our nursery nook
We are just a handful of weeks away from my due date (eek!)—I can’t believe that baby boy will be joining us so soon!
As some of you know, we had planned to buy and renovate a house before baby’s arrival and I was looking forward to decorating a sweet little nursery. But as luck would have it, we encountered some setbacks and won’t be moving until after the baby arrives. SO, rather than force the girls to share a room (which Leah, especially, was vehemently opposed to), I decided to set up a little nursery nook in the corner of our master bedroom!
Our girls both slept with us for the first nine-ish months, so not having a nursery will be totally doable, I think. Thankfully, we have a large master closet that fits all of my and my husband’s clothes, so I cleared out a dresser in the corner of our room and set up a sweet little nook just for babe! I took care to limit baby clothing purchases to 0-3 month and 3-6 month sizes so that we wouldn’t have more than we have room for. In fact, all of the clothes fit into one drawer! That felt like a real minimalist win to me :D.
I found this wooden peg rail from Target to hang above the dresser and it has been perfect for hanging the few chunky knit items I purchased for babe as well as my Wildbird ring slings. I splurged on wooden hangers since the space is so visible and I’m glad I did! I literally look directly at this space from my spot in bed and I love that it’s so aesthetically pleasing.
The dresser we are using is from Target (find it here), and it came with a removable changing pad frame for the top. I filled the upper drawers with diapers and wipes and presto-change-o, baby’s “closet” is also a changing area!
Other items I was able to fit in the dresser include swaddles, baby blankets, burp cloths, and the few little teethers and rattles we have for baby. Honestly, having to work within the limits of a small space has been so freeing because it’s kept me from buying a lot of unnecessary “stuff”. It helps that we’ve already had two kids and know by now which things are really useful and which things we can do without. For example, baby shoes! I bought one pair of soft soled shoes and one pair of cute slippers and THAT IS IT because news flash—babies don’t need shoes (and constantly kick them off). I must have purchased fifteen pairs of shoes for my first baby before I learned my lesson the hard way :D.
One of my favorite finds was this moses basket and rocking stand that I’ll have next to my bed for baby to sleep in at night. Not only does it take up way less space than a crib, but I love that the basket is removeable so that I can easily bring baby with me throughout the house while I’m doing housework, etc. during the day.
Other must-have items that I found room for outside of the nursery nook: breast pump + accessories (in the kitchen), a Snuggle Me Organic lounger (in the master closet), and extra diapers + wipes (also in the master closet).
Some tips for thriving in a small space sans-nursery:
1) Don’t go overboard on clothes. Consider how often you do laundry and buy enough clothes to last a day or two beyond that cycle. I do laundry once per week, so I purchased 8-9 sleepers in each size, about 10 daytime outfits, and a few extra onesies.
2) Choose larger items wisely. As I said, we opted for a moses basket instead of a crib for the first few months and found a dresser that could do double duty as a changing table.
3) Wait until you need things to buy them. Case in point: a lot of people buy high chairs before baby has even arrived, but you won’t need it for several months. (Baby can’t sit up on his own or eat solid food for awhile, mamas!) Rather than trying to find a place to store things until you need them, just wait! Trust me, you have time :).
4) Fold like a pro. Have you heard of the Konmari method? IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Learning to fold clothing items efficiently makes all the difference when it comes to maximizing drawer space and keeping everything organized. I’ve shared some video tutorials over on my Instagram if you’re a visual learner—check it out @catsivula!
I can’t wait to share more photos of our setup as things arrive! Until then, I hope you’ve found this helpful as you prepare for your own little one!
xo
