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.

The Tryptich Masterpiece

I thought that a craft project would be fun when Mom and Aunt Betty were out visiting. I got the idea for this tryptich when I was looking at Baby Art on Ebay. I saw some some lovely wall hangings that were hand painted with a child's initials and hung from the wall with ribbons. I went out and got some canvas and acrylic paint and proceeded to sketch out the 3 panels that I wanted. I decided that I didn't want to paint the baby's room and instead chose to give it color with accessories, including a green lamp shade, green curtains, pink and green bedding and pink and green wall art.

As shown here, sometimes you need to open your mouth to really concentrate on creating a masterpiece.
Templates are also a good use of making the process faster.

And voila, the final pieces. Ok, maybe it will never see the walls of the Louvre, but I am tickled pink with how it turned out.

Changing Table - CHECK!

I found this changing table on craigslist.org last night and immediately wrote in to see if it was still available. We had a bit of a drive, but score, we got it for $40.

Now I just need to find some decorative baskets to hold diapers and such underneath.

I love bargains.