Turning your spare room into a nursery (AD)

Welcoming a new member of the family into your home is one of the most exciting things in life.

**Full disclosure this is a collaborative post with Big Yellow Storage**

Creating a proper nursery where you can keep all the baby’s things organised and tidy is a huge help, because much as we cherish a new baby there’s no doubt they bring major domestic changes.

You don’t need a massive room, just enough space for a cot or crib, maybe a nursing chair for late night feeds, and somewhere to do nappy changes.

Clear the Decks

Your existing spare room is probably already full of furniture. Or maybe a collection of miscellaneous possessions that don’t have a home elsewhere.

The first task is to clear out all that stuff you’re not using to make way for brand new nursery furnishings. But hang on. You don’t actually need to get rid of everything you already have.

Here’s my 10 tips to declutter which I hope you find helpful too.

For one thing, some of your spare room furniture might work very well as nursery furniture. A chest of drawers, for instance, can come in very handy as a changing surface, plus give you lots of storage for nappies, wipes, lotions, talc etc. You’ll still have drawers left over for clothes too.

The money you save by not buying a new changing unit can go towards extra baby clothes or equipment, or help pay for decorating supplies.

If you have guest beds, consider your future needs. Stow those beds in a self storage unit so they’re out of the house but well-protected, and you may find they’re very useful when you’re turning the nursery into a more grown-up bedroom in a couple of years.

One Eye on the Future

Baby days whizz by. While midnight feeds might seem like they’re going on forever, before you know it you’ll have an active, opinionated toddler on your hands.

So while you’re planning a nursery, bear in mind that it’s not something that’s likely to be a permanent feature in your home. The temporary nature of nurseries is another reason to consider renting a self storage room. You can collect furnishings or even toys and games for when your baby is a toddler and beyond. Having a bit of a stockpile to dip into makes transitioning between phases much easier.

Wherever you can, include decor that allows some growing room. Ideas are:

• Decals on the walls instead of painted decorations. They’re quick to strip off and replace with something else.
• Primary colours rather than baby pastels. Babies are attracted to primary colours, and they’ll help a growing toddler feel more grown-up as they become more aware of their surroundings.
• One feature wall decorated in a baby theme rather than the entire room.

Storage Ideas for a Nursery

You can never have too much storage in a nursery. It’s surprising just how much equipment and clothing a small person needs.

Have plenty of shelving. Install one or two shelves over the changing unit so you have somewhere to put the things you’re using. If your room is tiny with no space for a dedicated changing surface, have a shelf or two fitted over a fold-up, wall-mounted table.

Use a tall, deep bookcase as a wardrobe if you like hanging up baby clothes where you can see them. It’s easy to fit a rail in place of one or two shelves, and if you leave shelves at the bottom you can use these for supplies. Hang a curtain across the front if you like to keep things hidden.

Suitable Nursery Lighting

Fitting blackout curtains or blinds to a nursery window is one of the smartest things you can do, especially if you live in town or have a streetlight right outside your house.

Being able to make the room really dark at any time of the day or night will help get baby into the habit of recognising low light levels at sleep times. Blackout curtains are available in a huge range of designs, but if you can’t find suitable ones for the nursery, just use ordinary curtains with a separate blackout liner, or have a blind as well as curtains.

Have fun making your nursery. It’s one of the few rooms where you can really let your imagination take over, because no-one objects to whimsy or fantasy in baby’s own room.

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Disclaimer*

This post was in collaboration with Big Yellow Storage.

Please be aware that I was financially compensated for this post in collaboration with Three Counties Ltd.

If you would like your company/service featured on rachaelstray.com either in the form of review, sponsored post or an advertising slot, please feel free to contact me at rachaelstray@gmail.com

Please visit my contact/work with me page for more information.

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Other related posts

Here’s how we found out we were expecting a baby – letting the cat out of the bag

Pregnancy diaries – the first trimester

See what happened at my surprise baby shower

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