When Mr Boo and I looked to sell our first home, a small one bedroom flat we did so not realising that I was pregnant with Roo. It was only as we came to sign the paperwork for our current home that we found out that we would be having our first child later that year. Luckily we had purchased a three bedroom property so would have the space available to have a room for our new baby.
Turning a spare room into a nursery
Whilst we purchase our home from a family, their children were much older and had moved out for university etc so the small bedroom which we wanted to turn into a nursery had been used as a spare room and was a little unloved.
Out with the old
First things first, you’ll need to get rid of any clutter stored within the room. Store items into boxes of charity donation, rubbish and one with items you want to keep which need to found a new place to be stored around the home.
Nursery Furniture
Whilst the decoration of the nursery may change over the first few years of its use one of the long-lasting purchases will be nursery furniture. You’ll need either a cot or cot bed depending on the space you have available and whether you are planning on having more children close in age. A wardrobe and a chest of drawers will add that much-needed storage to the room and a changing table is an optional extra but we never purchased one of these as we tended to change nappies downstairs rather than heading to the nursery throughout the day.
A wardrobe and a chest of drawers will add that much-needed storage to the room and a changing table is an optional extra but we never purchased one of these as we tended to change nappies downstairs rather than heading to the nursery throughout the day.
Decoration
Depending on whether you have decided to find out the gender of your baby will play a part in how you decide to decorate the nursery. Take a look at what you already have available and whether it can be utilised within the new design. We choose to strip the walls of the wood chip (that stuff was everywhere) and as the walls below weren’t in great condition with placed lining paper on the walls before opting to paint with beige and truffle shades to match the Mamas and Papas Barnaby Bear theme we had chosen (we didn’t find out the gender with Roo).
Luckily the carpet was in good condition so managed to salvage this – although if you have to replace your carpet it is worth thinking about whether you go for a carpet or opt to install wooden flooring which can be easily cleaned if the baby is sick etc.
Additionally, at that point, this is when you can get a good idea for the colour palette you are going to have in the bedroom. Depending on the decorative elements you are keeping, such as the carpet or the wallpaper, you will begin to see a clear palette emerge. You can even make it a prominent part of the atmosphere in the bedroom by considering elements in complementary colours, such as baby blankets, for example.
Accessories
If you look through any nursery shopping guide there are a whole host of different accessories that you can purchase for baby’s nursery. Some you will use time and time again like a nursing chair which can be very useful for those night feeds but equally as useful when you come to read bedtime stories when the baby is a little older.
Shelving is also great for keeping teddy bears and toys out-of-the-way when they are not in use, they also allow you to add photos and prints into the nursery to personalise the space.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post
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