Huntleigh's Room || 2019 Flip List Item No.5

She’s real! That’s the first thing I said to my husband when they held up our daughter to us in the OR. We didn’t plan on a C-Section but when your baby’s safety is at risk, you quietly cry your way through your first major surgery and wait for the wet sounds of a newborn using her lungs for the first time. And you thank God that there’s a healthy baby on the other end of those 38 hours in labor.

And you name her Huntleigh Wild:

Huntleigh is a blend of two family names - Hunt for Caleb’s grandma and Leigh for my sister. It seemed like the perfect way to honor both sides while still feeling unique and special. Yes, she’ll probably have to join the ranks of never-finding-your-novelty-keychain and spelling-your-name-for-just-about-everyone but I managed ok. And I grew to love being “Cate with a C.”

Wild became her middle name in utero mostly because it was all we knew about her at the time. We wanted a name that fit her personality but how do you choose one without ever having met? What we did know was she would kick up a storm until daddy wanted to feel and then mischievously stop right when he’d put his hand on my belly. She would demand bagels from me on the reg and then reward me with dragon-fire heartburn. She’d wait until I stood up and immediately slide into my bladder - pressing it like a gas pedal so I’d literally run to the bathroom. The little wildling. Don’t be fooled by that sleeping façade - she’s 8lbs of the best kind of trouble.

Now, I promised you a tour of her nursery and am holding myself accountable to that since it’s item No.5 on this year’s furniture flip bucket list. Now that she’s here and we’ve had a chance to settle her little space, I’m finally ready to make good on the promise with today’s tour!

It’s a shoebox of a room but we figure she won’t notice. When we found out we were pregnant, we gave our first born (the dog) the larger guest room as his consolation prize. That meant the wild child would have to make the little 3rd bedroom work so I set about painting over the “boy-blue” and gray racing stripe with a gender-neutral white (ironically over labor day weekend).

The white walls are not only rental-friendly (you’re welcome landlord) but they are my favorite forum to allow for playful pops of color. The main one being this persimmon dresser which you may recognize from this post. I knew even then that I was going to keep this bad boy for baby’s room (but I wasn’t quite ready to share the news with you all yet ;)

And what else but a wild honeysuckle branch to welcome our wild girl to the world.

The dresser is a little tall for a changing table so we hid one of those in the closet for easy access. The orangey-red flirts with the olive and chartreuse velvets in the room. It’s edgy but still softened by the touches of blush like this fabulous fringe mirror.

This mirror almost didn’t happen. It was a sweet steal on H&M Home which meant it went out of stock in a snap. I was actually crushed and kicked myself for slapping it on the registry instead of purchasing it. In my tunnel-vision desperation (I am my own worst client), I checked H&M Canada and UK just in case they could ship internationally. No luck. So I settled for keeping the browser open on my phone and would check it periodically just in case it magically went back in stock. And the day before I went into labor - I kid you not - I longingly opened the browser window to find that not only was the mirror back in stock, but it was half price! I was a mirror miracle!

Across the room is her crib. I’ve admired the DwellStudio Mid-Century inspired nursery line for a while (I even modeled this dresser after their gray three-drawer dresser). My parents were kind enough to gift us their adorable 3-in-1 crib for baby H as the crib of my dreams (and hopefully hers - sleep training am I right??).

The pillows are purely decorative and won’t actually be here during nap time but they capture the nursery color scheme and add some plush texture.

The pink rabbit was a special gift from my sister - Huntleigh’s namesake. We each grew up with a stuffed bunny bff. Mine was technically her back-up if she ever lost Baby but me being the typical little sister… I just had to have one too. So I helped myself thankyouverymuch. I at least had the good sense to give mine a cool name (my sis is the self-proclaimed non-creative of the fam). I still have Gizmo to this day - and if you pay attention on this tour, you can spot him watching over Huntleigh’s room from his place of honor.

The tricky thing about Huntleigh’s little room is there is no overhead lighting. A good floor lamp was crucial for any nighttime feedings or diaper changes. I registered for this one on Amazon and have been greatly pleased with it’s ambiance as well as it’s modern design. It even came with a soft-white LED bulb that won’t make the lamp hot to curious little fingers.

The mobile is another modern touch in the room. Made in Croatia, this Calder-inspired hanging art is just one of the ways I’m hoping to introduce a love of art to baby H.

I’ve also stocked up on some fun art-themed baby books that sit on drawers-turned-shelves along with some of her other fun toys. Oh and points for Gryffindor if you spotted Gizmo!

​For the most part, we’ve kept toys to a minimum knowing that baby stuff has a way of multiplying like rabbits (no offense Gizmo). I’m sure Huntleigh will have hoards stashed around the house when she’s graduated from the boobs and bowel-movement phase and becomes more interested in bells and whistles.

I’d be remise if I didn’t mention one other special piece of art in the room - framed notes from Huntleigh’s cousins (Chelsea’s kids). It hangs by the window above my nursing chair - displaying personalized messages to their littlest cousin that I will cherish forever.

We kept Huntleigh’s name a secret so they each addressed their notes “dear baby girl.”

Alrighty folks! That pretty much concludes this nursery room tour and it’s time to cross item No.5 off the list.

But for good measure, why don’t I throw in a quick little bonus tour of the dog’s…er… the guest room next door.

Please ignore my postpartum bed-making skills. I promise to do better if you ever come to stay with us - what is with that crooked sheet-to-comforter ratio?!?! 

This room design is rather simple - mostly white with winks of warm tones and greenery.

The campaign shelves hold a lot of our mementoes and hide a lot of our paperwork in the lower cabinets.

It’s no shoebox but the bed pretty much takes up the whole space. It has no headboard or nighstands but I did get some simple sconces mounted for some friendlier lighting.

Blackout curtains were a must for my husband if either of us were going to get some quality sleep in my third trimester. These chartreuse velvet ones were a fabulous find on Amazon and ended up being such an easy lux touch in an otherwise simple room.

Ok friends. Thanks for joining me for another peek at our little townhouse! And if you missed it, here’s our dining room, bedroom, and man cave tours.

Four down, one to go. Catch up on the 2019 Furniture Flip Bucket List.

Man Cave || 2019 Flip List Item No.1

So last Spring, my husband and I were on the hunt for our next lease with a very specific list of must-haves in mind:

• End unit townhouse (less walls to share with noisy neighbors)

• Green space (for Thor and also so Caleb could exercise his supreme lawn skills)

• At least 3 bedrooms (little did we know one of them would become a nursery)

• A garage (a girl’s gotta have her in-home workshop, you feel me?)

• And a MAN CAVE (Caleb’s non-negotiable)

By some miracle, we managed to find something that checked everything off our list - complete with a dungeon-like ground-level media room worthy of Caleb’s video-game playing and sports-game watching needs. The only thing was it was a already painted a very distinctive shade of blue:

“Thalos Blue” to be exact

It’s not that the blue was all that bad. In fact our landlord would have let us paint it if we really wanted, but after giving a fresh coat of paint to the other 80% of the house, we kind of ran out of steam. We decided that the color was workable even though I would have chosen a more masculine navy than a cornflower blue for a media room.

Caleb immediately took up residence down here and I set to work on the rest of the house (you can see our progress here and here). In exchange for giving me practically 100% design control of the upper 2 floors of the townhouse, Caleb asked that I limit my… interference… in his sacred basement space. I admit, this was very hard for me to do and I definitely snuck a few decorative items in there every once in a while. He did allow my expertise however to source a comfy sectional. I scoured Craigslist until I found an affordable leather one that was perfect for lengthy lounging and felt manly but still stylish enough for me to tolerate (I mean I have to watch movies down here too ya know ;).

But after a couple months, Caleb came to me with a surprising request to… interfere… with this space after all. See Caleb and I have often disagreed on form vs function when it comes to a space - meaning I like things “pretty” and he likes things “comfortable.” We’ve found little ways to compromise throughout the house but he was very resistant to my initial input on his man space. Me thinks he just wanted a place to set up shop without making any concessions for once. Hence my surprise when he actually approached me about making it feel a little more homey and how this item ended up on the 2019 Furniture Flip Bucket List.

Challenge Accepted

The plan was to use the blue to our advantage and make it as a backdrop for some rich colorful accents coupled with some touches brass to mature the space a bit.

The sectional was working out well, but I switched out the boxy man legs for some sexier gams to give the couch a more high-end look.

Legs Before

Low profile + a little frumpy

Legs After

Glam gams = soooo classy

Next we had to figure out what curtains to hang in a true blue room? I tried white for a bit but the contrast was too stark.  I could do red but I didn’t want to take away from all the pops of red I was adding elsewhere.  Eventually I landed on a blue to match the walls.  In a velvet no less to add texture and black-out any light on movie nights.

Finding the right TV stand was another fun project.  First we had to source one large enough for our monster TV (almost kept this guy for that very reason).  But we found a deal on this MCM credenza with minimal wear and tear.  I waterfalled the outer edges in a persimmon paint color for another fun by subtle pop.

My alternative coffee tables did get a little push-back from Caleb the Client. Instead of doing one large table, I found two brass martini side tables a varied heights. It’s not his favorite design concept (a coffee table should be more of a foot rest according to Caleb), but it allows us a classy take on TV trays when we are eating down there (which is basically on every movie night). 

Behind the couch is a small-space bar area when we want to get our Mad Men on.

Extra lighting sits on a narrow storage piece that flanks the back of the couch. We keep our small LP collection and record player on the shelves underneath.

A few of our records hang on the wall to make a “man art” moment. They can easily be switched out for a sports poster or two if the mood strikes.

Now this space has the family’s full stamp of approval - Thor included. 

And I’m crossing this project off this year’s list!

Two down, three to go. Catch up on the 2019 Furniture Flip Bucket List.

Pop of Red Dresser

When it comes to repairing old dressers, I’ve seen quite the spectrum of original conditions.  Water damage, bent hardware, chunks missing, splitting veneer, broken legs, and even dog pee.

But this piece...

…this piece might take the cake. 

The previous owners had been keeping it practically unsheltered in their carport for who knows how long.  Exposed to the elements, every inch of the cherry veneer was clinging on for dear life.  As soon as I touched it, the veneer started flaking off like bad dandruff.  Poor thing. The state of this thing meant I couldn’t restore all of it back to its former glory. The drawer fronts, although in need of excessive touch-ups, were mostly salvageable.  But the sides were an irrestorable tragedy that would have to succumb to a good coat of paint. But this meant I had a fun opportunity on my hands… a chance to play with color:

So if paint had to be on the agenda, I chose a sassy red-orange to play off the red cherry tones in the drawers.

The drawers had a lot of chipped veneer around the edges which I painstaking patched and painted to match by hand.  Then I reoiled the wood to bring it back to health like a good moisturizer for cracked hands in winter.

The original wooden pulls were also too damaged to keep so I replaced them with brass whistle knobs that match the brass keyholes in the top drawers.

I was able to keep the original gold capped tapered legs however!

To style it, I used my painter’s pallet and the most exquisite golden foliage I could find.

GAH! This is why it’s my favorite time of year to style with tree branches!!! (I can’t help myself - just see here and here and here).

Pop of Red 8 Drawer Dresser
Now Available for Sale
33.5”W x 18”D x 48”H
$495


If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com