As first time parents Devin and I really had no idea how to put together a nursery and organize everything our little would need, but with the help of my parents and pinterest we ended up with a pretty amazing space for our baby girl! We tried to make the room as functional as possible and although she'd not here yet I am really happy with how everything turned out and feel very confident that we have everything we need...and then some. So here it is!
To get started here are some before pictures. This used to be our guest bedroom but also turned into a storage room in between guests, so getting it cleaned out was quite the undertaking. Luckily, my amazing parents spent 4th of July weekend with us and helped us clear everything out and sift through the things we had. If you have a cluttered room like we did that needs some serious TLC before you start converting it into a nursery I would suggest backup, completely invaluable!
And with some elbow grease and love our little old guest room turned into this:
You'll notice in the corner is a bouncy seat that actually has my baby blanket from 1990 folded neatly upon it. One of my favorite things about this nursery are all the personal touches and special memories that are represented in every nook and cranny - I'll show you some of my favorite below.
Here is a closer view of the crib. Even though she will be sleeping in our room for the first few months it's nice that her bed is all set up and ready to go. I plan to let her do some napping in there from the get go so that when we make the transition she isn't all "What the hell is the place?!" The sweet Mickey mobile was a gift from my brother and it plays a delightful and relaxing tune.
The 4 pictures above her crib are of the 4 Disney theme parks (because I freaking LOVE Disney World and can't wait to take her there!) On each one though I created a border of pictures from all our family vacations to Disney as well as Devin and I's honeymoon trip to Disneyland. It's a nice unique touch that I think will make these pictures worth hanging for years to come.
Here is where we plan to change poopy diapers! This changing pad was a gift from my Aunt and it looks even better than I hoped it would. Devin says it is frightening. How can Mickey be frightening? He is smiling!! Also here are a few stuffed animals, the one on the left's belly lights up when you push his hand - which would be mind blowing to me if I was a baby!
Like I said organizing was something I was a little worried about but everything found a place. In the top drawer we have diapers, wipes, ointment, and some binkies. I think it will be convenient having all of this located directly beneath where we will be changing her and it was a large enough drawer that it didn't feel too crammed. We keep extra diapers in the laundry room closet and extra wipes in her bathroom, and since our apartment is fairly small it shouldn't be a hassle to refill this drawer as we run low on diaper changing essentials.
The second drawer down as all the swaddlers we plan to try out. I got a hearty variety because it was hard to know what we would like and what we would end up using. A lot of these I got second hand, so that if she doesn't like them we didn't waste a ton of money. Since we will probably be doing the swaddling at the diaper changing station this seemed like a great spot.
And finally the very bottom drawer has a bunch of wearable blankets that I am sure we will get a lot of use out of since winter is right around the corner and loose blankets are a no-no.
Here is our leisure and learning corner! We used this shelf to store all her books, puzzles, and a handful of toys. I have had this stand for forever and it was such a great investment (Target!) because you can add or take away those cloth bins making it extremely multifunctional. Right now the bins have small stuffed animals and little toys meant for young babies, so as she outgrows them we can switch them out.
I got this little pillow at a second hand sale and once she gets here we are going to get it embroidered with all those important details and underneath it is a baby book my Mom got for us!
We've already started putting pictures in it, little notes, well wishes, and other sentimental keepsakes we want to keep safe. I am hoping I keep up with it over the next year because if she is anything like me (read: overly sentimental) she will treasure it as she grows older.
Here is an adorable Winnie the Pooh lamp I got at a secondhand sale for only $10! SCORE!
This is a basket of stuffed animals next to her bed. I already have so many favorites in there, I can't wait to see which ones she likes best.
Hand-painted Mickey Dresser! Earlier this Summer my mom and I redid this dresser that we got from a family friend and I was so amazed at how it turned out. It is definitely one of my favorite parts of the room because not only is it wonderfully Disney themed but my mom and I had a great time refurbishing it so it has some good memories attached to it.
As I mentioned Devin and I went to Disneyland on our honeymoon and while we were there we got these hats! I love that we were able to incorporate them into her room along with all the free pins we got from various people around Disneyland.
This is the diaper cake my mom made for our baby shower and I love it so much I just can't take it apart yet! So for now it is serving as a decorative cake in the nursery.
And in this corner we have a gliding chair for late night cuddles and feedings.
My sister got us this chair because she is absolutely amazing and I can't wait to wrap our little lady up in a blanket and stare at her tiny little face while we rock back and forth in this corner.
Next to the chair is this old school Mickey diaper holder. Devin HATES him but I think he is kind of charming. I put him next to the chair to have a place to put burp cloths and dirty rags.
This was a custom piece made my our friend Kirsten Leeds and it's another one of a kind piece that I think perfectly brings the room together.
This was a baby shower gift and the sentiment is true.
On the top of the dresser we have a noise machine and old school record player. Hopefully these will help soothe her to sleep, and if not they will hopefully help drown out her wails and calm the parents down. Organizing the dresser was one thing I thought a lot about because it was such a large space I didn't want things to just get crammed into all the drawers. So here in the smallest of drawers we are hold socks and all her leg warmers...because yes she has multiple pairs of leg warmers. We also got this little container from Walmart to hold her socks to help add to the "everything has a space" feeling of her room.
In the larger drawers of the dresser we have sleepers, onesies, and separates (ie pants and shirts with no matches). The top drawer has all our newborn and 0-3 month sizes, drawer 2 has the 3-6 month sizes, and the bottom drawer has blankets and bedding. We have all the 6 -9 month clothes in the closet in hanging compartments and once she grows out of the smallest sizes we will pack those up and move the 6 month clothes into the dresser. Then anything larger we are storing at my parents for the time being.
In the closet we hung all the outfits - so essentially anything that was more than one piece. Then we also bought some hanging organizers for shoes, bips, hats, holiday outfits, and other odds and ends. We also got a toy chest for the closet that is storing a lot of the toys she won't be able to use for a while.
This is one of my favorite outfits! Also you'll notice the clothespin. As a way to keep outfit pieces together we used clothespins to keep pants/hats on the hanger. A very cheap way to save space and keep things organized.
So that's it! Our little girl's nursery. And if you didn't already know here are her initials - so feel free to make a guess on what her name will be because it won't be long before she's here.
That is one pretty amazing nursery!!!
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