, mood boards, plans, failures, wins. We’ve done a lot of projects, and they’re all here. 

We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen. 

Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.

browse all

browse all

browse all

02

01

03

Popular Posts

1.

2.

3.

Top Categories

In case you missed our last post, or the dozens of recent instagrams of #sweetbabyfaye, I’ve been in newborn la-la-land for the past 2 weeks. All the days run together now and dust has been collecting on my laptop. I’ve opened it twice in the past two weeks. The first time I had all intentions of blogging, but I got overwhelmed by email–still catching up there, sit tight!–and then yesterday, after 5 sporadic hours of sleep throughout the night–I actually felt rested enough to give it another go. It’s pretty amazing how my body has adapted to an average of 3 hours of sleep a night while we work on getting Faye’s schedule switched around. I don’t have a lot of energy, but I can function enough to take care of Greta and Faye and, really, not much else feels important these days. Greta made me a mother, but for some reason–it really hit me when Faye came. I am feeling so motherly in the best way.

We were planning on finishing up the nursery the week Faye arrived (she was a week early) and now, we are piecing things together bit by bit. It’s slower, of course, but we’re making some nice progress in there and now that I am spending so much time in the room, I’ve been able to really study every bare wall (boring. boring. boring.) and I’ve tweaked a few things and plans for the better, I think.

Hey, Sunbursts!

IMG_2497

I swapped out the oversized letter print above the crib (still hanging in the room–just elsewhere), for this really pretty, large, sunburst mirror. It feels appropriate to talk about the curtains first though, because they came first and inspired the mirror. This is the sunniest room in the house (well-suited for sunbursts, I guess!) and I didn’t want to lose that lightness and brightness, but, a baby does need to sleep in here. Preferably for long hours–ha! The large window had no blinds or curtains to begin with so I was working with a blank slate and I was truly stumped when it came to window treatments. With white walls, I felt like the room needed some sort of color or pattern but I didn’t want to lose the airy, bright, peaceful feeling it was currently sporting. I came across these Nate Berkus for Target window panels and I never ordered anything faster. The room is already adorned with metallic gold accents, so the woven cream curtains with little metallic sunbursts (I am not sure they are intentionally sunbursts, but when they arrived–they looked like little sunbursts to me) felt really perfect. Fortunately, they came in a 95″ length so I could hang them nice and high, too.

IMG_2505

Obviously these practically sheer panels weren’t going to do much for blocking light and helping sweet baby Faye sleep, so we paired them with a plain white vinyl roller shade (ordered here) after debating between a bunch of options. In the end, the blackout vinyl won because it would: 1. Block the most light. We even opted for an outside mount so we wouldn’t get any light slits coming through the sides. 2. Keep the window uncovered during the day. The windows in our home are quite beautiful and we love a clear shot of them when possible. 3. Didn’t require any sort of cord or chain which felt the safest. It just springs up with a little tug.

IMG_2503

I was worried that even though the vinyl blackout shade made the most sense, even monetarily, it would look cheap. But, to our pleasant surprise, it pretty much blends right in with the window molding when not in use.

IMG_2507

And here’s where the post comes full circle. After the window treatments were in place, and I stared and stared and stared at them and the walls, and knew a sunburst mirror over the crib had to happen. I loved the slight patina color, scale (about 3′ in all directions) and shape of this one from Wayfair and it was here 4 days later.

IMG_2514

I love the relationship between the mirror and the curtains. It’s subtle and not really theme-y, but intentional–which is a nice place to be.

IMG_2496

We still have several things to track down and finish up before we can mark this room as finished and let the newborn enjoy it (that’s a joke–she couldn’t care less). A side table and lamp. A crib skirt. Adding a dimmer switch. Filling a couple more walls with books and art. And whatever else I can think up at 3am.

Special thanks to Wayfair for partnering with us on a few necessities for the nursery including the sunburst mirror. Complete necessity!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

What do you think?

  1. kimberly says:

    Love what you’ve done so far! Definitely something she’ll be able to grow into and live with for a while. Heck, I’d even take that as my bedroom.

  2. Emily Jane says:

    I’m loving the simplicity in this room. The sunbursts remind me of Disney’s Tangled:)

    I haven’t had good luck with roller blinds lasting either. I finally broke down and made some roman shades for my little girls’ window. They turned out great and only cost me $16 each to make. Still looking for the right curtains to layer. I’ll have to check out Nate’s line.

    http://www.eastofvanwinkle.com

  3. Krystal says:

    The room is looking beautiful! I love the combination of gold and purple :) As for the roller blinds….I wouldn’t worry. We have some in our house…..kids and master bedrooms. They were there when we bought the house and about 10yrs later they are still working fine.

  4. bridget b. says:

    i can’t wait to see more of Faye’s nursery. those curtains are so cute! you’ve got me thinking about putting them in the running for our dining room. your posts on the different types of gold is really coming in handy in designing that room.

    http://623designs.tumblr.com/post/82990253232/curtain-call

  5. Patty says:

    Something about that sun and little Faye just GO together. Mm! Mmm! MMMMmmm!

  6. Lisa | Truelu.com says:

    Yeah, I also wanna hear how the roller holds up! Think I’m going to get some of those for the kids room as well!

    Love those curtains–what would we all do without Target?!

  7. Jennifer @ Brave New Home says:

    Love the way the room is coming together. There’s something really chic about it. I’d love an update about your roller blinds after you’ve lived with them for a bit. We have a cheap set (same set up) but the springing back action isn’t working anymore so we’re considering upgrading to a more quality set.

  8. Callie says:

    Gorgeous mirror! You/Chris must have hung it up there super securely, though, right? Might want to add some kind of disclaimer in case someone else wants to copy the gorgeous idea but doesn’t think of that. :) How did you/Chris hang it? Combination of screws and 3Ms?

  9. Kathryn Ferrie says:

    I love the patina of the sunburst mirror, it’s gorgeous!

  10. Ashley says:

    I love how sophisticated this room is! Congrats on baby Faye.

  11. caroline nolazco says:

    What a sweet combination! I didnt know Nate had long drapes- the last time I looked they were all 84 inches which had me totally bummed. Enjoy your motherly time ;)

  12. Meagan Briggs says:

    I knew you wouldn’t be blogging for awhile but I still checked for an update every single day!!

    The sunburst is perfect. I love that room! And Faye…I just love her to bits!

  13. Sarabeh says:

    I want that mirror above my bed! It looks great with the curtains and purple sheet.

all the latest

We believe we should all love where we live.

We’re a couple of homebodies, working to uncover the home our home wants to be. And we’re so happy to have you here. 

HI! We're Chris + Julia

read more

Load More

Reader Faves

SHop all

What We're                     Right Now

What We're                 Right Now

Looking for our favorite things? A place to shop our home room by room, or just catch up on what Julia's wearing / loving right now? Browse the CLJ shop. 

Loving

looking for inspiration? 

A reader recently asked me if I’m starting to fully embrace traditional style and whether we still consider our house to be a “modern Colonial” and why. It was a really great question and so timely — I had really just been thinking about my approach to this home and how my style has changed […]

Can We Send You Our Love Letter?

Another way for us to stay in touch! Joining our weekly newsletter gives you access to exclusive content, never-before-seen photos, your questions answered, and our favorite DIYs. Sign up below!

Follow Along on Instagram

Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations

@chrislovesjulia