Nesting Nestless

The Nesting Instinct has struck. I am, after all, 39 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately for 9 month pregnant me, I am as of yet houseless thanks to the "bean-counters" at the mortgage store. It's a boring and sad story, so I'll spare you. Anyway, what with the extra-long, extra heavy child (midwife predicts a 8-10 pounder) currently residing in my abdomen, I probably wouldn't have the agility/energy to nest even if I could get my hands on this house. So, in this blog post I will indulge in a little virtual nesting, which has the benefit of requiring little physical exertion, flexibility--AND it's free (always a good thing after yet ANOTHER baby shopping trip to Tar-jay!)

Anyway. I have a vision for our future family home. I envision a clean, peaceful space, full of light, books, food, music, prayer and conversation. In addition, this clean and peaceful space will be beautiful. Beauty is, I truly believe, a divine virtue and a divine praise. This is a fragment of my musings and justification of my current Nesting Moment.

Anyway anyway. On with the virtual nesting. BEHOLD THE LIVING ROOM as it stands now, artificially and sparsely staged by the seller:

Its virtues: gorgeous paneling, stone fireplace (currently not functioning...alas), hardwood floors, and original leaded glass windows. Despite the Living Room's dark walls and northern exposure, it is a surprisingly warm and light room. Sunlight manages to stream in through the huge southern windows in the dining room. Still, I want to increase the feeling of light and warmth in the space, while playing upon the classic English library coziness and sophistication already suggested by the paneling and stained glass.

I love this room's warmth, for instance:

And this room's clean sophistication.

In order to achieve the comfortable, lived-in-for-one-hundred-years-yet-clean-as-newly-bleached-sheets, Devin and I are considering several purchases. 1. a charmingly faded antique turkish rug in golds, dusky greys, and muted corals. 2. a white linen sofa like this one from Restoration Hardware:

3. custom pillows in charmingly vintage yet modern patterns like this:

and, 4. a pair of antique Chinese vases like this:

Once again, I emphasize the "freeness" of *virtual* nesting.

Moving on.

The next room that needs work is the Breakfast Room which adjoins our lovely kitchen:

This room will, I hope, one day combine two things I love the most: Food and Books. I would like to retain the kitchen/dining aspect along with clean brightness:

At the same time, we need to incorporate our books in this space (mainly because we don't want to cover our paneled walls with shelving):

The combined effect would be a comfortable living/eating/reading space. Like this:

Or this:

The next room to consider is the Master Bedroom, which currently looks like this:

The priority here is light and comfort. Here are some examples of the feel and look I want:

Last, but certainly not least, is the Nursery:

The virtue of this room is Light. Though the picture doesn't exactly capture it (it was slightly overcast and in the evening when I took it), this room is absolutely filled with southern light on two full walls. I want the nursery to be feminine, calm and whimsical. Like this:

Or this:

I have already chosen the paint color (a dusky grey-pink in the white family) and ordered the crib bedding in clean, vintage florals which remind me of this old wallpaper:

or these curtains:

Here ends my bout of virtual nesting. Hopefully within the week I will have either a nest...or a little nestling...or maybe both!