Nursery Room - Crib

Item numero uno that we're not building in Kalia's room is her crib.  For obvious safety reasons.  I'm actually pretty sure that Chris and I could build some sumo type crib that would be about 900 pounds and the safest thing she could possibly be in, but that wouldn't be all that cute.  Or all that practical, so that's out!

When we started looking at cribs, Chris wanted to know why we couldn't just get a crate.  His logic/reasoning was that cribs just look like a glorified crate with the top removed.  Hmmm...he sort of has a point.

But since we don't want child services showing up at our door for our unborn daughter, we decided to go the more conventional route and buy a for real crib.

I'd say this was our crib criteria, but Chris's only concern was that it was safe.  Other than that, he was largely uninspired and uncaring when it came to the look and feel of the crib.  See...sometimes he is a normal guy!

So my criteria for the crib...

• Safe (obviously)
• I wanted it to be pretty (of course)
• I didn't care if it converted to a toddler bed.  I actually almost preferred that it didn't.  There's a few reasons for this, but the main one is that I know we can build something that I'll love more than something I can buy off the shelf.  In looking at cribs, I was disheartened by a lot of the qualities of wood and build jobs.  Prior to me ever building my own piece of furniture, I wasn't such a snob.  But knowing that I can make something to my taste for cheaper than I can buy has made me a huge furniture snob.  It's slightly annoying at times.
• I wanted it to be gender neutral.  Because I don't care about it converting to a toddler bed, I want this to be the end-all be-all crib for all future little two legged critters we have.
• It has to last.  It can't get teeth mark / beat up / etc. and then get tossed in the trash.  See bullet above for reason why!
• I did not want to paint it.  I have zero desire to paint the individual spindles in a crib with a paintbrush.  One day when I win the lottery, I'll invest in a paint sprayer.  'Till then, my impatient self is not painting any cribs!
• I wanted it to be somewhat unique.
• I didn't want it to cost us an arm and a leg.  We need both of those for chasing Kalia around one day!

Impossible list?  I thought so initially too.  But we set out to find a crib and came home time and time again defeated.  I'm honestly the most annoying person to shop with at times.  I got depressed in Pottery Barn Kids.  Yes, they have cute stuff...but I'm not a pastel pink and off-white kind of gal.  And lets face it...the nursery design is for Kalia, but Chris and I are going to be the ones that notice the design of the room until she gets to toddler stage.  So I have to like it!

And I finally found one that I loved.  That we both loved.  Chris initially thought the pictures of it were okay but once we got it in Kalia's room and all put together, he stepped back and said, and I quote! "Wow!  I actually really love it."  Woohoo!!!!!

Allright, allright, enough words...here's Kalia's crib...

Minus the empty mattress, isn't the crib beautiful?!  Here's a few details shots:

And here's what it looks like when you walk in Kalia's room :

The long poles can be removed, or the canopy portion can be added to the top to go all around the top of the crib.  Without any bedding in there, this is our favorite look thus far.  

Now, I know some people are going to have objections to a wrought-iron crib.  Please keep in mind that we're both Engineers, overly anal, and we overly research anything before jumping on buying anything (which includes checking out consumerreports.org).  Everyone has their own personal opinions on what's right for them, and what they're okay with.  And this crib was right for us.  It was actually perfect for us.  The wrought-iron will most definitely withstand the test of time!  We couldn't find anything on serious accidents related to wrought-iron cribs, and those that have owned them, love them.  Most of the negative comments we could find on the wrought-iron crib were people who had never owned one.  Which is a.okay by me...I like that we all have different tastes and preferences!  It makes for a way more interesting world.

The crib is from Bratt Decor and we managed to scoop it up for right around $400, which is an absurd price for this beauty!  It's an older model, but it's never been recalled, and Bratt Decor has free hardware for the lifetime of your crib, and they also have a free stabilizer kit they sent us to make this crib go from drop-side to stationary.  We're skeptics though, so we did test out the hardware replacement.  Within two days of calling, I had a replacement screw fed-exed to my front door.  So awesome!

I'm actually working on Kalia's bedding right now (I know she can't sleep with it for a long time...).  I have a few ideas for the crib skirt, so when the dresser is done, I'll switch to baby bedding mode.  It seems like my to-do list is piling up, and my time is getting shorter and shorter!  She'll be here before we know it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  We've got a house full of people coming in town for my first baby shower tomorrow, so mine will be really fun and exciting!  For fun, lets end on a before and after shot of this wall, now that we've decided it's the cribs permanent home!

Before

After

Ahh...so much better!  Happy Friday!

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