Nursery Part 1: Paint

Originally, we were going to go with a car theme if we had a boy and a pony theme if we had a girl....however, I changed my mind after buying a really cute cow piggy bank at Michael's on clearance and we settled on a barnyard theme. I decided to utilize my painting skills to paint a barnyard mural on the wall. I was on vacation from the university from the 24th thru the 4th, so I used that time to get the room painted. It took a while. I have to take more breaks then I used to.
Day 1 consisted of going to Lowe's and picking out paint colors. I went with Grass Stain for the non-mural walls and "grass", Surfer Waves for the "sky", and Funshine for the sun. Thank goodness for sample cans! That is how I made it through this mural without buying tons of paint! After Day 1, the room looked like this:

On Day 2, I began painting some of the details such as the sun, barn, and animals. At the end of the second day, this was the result:

On Day 3, I rested.....well, I didn't "rest." I went to the grocery since we had no food and to Lowe's (again) to get paint for the tractor (Oliver green and yellow...not John Deere) and trim. I also did the piles of laundry and dishes that had accumulated.

On day 4, I got back to painting the details and finished the mural. Take a look:

The barn

The tractor. When I bought the paint samples, the guy mixing them asked if I was going to a John Deere theme. I was like, "Um...no way....it's an Oliver Tractor theme." I don't think he knew what I was talking about. I painted all parts of the mural from memory...no pictures to help, so the tractor is not a perfect representation of any model of Oliver. So I left off the model number. Michael thought I was being silly, but I know that this is serious business when your dad is an Oliver officionato.

The Donkeys

The ANGUS cattle. I really do stink at painting cows but I don't think they turned out too bad. Black cattle really make for a shading challenge.

The sun

The sheep

The piggies

The pony....loosely based on my childhood pony, Tony.

One wall

The corner

The other wall

Day 5 & 6:I decided to paint the closet and entry doors like barn doors. This was almost the death of me, but I finally got them done.

Lesson learned: don't bother taping when your hand is as steady as mine. Tape is a hassle.

Aside from the touchups in paint, we still have to rip up the carpet and put down laminate. I also need to sew some curtains and paint the rest of the trim once we get the floor down. I can't wait to get this project over so I can get it looking like a nursery!