What To Do When You Have Nowhere To Put Your Baby

Like most first-time moms, when I discovered I was pregnant, one of the gazillion things that crossed my mind was one of the more superfluous and giddy:  “Ooh!  I get to set up and decorate a nursery!” 

Except, there was one small problem:  I don’t have a nursery.  I don’t even have a small room or closet I could reasonably convert to a reading corner or a place to change diapers.

While I do technically have three “bedrooms,” only one of them is suitable as sleeping quarters.  The other two rooms are being used as an office and craft/storage room, and furthermore, are located on the third floor of my super-small townhome.  The rooms get cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and are accessible only by a narrow, steep, winding staircase.  Not exactly the most convenient setup for those 3 AM feedings.

So, what does one do in this situation?

Since moving to a new home is on the horizon – but not for at least another year – I had to get creative.

So, I rearranged the furniture in the master bedroom, purged our ridiculous clothing collection, made use of several items I already had, and bought a few “space friendly” and multi-task items to create what I like to call our “Nursery Nook.”  It is located in our main bedroom, but I have to say, I don’t mind at all…

Let’s go in… from the hallway, the first thing you see is my new *favorite* spot in the house: my reading/nursing corner. Thanks to IKEA, I have a funky comfy chair that I can use for a really long time.

I bought these letters back in the summer, before we knew we were having a girl, and before we had any names picked out. The cute bear? I’ve had her since I bought the house and have always wondered where I could use her…

Here’s a better look at my favorite corner – the lamp is from Chris’ grandmother. I received it before we announced we were pregnant, and I think it’s sweet that there’s a pink flower on it.

Some of my favorite things… I inadvertently created an “owl” theme. Among the first things I bought were these cute owl/tree containers from IKEA, and then I got the owl bank. Next thing I knew, I had an “owl” theme.

The library is getting started!

I had these little chalkboard tags left over from Christmas, and you should have seen my face when I came up with this idea. *SQUEE!!* I love mixing kitschy rustic stuff with cute baby stuff!

I completely cleaned out the closet in the master bedroom so our Little Miss will have a place to begin her “ridiculous” clothing collection.

I love this moose.

How it all starts to come together…

This shelving unit was a lifesaver. And yes, that’s an iPod docking station you see there… Mom’s gotta have her tunes! And hopefully inspire a love of music for her daughter, too.

The whole enchilada. This is officially my new favorite place in the house. Which is good, because I have a feeling I’ll soon be spending A LOT of time here.

At one point along the “nursery creation journey” I decided that in lieu of being able to decorate a whole room, I would treat myself to some fancy lamps. They are new, sparkly, sexy, and all mine!

In case you were wondering what the OTHER side of the room looks like…

I think we might FINALLY be ready!

So, there you have it.  And I’m proud of my creative endeavor!

What kinds of creative things have you done to make room for baby?