First big nursery purchase!

We found the first big piece for the baby's nursery today! We got a great deal on a beautiful Babi Italia dresser at one of the local places that deals in overstocks. It was top-rated for quality & value in the book Baby Bargains, which has been an invaluable resource. We were trying to decide between this color and the espresso (very dark brown), but I was afraid the espresso would make the small nursery look even smaller. The upside of our indecision was that one of the employees took pity on us (or was just desperate to make the sale) and offered to match the 25% off marked on the espresso finish for any of the other finishes. So we ended up getting the dresser for about $320 less than the list price at Babies 'R' Us! We will have to go back to the warehouse and pick it up with Dave's parents' van next weekend. Now that we have the dresser, we'll look for cribs in the same color. There are a couple from the same line, but the dresser's design is also simple enough that it should be easily matched with cribs in the same finish from other manufacturers.

For context, here it is in a set, with an added hutch. The changing rail also detaches so it can be used as a normal dresser when the baby gets too big for the changing table.

I don't think we'll do a "theme" in decorating the nursery. It will probably be done in blues & greens, but we're still working on finalizing a fabric to use for the valance/curtain & crib skirt. We will be trying to paint the nursery, guest room, and guest bathroom when my parents visit in a few weeks, so we'll have to decide on a color by then.

We are spending the rest of the long weekend vegging out and visiting with friends & family. Hiyam is also giving Katie, her roommate, and me a Lebanese cooking lesson on Monday, which should be fun.