7 essentials for planning your baby’s nursery

Planning your baby’s nursery is such a special time.

For me, it’s a way of focusing on the precious bundle arriving in the future. Choosing lovely things for your baby’s nursery is all part of the pregnancy fun.

Well, I’ve ventured a little beyond my kitchen this week for the subject of this post. But it seemed right, after our discussion about morning sickness last time. I wanted to focus on a pregnancy positive!

As you know, I’m all for items that are beautiful as well as useful. And useful as well as beautiful.

There are 7 areas I want to cover as you plan your nursery: laundry, storage, seating, monitors, nightlights, wall decor and music.

 

This post contains affiliate links, at no cost to my lovely readers 🙂 

 

Laundry

Laundry just comes with the territory of little babies. These days I just embrace it 🙂  Having a laundry hamper that is cute is an important nursery detail.

A couple of years ago I had a laundry breakthrough.

I am not one of those people who is always on top of the laundry pile. But this really did help me:

Get laundry hampers which hold 1 load of washing (ie not 5 loads in one hamper…)

Then, when the hamper is full, it acts as the perfect prompt to put the load in the machine.

It just stops the laundry overflow situation. Well, mostly.

I love this laundry hamper from Minted. I love the fresh color, the herringbone and the handles… And it is the perfect size.

 

Storage

Next, I really love having plenty of beautiful, soft storage in baby’s room. In the first instance, it is really useful for baby clothes. You need to be able to grab a baby gro at short notice, without having to sort through drawers of tidy clothes.

And babies grow so so so quickly, it’s vital to be able to switch the clothes to the next size with minimal effort.

Then, when baby is starting to sit up and explore her room, these baskets become the perfect toy storage. Which is, of course, what they were designed for.

 

 

I adore this yellow, and the chevrons keeps it modern and interesting.

 

Seating

In your nursery, you’ll need somewhere comfy to sit. Whether for feeding, reading stories, snuggling up, a comfy chair is the business.

When I was expecting my first baby, I picked up a gorgeous wooden rocking chair at my local thrift store. It was a big old pine chair and I had every intention of sanding it down and painting it white.

Anyway, the problem was…it wasn’t comfy. At all. And it wasn’t wide enough to comfortably sit and feed my baby. The chair had to go!

This chair from Contemporary Furniture Warehouse is so much more suitable. It is soft, wide, curved and on beautiful, smooth rockers. I love this soft grey and white back in any style of nursery.

In fact, it’s the kind of chair I’ll enjoy in my nursery, and then move into my living room when the nursery isn’t used so frequently.

 

 

 

Ok, now for a different kind of ‘seating’. Your baby is going to need a boppy cushion – those things just have a thousand uses.

I love this jungle version! I’m always amazed at how much babies just love animals – it’s so sweet. And this pattern can hide a few stains perfectly well.

Baby Monitor

Of course, all of us parents want our babies to sleep well. For their sake, as well as our own.

I have come to the conclusion over the years that sleep is pretty priceless. And my peace of mind is definitely priceless.

This baby monitor from Nanit is not the cheapest available, but it’s functionality is worth the cost.

 

The baby monitor provides secure live streaming, so you can constantly see your baby and what they’re up to, without disturbing them by popping in.

And this is the clever bit – it records data for you like how long your baby actually slept for, and how long it took them to get to sleep.

Amazing. It’s actually on sale at the moment – 40% off – so if you’re in the market for a baby monitor, I highly recommend taking a look. 

 

Night lights

I really recommend getting a night light for your baby’s nursery. In those early weeks you’ll be going in and out in the middle of the night. Using a soft night light will help your baby learn the difference between day and night. I like this Vava Night Light because you can adjust the color of the light, just by tapping the night light. 

Night lights continue to be useful for years, actually. My eldest child is 6 and still occasionally asks for it to go on. My 4 year olds use it every night. 

To me, that’s a reason to get a night light that’s quite neutral and can work in a nursery, but also a child’s bedroom. 

Wall decor

I have fallen in love with these baby animal prints from minted.com….. They are so gorgeous, full of character and style, and will last beyond the tiny baby stage. Really special. My favorites are the animal images by artist, Cass Loh. 

The images are available on children’s t-shirts too – take a look here. I’m smitten with the baby deer…

 

Baby mobile

I read recently that research shows babies experience “a significant decrease in heart rate and pain level” when they listen to lullabies. Music really helps little babies sleep!

Baby mobiles are more than just sweet decoration – they provide routine and reassurance for your little one from a very early age. 

I love this baby mobile from Skip Hop because it’s portable – it’s so easy to take with you when you travel. It attaches simply to a crib, stroller, travel crib and so on. That makes it so easy to establish soothing and comforting bedtime routines wherever you and your baby go. 

 

 

I hope you enjoy this special time planning your baby’s nursery! Wishing you and your baby many happy hours there 🙂

 

About the author

Elizabeth is a writer and a long time occupier of (mostly rental) small kitchens. She delights in making kitchens beautiful, and in helping you to do the same.    Over the past 10 years she has lived in an apartment above a restaurant, a tiny Victorian terrace, an Edwardian (even tinier) home, and a house with a kitchen from the 1980s. She now lives in a 1970s house with lovely natural light but very minimal cupboards.