New nursery and pergola progress.

Our pergola project is underway! This big pile of fabulous smelling Cedar got delivered to us a few weeks ago.

Trent started by cutting the decorative edges on each end of the boards. We decided to go with a “Champfer” cut. I originally accused Trent of picking that because it was easier than other cuts but he insisted it was his favorite. He pointed out that the simple cut went better with our simple ranch style house. I agreed. He is lucky that I am okay with him almost always being right 😉.

We determined that we preferred the look of stained pergolas to their “in the rough” counterparts so we bought a BIG bucket of stain and let the fun begin. NOT. That pile may not look that big, but it seems never ending when you are staining every side of it in 95 degree temps with 99% humidity. Don’t even get me started on the humidity. I’m all about this rain that we have been getting, but when you are trying to stain this much wood you need a few dry days here and there. What should have taken 2 days ended up taking over a week due to the random downpours that we would get. Luckily most of the staining is done. Though Trent is the only one photographed staining, this 6+ month preggo lady did her fair share of staining.

As silly as it seems, we chose to stain our cedar with “cedar” colored stain. We almost went with a dark brown color but decided to stick with the traditional pergola look. We are happy with the color and are VERY happy that 95% of the staining is done. With that being said, my handy husband was able to start building! He got this done Wednesday after work:

And all this after work today:

Other than a little assistance from Conleigh, he is doing this all by himself!

I’m not much help in the pergola department, but am decent at decorating nurseries. I painted our nameless baby’s room a few weeks ago and have been busy furnishing it since. I scored this awesome French Provincial furniture on Craigslist a few weeks ago and gave it a makeover with some chalk paint. Have I mentioned I am obsessed with that stuff?

Here’s the rest of the room:

Though the room is now fully furnished, there is lots of wall art to hang and decorating to be done. Also, the bookshelf is only partly assembled as I am contemplating painting the backing a contrasting color. I am debating between gray or gold, or just leaving it white. Suggestions welcomed! I originally thought gold was a no-brainer, but have lots of gold wall art in store so I don’t want to go too overboard.