I'm still in Seattle and I am hearing that St. Louis is getting snow today and tomorrow so I am in no rush to head back!  Meanwhile, I've spent some time on the internet collecting ideas for the nursery.  Yesterday, Roger and I went to a mall up here in Seattle that had a Land of Nod store.  I was able to see some bedding and a crib that I love.  I had envisioned having a white crib and dresser, but Roger prefers the espresso finish and now I'm reconsidering the bedding.  

This is the Land of Nod Straight Up Crib in Espresso.  The only downfall is that it's $599.

This is the bedding that I had originally picked out to go with the white crib, but now that we are going with expresso furniture, I'm reconsidering it.  It's also from Land of Nod.

As an alternative to the circle bedding, I'm considering this bedding from Caden Lane.  I think the brown stripe in the bedding would work better with the espresso furniture.

This is (still) the desk that we are going to incorporate into the room since the baby's room will also double as an office.  It's from Crate and Barrel and it's also in an espresso finish.  We had originally thought this was a black finish because the website calls the finish ebony.  In the store, the tags say espresso and it definitely has a bit of a brown undertone to it.

And instead of the Ikea Hemnes dresser in white, we're looking at the same dresser in their black/brown finish.

Finally, after having remorse about the thought of spending $600 on a crib, here are several alternatives.

For $350, this is the Sweet Pea Modern Crib from JCPenney.  The shelves on the end would work well for us since we will be placing the short end of the crib along a wall (the crib will create a peninsula effect in the room) and the shelves would be the first thing you'll see upon walking into the room.  I think if you kept the shelves organized (with colored baskets), it could create a cute focal point in the room.

For $200, this is the Renew Standard Crib by Rockland from JCPenney.  This is the most reasonably priced option and I think it makes for a nice basic crib.

This option, for $400, incorporates both the white and espresso finish and goes along with the clean lines of the dresser.

Finally, the Annabelle Crib by DaVinci for about $330 (depending on the website) is another alternative.  I'm not sure that it's worth the extra $130 over the Renew crib (I don't prefer one style over the other) so it comes in last.

Any thoughts or opinions?