Our Nursery Reveal
My husband and I are so excited to welcome our first baby ANY DAY NOW! I was due on Sunday 2/23, so I have been (very slowly) wandering around the house trying to make sure I have thought of every to-do list item before the ‘big day.’
I laugh when people ask, ‘have you started nesting yet?’
‘Um, yes—since the day I was born.’ I would say I am just in my element now that I have an excuse to do all of the crazy things I already do (you know, like organize the pantry on a Saturday afternoon for fun. Who doesn’t do that?!)
I wanted to share our proudest item off our baby to-do list—the nursery! I didn’t really have an initial vision for what it should look like, we just knew we didn’t necessarily want a theme and for it to be fairly gender neutral. It’s been rather gloomy here so the photos aren’t the best—but I was too eager to share!
KEEPING A FOCUS
I started with one item to build the room around—the rug. I put together a mood board to start—there are so many adorable baby things, and when I was first pregnant it was hard not to feel like I needed ‘all the things’ so this helped us to stay focused on the end result we wanted.
I used the same methodology in the nursery as I would use to plan a gathering. I focused on one main item and worked off of it, as well as a general color pallet. This truly helps when working on a budget! I have said this in other posts regarding party planning, but when you choose a set of colors to work from it’s so much easier to say ‘no’ to that adorable item you walked by at Home Goods.
KEEPING IT GREEN
I did my best to research as much as I could to find affordable yet safe and reliable furniture options. It was important that our main pieces were Greengaurd Gold certified (meaning it has been tested and scientifically proven to have low chemical emissions).
During my research I quickly found our crib from Babyletto which met both our budget and safety standards. I love that it has a slight mid-century look to it and can also grow with our baby if we choose. The crib mattress we chose is something I am especially in love with—it’s called the Newton crib mattress and it is amazing for so many reasons! First and most importantly, the mattress is completely breathable reducing the risk of SIDS as the core is not a solid material so air can still flow through. It is also made out of safe materials and is completely washable—it was comparable to other mattresses price-wise so we were sold!
Our glider also meets the Greenguard standards (I was shocked to see how many gliders were close to or over $1000) so when I came across this one that doesn’t break the bank or kill our style, we jumped on it.
Lastly we chose a dresser over a traditional changing table so it can grow with him long after he’s out of diapers. We stalked this one on West Elm and snagged it during a sale. We chose the smaller size which works really well in the space that we have. Although I really focus on working on a budget—I do think it important to not just get ‘cheap’ items, so if you have to wait a little bit for a sale to get that piece you will want to keep for years to come, do it!
KEEPING IT CUTE
We chose simple items to accessorize his room. We again worked to keep items budget friendly but decided to wait on sales on a few special items we knew could grow with his room (or move into another area of the house one day) such as the mirror and leather pouf. We registered for this adorable Crate + Barrel mobile too and were so grateful a friend purchased it for us! It is just so pretty!
I will also be adding a hand lettered wooden cut out sign of his name to go above his bookshelf once he is here to add further personalization.
We chose artwork that meant something to us from small businesses and artists. (Orange Painting | Curated Dry Goods; Florida Print | Winter Park Rifle Paper Co.; A-Z Animal Print | Winter Park Rifle Paper Co.; Wolf Pup Print | PaperLlamas)
I also was able to snag great finds like this West Elm look-alike lamp and the mud cloth pillow at Home Goods. We purchased a mix of sheets so we can always have a spare to change the mattress with, but my favorite is this Crate and Barrel neutral cross pattern. The fawn print pillow cover is from an Etsy store Nestables. We chose faux fiddle leaf fig plants from Ikea to add some color and life to the room, but without the real soil…because, babies.
KEEPING IT ORGANIZED
Ok, ok so I realize that once the baby is actually here—I am going to have to let go of my perfectly organized dreams. However, I do believe that no matter what season of life you are in, you can put systems in place to help you keep you somewhat organized which in turn creates simplicity in your life (but that is a whole other post for another day!)
I love the famous IKEA hack for bookshelves—take either their photo frame ledges or spice racks and you now have an accessible book shelf for your little one at such a LOW COST! We added three of these and plan to rotate books as he accumulates his collection.
The room we chose for the nursery has a small walk in closet (one of the reasons we specifically chose this room) so we added a storage system to it. We decided on budget-friendly items in the whole space, yet the shelving was our one investment as we knew it would be a value as he grew to help keep things organized since we don’t have a designated play room and one day if we sold the house it would be appealing to buyers as well.
I stocked the main shelves with cute baskets and created wooden engraved tags to label them. I filled the baskets with clothes that he would wear later in the year that we would then move either to a drawer or hang when he hit that age/size. The smaller baskets in his reach are filled with teethers and a few toys. We utilized the drawers in the closets for newborn clothing and 0-3 months as well as his swaddles and accessories (hats, shoes, socks, bibs etc).
In the future, we will be utilizing the rod and hangers more, but for now I’ve just displayed a couple of keepsake outfits. The top shelves house our stockpile of diapers and wipes.
Disclaimer—I own a label maker (is this whole I’ve been nesting my whole life thing making more sense now?!) And yes, any closet you open in our home likely has something labeled in it so the nursery was no exception. Until we get in a groove with our little one, I thought it would be helpful for my husband, family or friends that stay to find what they need a tad easier.
As he grows, the needs for his closet will change and these drawers will make great organizers for toys and items he will want to grab!
As far as the dresser, we have filled it with changing essentials for now—the top drawer has the essentials you need at your fingertips during a change, the second is a stockpile of diapers in the size he will be, and the third is the stockpile of wipes. When he gets older this will be transitioned into a typical dresser.
We are so excited to give our little babe the grand tour of his space—until then, our cat Henry will claim it as his own and I will most likely be hanging out in that glider imagining what it will be like to rock our bebe to sleep in the very near future.
