How to Design a Baby's Room

I would like to preface this post by saying that I did not just magically come up with these ideas of my own. It was my friend Cynthia's expertise, knowledge and ability to strategically pack as many dishes in the dishwasher as possible that helped advise me on the lay out of the baby's room.

LAY OUT
Step One:
In colder climates, make sure the crib is not positioned on an outside wall. This will help alleviate drafts from windows and cold uninsulated walls.


Step Two:
Place the diaper changer in an area with lots of natural light. During the day, light is important to see if you accurately cleaned all the poop out of crevices. As seen here, the natural light comes through the window during the day. Because we are both right handed, the baby's head is on the left side of the changer and her feet on the right side. At night, the light on the nearby dresser is in a crucial position to shine in the direction of the bum.



Step Three:
Have all supplies near the diaper changer available within hands reach. Use bins or if needed, put a shelf on the wall above you. As seen in this picture, the wipe warmer is on a shelf on the right side. The diapers are stored in a bin on the first shelf on the right side and God's gift to parents, the Diaper Champ is on the right side for easy diaper disposal.



Step Four:
If you are right handed, place the laundry basket on the left side of the diaper changer. I love this particular laundry basket as it has a mesh insert to put all the soiled pieces in. This helps twofold so that the lovely pink shell doesn't get messy and it is easy to just grab the bag and carry it down to the laundry machine.

Step Five:
If you have a diaper changer, make sure to utilize all of the storage space for the baby's toiletries. In the 6 bins, I have diapers, felt pads, extra changing pads, rattles, bath items, hats, toys, and thermometers etc.

Accessories:

Dresser: When DG moved in, he had this dresser that I begged him to toss. He put his foot down, and we stored it for 3 years in the garage. Thank goodness! This is great to hold all of the onsies, pajamas, socks, shoes, and outfits that we received as hand-me-downs. It has helped me to separate out all of the sizes; newborn, 0-3 mos., 3-6 mos. and 6-9 mos. etc.

Rocker: A rocker is a luxury to have, but I do not feel that it is a necessity. And what I mean by this is don't spend $700 on a rocker. We got this one on sale at Sears for $90. Score!

Rug: We were lucky enough to get a green hand-me-down children's rug from Cynthia. It definitely adds to the coziness of the room. But there are also colorful inexpensive options from Flor.

Color: My favorite color is apple green. See wedding photos. I wanted to incorporate color (green and pink) into the room through art, objects, and bedding instead of painting the walls. It started with the Tryptich Craft Project, then I bought the bee pictures at TJ Maxx, the green lamp shade was on sale for $10 at Pottery Barn Kids, and my Aunt Susan made a gorgeous framed cross stitch with Hadley's name and birth date on it (above the book case). Finally, the whipped cream and cherry on top are the curtains that my Mom, the seamstress put together from fabric and ribbons I found.

The whole room, including the crib, diaper changer, art, and curtains were done for under $500. Apparently I've watched too many DIY shows.

Virtual Tour

WHAT? No baby post? Hadley's fan club is going to riot. I've received requests to post pictures of the new house, but I don't like to because it is sooooo empty. We've been trying to furnish it one pillow at a time. Since we've made some progress on the upstairs, here are some pics in it's current state.

We live in a raised ranch or bi-level home. When you walk into the front door, there is a 2 story entryway. Go up six stairs and this is the view from the first level. It is one big room with the kitchen, living and dining room.


Turn to the right and see the living room with the new rug and red and white pictures that I bought at TJ Maxx. Score. The red pillows are from Target and the stripped pillow and blanket are from Restoration Hardware.

My other hot deal are the three mirrors on the back wall that I bought on Overstock. The bar stools came from there as well.

We're still up in the air about the paint color and a few more key pieces of furniture and the upstairs will be done.

I Wanna ROCK!

Having a baby is expensive. Like planning a wedding, it seems like the cost of everything goes up. Take rockers for instance. Most gliders that I looked at were between $500-$1,000. Upon shopping for them, I think my exact words were "Fudge That". Another fine example of me trying to tone down my expletives on my road to fine parenting.

Then a week ago, we were at our local Sears store and what do I find on sale for $90 but this comfortable glider with pink cushions. I go up to Baby G's room and rock in it once a day. For practice of course.

New Furniture

In all of the baby shower buzz, the delivery of our new furniture has been sadly overlooked. The best thing about new furniture? It does not echo as much upstairs. We are trying our best to keep the dogs off of it, though turn your back for one second and Gibson uses it as a perch to bark at the leaves falling outside.


The color is Caper, though in the light it's more of a tan. The fabric is very similar to the couch that my parents got as a wedding gift in 1971 that I moved out here with. Let's only hope that this couch will last 25+ years. Baby G can move it into her first apartment. My mother recalled stories of moving their couch for the first time, and seeing all the baby spit-up down the back side of it from burping us on it. EW.

Futon by Day, Bed by Night

With the baby shower coming up, and family coming to town, we needed another place for someone to sleep. We started off looking for day beds, but gag. Most of the styles are granny. I did find one that I liked at West Elm, however they sold out of it in the two days I was taking to make up my mind. (Another side effect of pregnancy.) This didn't stop DG trying to suprise me by calling all six West Elm stores in the country attempting to find a final display bed to send, but alas no.

Originally, both DG and I poo poo'd the futon, thinking of our college days. Then we found this modern day futon at our favorite Scandinavian furniture store. It was the fastest decision we ever made. After sitting on it, we said, sign us up. If you click on the picture of the futon on the Dania site, you can see all the forms it takes.

Currently it is sitting in our unfurnished upstairs living room in an effort to take out some of the echo created by any noise or talking in the room. Eventually however, it will migrate to our office where it will become a second crib for the baby while I work, and a place where the dogs will be scolded should they try to get up and lick and/or hump the baby.

Crib, Check!

DG and I went to a baby store around the corner from us that was recommended and wouldn't you know they were having a sale on cribs. Since we are entering the end of the stretch, we realized that this was something we better start thinking about. So we purchased our crib! This crib will also become a bed that she can have until she goes away to college.

Also, through a few moves, DG has saved a white dresser as well, so we are 2/3 of the way to furnishing the baby's room. Now we are looking for a changing table on Craigs List.

I can soon start to unpack the boxes of girls clothes that I have been given. I think I have enough clothes to dress 10 girls 0-6 months old.

Pick a couch any couch

In four days, DG and I will have increased our square footage by 3 times what we have now and have two living rooms! My 10 year old couch fondly named Butter has seen it's better days. When I purchased the couch, young, single, without pets, or dirty boys, I couldn't understand why the whole world would not buy a couch the beautiful color of fresh churned butter. For the first year, no one was allowed to eat or drink on the couch and if you have a new pair of blue jeans on, forget it. Butter is now a milky grey and will be retired to the lower family room.

In the meantime, DG and I have been shopping for a new couch. We have come down to these two styles. The one on the left is our favorite in the grey, though we are also thinking about a darker tan too. The one on the right we found yesterday. I'm wondering if the camel color may be too light for us. This couch is also the cheaper of the two.

Which couch would you choose?