Chapter 1 ~ Nesting: The Nursery

For me, nesting began right away. In spite of my constant fatigue, I started reading, I began clearing out what would become the baby's room, and I began researching.

My goal was to make the best nursery I could. It had become a storage room, so I had a lot of cleaning up to do. As I sorted and organized, I considered several things:

1. Having a smaller space, we wanted things that served multiple purposes.
2. We wanted to make it a space that could be easily converted for our future children.
3. I very carefully weighed out need versus want.
4. And we wanted it to be fun!

So, I set out to try and accomplish this.

Functional

• Crib (kind of functional and convertible)
• If we were going to spend a good amount of money on furniture, we wanted it to last our child through multiple stages of life.
• Graco Charleston Convertible Crib, White
• Storage 
• Our closets are tall, so we added an extra shelf above the existing one to give additional storage.
• Baby clothes are small (and short!), so we also added an additional cupboard below to store extra and little things.
• We thought about buying a long, thin storage bin that could fit under the crib. This is still on the list, so far we haven't needed it.
• We did buy multiple bins to sort and store baby clothes. We keep current clothes in the dresser and additional stages in bins in the closet.
• Change Table
• As I mentioned, we have a smaller space, so having a stand alone change table in the nursery was not an option. We updated an old dresser from my Great Grandmother and added a changing pad to the top. Honestly, what would you use a change table for after anyways?
• Kushies Change Pad
• Bookshelf
• A small, short bookshelf also became a home for the night light and baby monitor.
• Toys
• We wanted things that could be easily stored. (example: a play mat that would fold up)
• We wanted toys that would last through multiple stages. Something that plays music now could be used to teach colours and shapes later.  

I was also constantly thinking about what the best layout would be. What do I need by my change table? Where should the rocking chair be? Pinterest became my inspiration! It got me to think, "What will I need and when?" I got a lot of great ideas but ultimately, I simply worked with my own space. So far, everything has been working great! I haven't had to change around anything. Although, we have yet to find space for the giant stuffed dog we received from my brother. And we had to do a bit of rearranging after Christmas to accommodate all the new gifts. 

Convertible

We were one of those couples wanted to know the gender of our child. If you don't do that, that's fine! To each their own. I'm a planner, so I wanted to know. Plus, as I said, I wanted to make this nursery amazing. To do that, no yellow or green for me. 

We discovered we were going to have a girl (my husband made them double check), so I wanted the nursery to be fun and girly. But I also wanted it to be able to easily covert it later if we have a boy. 

• Walls
• I choose a light teal colour. My plan was to add pink accents if it was a girl and navy accents if we were having a boy. 
• The last thing we did in the nursery was add our little accents. Pictures, little shelves, and a wall hanging made by my Mom. 
• Accents - Little things to add a pop of colour and girliness
• Light Cover 
• I didn't resist this fun piece off Etsy.
• Chevron Light Cover
• Sheets
• I bought plain grey sheets for the bassinet, change pad, and playpen. But I bought two crib sheets with pink in them for fun. It was practical to buy sheets we could use for all future children but had fun by adding a little pink!
• Kushies Sheets (Made in Canada!)
• Wall Stickers & Mobile
•  These were a great deal! At my local Lens Mill Store, I found a pack of wall stickers (elephants - exactly what I wanted!) for $4.99! Beside them I found a mobile in our colour scheme for $9.99. Perfect! Plus, with the mobile, I can easily buy or make different ornaments for a boy to change it up.
• Closet Dividers
• Another Etsy purchase. A touch of pink makes them girly but I can easily find clothes in the right sizes. This was not a need, but when I saw them in our room colours, I decided to splurge :).
• Closet Dividers
• I purchased all of them at once to save on shipping. Newborn-7!
• Curtains
• Our window curtains are grey blackout curtains. They will remain boy or girl. Our closet had no door. As I mentioned, our space is small, so we didn't want a door in the way. I also wanted to see the fun treasures inside. So, we hung a white tension rod across the top with patterned pink curtains.
• Pillows
• This wasn't a need, just something I had. We had a bassinet, so we didn't use the crib at first. The pink pillows sat in there along with a stuffed elephant (made by my Mom) to make it fun until it was occupied.

Need vs. Want

This is more related to "baby stuff" in general. There are so many gadgets and devices out there. So many things that can make being a Mom easier, at least that's the claim! You could spend a fortune that you (at least we) don't have on baby stuff. But you don't really need it. Diapers, that's a need. A swiveling, swinging, singing (lots of "s" words there - not intentional!) bassinet is not a need. No judgment if you have one. 

So, if you have a small space like we do, weigh each thought carefully as you make your registry, or fill your cart. Remember, everything needs to fit...and your baby will grow...quickly!

Fun

I think the pictures will speak for themselves on this one ;).

My Mom is a quilter. The wall hanging, elephant quilt and elephant in the crib, along with various other items were all made by her. It's all amazing! She's been happily making a lot of things for her first grandchild! If you're reading this and into sewing and/or quilting, check her out: upstairshobbyroom.blogspot.ca)

Until next time,

Canadian Country Mama