Update on Nursery Renovations

Reader Contribution by Jessica Kellner and Editor

Hello! It’s time for a long overdue update on our nursery renovations. In the past few weeks, we’ve accomplished a lot, but nothing quite as exciting as the work we’ve got planned in the next few weeks. We’re only four short weeks away from baby’s birth, so time is of the essence! We had to have the room rewired by an electrician. This room was the only room in our home that hadn’t been remodeled by its former owner, which meant the wiring was circa the 1950s and both outdated and unsafe by today’s standards. We hired a local electrician to rework the room, making sure everything is safe. He also installed in-ceiling recessed lights. These lights can be inefficient, but he insulated around them to ensure air wouldn’t leak in and out. We also put these lights on a dimmer, which will give us greater control of our lighting options in the room. 

We also had new windows installed. The old windows were in horrible shape, and they wouldn’t fully close or lock, meaning energy was pouring in and out of them. We matched the rest of our home by installing energy-efficient Pella ProLine casement windows, which look wonderful. Pella windows are one of the best options on the market. Replacing windows is expensive, but fortunately, we only had two windows in the room. 

The other major time input has been my husband’s huge task of insulating and re-drywalling all the walls. We chose Owens Corning EcoTouch insulation. Greenguard-certified to be formaldehyde-free, made up of 99 percent natural materials and including nearly 60 percent recycled content, this insulation was a good choice in terms of health and price. It’s available at Home Depot. 

Then the drywalling fun began. My husband has invested many hours mudding and sanding and I’m happy to report is finally done with that task. In the meantime, we’ve been very excited to be working with Unearthed Paints on choosing a wall covering for the room. Unearthed Paints offers clay paints, milk paints, lime and clay plasters and other fabulous, all-natural and healthy wall covering options. Owner Jessica Pfohl has been exceedingly helpful as we’ve looked through the company’s extensive offerings, giving us so much help and advice. We finally settled (after much indecision due to the many fabulous choices) to use the company’s smooth lime plaster, which we received in the mail yesterday. So we will be trying our hand at that this coming week. I’m very very excited to share the results with you!! In my next post, I’ll include a series of in-progress photos so you can see our progress. 

  • Published on Jul 10, 2012
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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