Ta-da! My latest Craigslist find. I’m pretty excited about this one. I love the clean, simple lines and basic connections. Go Ikea. It’s too bad they don’t make this one anymore. I did some Googling which resulted in some interesting tidbits of Ikea-esque history regarding this particular design. The one hang up, though is I’m knot really in love with the pine, if you catch my drift. I would love raw wood, but it is a little reminiscent of that fake Rustic-chic Tahoe Cabin look I have a rather strong aversion to. So, the question is, should I paint it? Stain it? Leave it? Granted, this is The Project but I don’t want to make it into a bigger process than it need be. I also don’t want to be unhappy with the results if I am going to put that much effort into it. Here is Araiya’s idea of how to decorate the cradle:

Not quite sure that one is a practical solution. Top ideas so far are either a mid-to-charcoal grey laquer or a deeper slate stain. This will be in our bedroom, so I am not trying to coordinate with the current nursery. I like that this project can stand alone in it’s design, feel and colors. Since the cradle came with a blue sheet and bumper, it is a nice excuse to start new, and I can reuse the fill from the bumpers. I have an older white flannel queen flat sheet with frayed edges I am planning to recycle into this project then accent a color combination of purple with ice blue and pattern for richness into (possibly) piping on the bumper and a swaddle blankie. While I am totally in love with the Linnet purple print, I think I need to re-center myself back to practical reality here. I found this second very similar Japanese Print at Pink by Post. So similar I can no longer justify going to the extents of figuring out Japanese to order and the extra charges for shipping across the entire Pacific Ocean and pay more than twice as much for a meter of fabric. See? Me being practical.

So, thoughts?