Despite the fact that I work in a creative field and am generally an organised person, the project of creating a nursery has only come together with roughly two weeks left until my due date. Once it dawned on me that the baby would probably need a place to sleep, and that a handy nappy hanging around here or there, within easy reach, wouldn’t go astray, it was all systems go.
Mother Melbourne and I scoured the likes of eBay, Gumtree, Zara Home and Spotlight (so I could DIY to my heart’s content) among many other stores to put together a contemporary, unique nursery and of course, one with a vintage edge.
If you have an eagle eye, you’ll notice that the cot isn’t actually assembled and doesn’t have a mattress. I searched high and low for this cot; it’s really hard to find in Australia with only one baby store selling a modern version for roughly $500 – which wasn’t even solid wood. I finally stumbled upon this one on Gumtree and drove 35 km it fetch it from a dusty garage (pregnancy brain said this was a sensible thing to do) where I was told it had reared four children. Great karma, thought I!
I was also told all the parts were intact and indeed available, but of course once it was home there were four major screws missing. As the cot is about 20 years old, finding the instructions online was like going on an archaeological expedition, hence why it’s not entirely set-up.
I suppose buying off Gumtree really is about buying at your own peril, and I still love the cot even though it’s not yet functional. It will be, mark my words! It used to be raw wood, but the Gardner stripped it back and painted it gloss white. I’m sure a few missing screws and fasteners won’t get in his way, at this late stage.
The star Gumtree find is the bassinet that cost all of $20 and was in absolute perfect condition. I set the Gardener to work painting it white, in a similar fashion to the cot, and I’m thrilled with the result. There is plenty of great vintage, cane nursery furniture kicking around on Gumtree and eBay so I would absolutely recommend taking a look, if you’re into that kind of thing.
All the other bits and bobs are mentioned below, and of course it’s not finished because nothing in my house or wardrobe is ever complete. It’s all part of the evolving journey and one that, in the not too distant future, I’ll resume with a babe in my arms.
