Thursday, May 1, 2014

Adding a Wayfair Pop of Color to Our Nursery (& a $100 Giveaway!)

Disclosure: I am a Wayfair.com Homemaker Blogger and received store credit to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Happy May! I can officially now say Baby Agbai 2.0 will be here next month and while he won't join his big sister Nia in the nursery until he's around 6 months old, we're already setting up the room little by slowly. A nursery designer friend of mine has been working with us to get things in order (a few posts on that collaboration to come!) and our first step was getting the room rearranged. I basically showed Mr. Lovebird the floor plan then he got to work...

Since reading this tragic story last year, we've mounted the armoire to the wall, as well as all similar furniture throughout the apartment
We've lived in our apartment for a year, and while I've had plans for the room it's still a basic, renter-grade-white room. The previous owners for some ungodly reason pulled up the wood floors and installed tile in the bedrooms so the most of the floor is cold and along with the white walls, white closet unit and white blinds the room is such a blank slate which I think is actually a good thing . . . cause mama has plans!

First up, as part of Wayfair's Pop of Color campaign, I decided in addition to upgrading Nia's bed to a big girl bed that I would give her new bedding especially because she has been asking for butterfly bedding for a couple months now. Where she got the idea for butterflies in the dead of our awful NYC winter-to-spring transition is beyond me, but I'm just happy it wasn't character bedding she asked for.

The inspiration for the room is this retro-style poster by Jim Datz I've been holding onto for years (even before Nia arrived!):

{Image Credit: Three Potato Four}
I was able to meet Nia's butterfly bedding challenge quite easily on Wayfair.com: I went to the Baby & Kids category at the top then selected Kids Bedding. I typed in "butterfly," and here's what appeared:


There were 18 results and keeping the poster inspiration in mind, I narrowed them down to 3:

My World Dragonfly Butterfly Quilt Set//Dwell Studio Butterfly Set//My World Pink Butterfly Flower Quilt Set
I loved the simplicity of the first set, but since Nia's a threenager I could foresee her having an issue with the addition of dragonflies; the second set fit in the blue theme, but since it was $50 more than the other two, and I'd still have to add a duvet, it was out of my budget; the third, although with more pink than I'd like, stood out becuase of the large block prints and patchwork texture - it went along well with the vintage theme I'm going for. 

I selected choice #3 and it arrived in about 3 business days with free standard shipping since the order was over $49. Nia's enthusiasm isn't quite apparent here, but it arrived in a standard carry-case:


She was more excited when I put the bedding onto her bed:



Since having the bed of her heart's desire, we've found it's actually helped her stay in her bed through the night. We remind her of her new butterfly bed and although she still attempts to sneak in our room from time to time, we tell her to return to her butterfly bed since it's special just for her. She does so without tears now!


While Nia loves the design, I appreciate the quality - it's nicely weighted and doesn't feel cheap like many of the airy-style comforters I remember having as a child. I can see keeping this quilt even when Nia outgrows her twin bed.

Here's the before and after of the nursery (which remember is still a work in progress!):



Nia's bed is now the most colorful part of the room, but with the rest of the design elements implemented I can't wait to share how the entire room comes together! For example, besides coloring up the bare walls, I plan to replace the dresser with one larger and brighter in color as well as replace the rocking chair with a glider on the opposite wall which currently houses toy storage that will soon go beneath the windows (which need curtains and the pull cord removed for childproofing). Yep, lots to do!

Do you have a room in your home that needs a pop of color? Wayfair is going to help one Harlem Lovebirds reader do so by giving away $100 to shop their highly addictive site! Enter via Rafflecopter below; contest is open to residents of the U.S. excluding Florida, New York and Rhode Island (please see full contest rules below the Rafflecopter before entering) and runs May 1, 2014 through May 8, 2014 with the winner announced on May 9, 2014. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No purchase necessary. By leaving a comment you agree to the rules of this sweepstakes. Each comment to this post equals one entry and must include a name and valid email address to be eligible. A comment must link to a product from Wayfair.com to be considered for this sweepstakes. One entry per household. Limited to entrants over 18 in the US and Canada, residents of Florida, New York, and Rhode Island are ineligible to enter. Contest begins as of the time of this post and ends on Thursday, May 8 at 11:59p.m.. The winner will receive a Wayfair gift card/promo code, a retail value of $100 US. The number of eligible entries received will determine the odds of winning. All comments will be numbered in the order they are received and the winner will be chosen randomly by Harlem Lovebirds using the Random Number Generator at random.org.  Winner will be notified by email at the address given in their entry and must respond within 72 hours to receive their prize. If the winner does not respond within that time, a new winner will be chosen. The prize will be provided by Wayfair.com. Harlem Lovebirds is not responsible for any problems with receipt of the prize. This contest is governed by the rules of Massachusetts, void where prohibited. This sweepstakes is sponsored by Wayfair LLC, 177 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, 02115.