With a little help from family, Courtney and Aaron Arnold have a soothing and stylish nursery

HUNTINGTON -- When a first baby of the next generation of a family arrives, it is a special event that everyone associated treasures.

Such is the case with Courtney and Aaron Arnold's expected baby boy, Brooks Aaron Arnold. He will be the first grandchild on Aaron's side of the family and one of the first on Courtney's side, so everyone is excited. In preparing for the young man's arrival, a nursery was created with loving care.

"I love the room and everyone had a hand in it," Courtney said.

Courtney and her mother, Kim Crabtree, are both art teachers who have been the master minds behind the scenes. The theme of the room was 'construction zone' to mirror Aaron's job as a salesman for State Equipment. The mother/daughter team decided on a pale mint green for the walls of the room and everyone got on board with a paint brush.

Painting all of the furniture a crisp white to match the woodwork in the room has been a huge money saver. Most of the furnishings in the room were used and re-used many times before the Arnolds put them together in their nursery. The baby bed had belonged to the Crabtree children as babies. The changing table was rescued from a rubbish pile. The chest had been Kim's as a child, and the cabinet was an estate sale find.

"Old things have more character, and the antique look fits in so well with the rest of Courtney and Aaron's home," Kim said.

Courtney gives her father full credit for refinishing and painting the furniture.

"He is the painter for family projects," she said. "For example, the china/storage cabinet was a mess. After buying it, I left it on my back porch over a year. The paint was rolling off of it. He repaired it, stripped it, sanded it and painted it to match the rest of the furniture."

Not all the furniture was used. Kim bought a glider when Dickinson Furniture was going out of business. The matching stool was not available. They found one that worked but is of another wood tone. With a little paint, it now looks like it came with the chair.

"The moral of the story is that if you take the time to paint it you can save a ton of money -- especially if you have family to help," Courtney said.

The truck motif on the bedding makes the room and that was also a group effort that started as a girl-trip.

"When we went to baby places it was really special for us," Courtney said. "My mom, my mother-in-law and I went shopping for bedding. Mother and my mother-in-law went together to buy it for us, which Aaron and I really appreciate."

The varieties of tiny trucks that border the window valances help complete the look. Being a thrifty lot, they were able to get it all on sale and even bought extra bedding for a larger bed that will someday replace the baby bed.

Aaron has had the job of putting things together in the room. It has earned him the name 'assembler' with the family group. He and Courtney's brothers have also served as the movers getting things up the stairs to the room. The family baby bed that had been passed around many times since Courtney used it needed her uncle's help to get it together.

Courtney laughed as she remembered Aaron trying to get the complicated piece together.

"We finally called my Uncle John who had put it together four times for his kids and he did it for us," she said.

The nursery is finished, furnished and waiting for that special little boy to come set up shop. It has been an affordable, fun, family effort everyone has enjoyed as they look forward to little Brooks' arrival.

Mark Webb/ The Herald-Dispatch

Courtney Arnold is accompanied by her parents Kim and Bob Crabtree on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at the Arnold residence in Huntington.

Mark Webb/ The Herald-Dispatch

Courtney Arnold poses with her refinished crib on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at the Arnold residence in Huntington.

Mark Webb/ The Herald-Dispatch

An antique refinished cabinet on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at the Arnold residence in Huntington.

Mark Webb/ The Herald-Dispatch

This nursery created for the expected son of Courtney and Aaron Arnold features pale green walls and freshly painted mostly ÒfoundÓ furniture.

Mark Webb/ The Herald-Dispatch

The theme of Courtney and Aaron ArnoldÕs nursery is Òconstruction zoneÓ to mirror AaronÕs job as a salesman for State Equipment.