Man oh man. In addition to the fact that the little dude (who had a MEAN case of the hiccups last night) doesn’t have a name yet, I have something to admit: he does not yet have a nursery.
Now, I’m a pretty realistic person. He doesn’t HAVE to have a room. He could sleep in a dresser drawer (or the pack & play my amazing brother & sister in law got us!) and be totally fine. But the fact remains that we have a room in this house for him and it’s not even a little bit close to done and ready for a little guy to come home to. And the fact remains that nesting has taken over my mind and body and I will likely panic about the lack of nursery decor until it’s actually done.
It’s what I do – panic over things that don’t really matter. Hey, everyone has their thing!
That being said, here’s what I want in his nursery:
- BRIGHT colors! I know everyone has their thing and there’s clearly a very large market for pastels and baby blues and the like, but I am just not a fan. Colors are beautiful and we want him to be surrounded by bright, vibrant, stimulating colors from day one! That being said, we’re not going to be painting his room, so the bulk of color is going to come from photos of the trips we’ve taken and the blanket/bumper that my mom is making for us with this really great fabric we picked out. Once it’s all set up I’ll obviously post photos, but this little guy’s going to love color from day one!
- A beachy theme. OK OK, we live in Colorado and it’s beautiful here – we are very blessed. BUT I’ve always been more of a beach girl and Nate adores water, so we’re going with a surfer/beach theme in the nursery too. I keep saying he’s going to be so confused when he figures out there’s actually not much water here…but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!
- Pictures of family. We don’t have any immediate family here and want him to always be surrounded by faces of people who love him. Pictures of all his grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins are going to be around him all the time. And obviously his fur-brother and fur-sister…obviously.
- Clean and organized space. Nate and I are pretty minimalist when it comes to baby things and want to keep his space clean and organized. We’re planning on utilizing shelving, drawers, and storage stuff in the closet as much as we can and what doesn’t fit? We probably don’t need it!
- Lots of light. We’re planning on having light-blocking curtains for the times that he’s sleeping, but the rest of the time we want him to feel the warmth of the sun and see the beauty of light around him. Keeping the nursery open and airy is a big priority!
You know, now that I think of it there’s probably a lot more that I’m going to think of over the coming days, but for now those are the big things.
What do you want in your nursery? And what are some inexpensive ways that you’ve decorated in the past? We’re always down for tips and tricks!
I really like the name Baby Dish!
I love all your nursery ideas! We just got back from a Home Depot run….paint samples in hand! We’re painting the nursery grey, with some pink accents, but like you, I’m looking forward to it just being nice and bright!
Fantastic love the beach feel – i am also into simple – our nursery is sage – and all furniture is white. The crib and changing table and bookshelf we got from Ikea even the rug – i grew up as a kid with Ikea and loved it – so i am sticking with it – also their kids stuff is just adorable. The glider we got from a friend – so everything in there is white. The color is coming from the decor. I love mobiles so i have colorful air balloon mobiles hanging from the ceiling and all the artwork is very colorful – as you said they need light and color. All the art work i have picked up a little from here and there. Even took some old colorful kids book and framed the covers and put it up on the wall. There are so many things you can do . . . i even put our old lava lamp I had in storage in there too 🙂
Ahhh, the hiccups! How I miss that feeling! 🙂 Heather-I saw on the news recently that experts now advise not using crib bumpers, do to the risk of SIDS. I used a bumper with my children (and put them on their back), but now we are being advised not to use them. I know the nesting feeling well, but you are right…when you come home with your little guy all he really will need is to be fed, changed, love and lots of sleep! He won’t notice if his room isn’t finished yet! 🙂
Pintrest! that will help – so so so many cute nursery ideas (and I’m not even preggers!)
Don’t worry- the twins are 8 months old tomorrow and their nursery isn’t “finished”. Main thing you need- changing table and place to sleep. The rest will come to you! Plus I had the closet all organized and it ended up being very inefficient when they actually got here so it was kind of a waste of time.
I’m so excited for you! I have been lifting you and little man up in my prayers!
If it makes you feel any better B still has butterfly knobs on his dresser from when Makenzie was in there. LOL
And love your ideas for his nursery!
I have been following your blog since last fall, I am a few weeks behind you as I am 20 weeks pregnant! I too have been thinking about the nursery and getting it ready means organizing our guest room and purging and organizing and cleaning, oh my! I am starting with fabrics, pinks/greens (we’re having a girl) and neutral wall color with the fun color accessories. I have found Ikea has some great furniture ideas, organizing, etc. And at a great price too! Consignment sales have to be in your area, Craiglist (the non-creeper version) and thrift stores – i found a cool side table there for $10! Best of luck to you!! I know its been quite a ride and you’re right, baby just needs a place to sleep! Can’t wait to see your progress!!
A few years ago we threw a bridal shower for a friend who had yet to decide on her honeymoon locale and who had also mentioned a few times that she wanted more family photos in her house… so we had shower guests send us a 5″x7″ photo of somewhere they’d been on a special trip and had them write little blurbs about what made it so special on pre-cut cardstock that our one very crafty friend then mounted on mat board with the photo. We bought a bunch of plain black gallery style frames at Family Dollar and had them displayed all over the room where the shower was held. Pretty priceless, and now they’re hanging in her family room.
You could certainly do something similar with family photos from traditional, and not so traditional, vaca spots and have family and friends write a little note to Baby Dish about memories they hope to make in the future. Instant cheap but invaluable, absolutely unique and beachy nursery decor.
I love bright colors! I painted Baby Lilah’s room a bright aqua/turquoise color. We love it.
To save money, we used an old dresser and added a changing table on top. Storage is key. I like Ikea’s Expedit bookcase. You can buy baskets inserts to store toys and all sorts of baby stuff. Your nursery is going to look great 🙂
Hmmm…sorry I don’t have any tips or tricks. But! I do have plenty of beach pictures if you want one or several. We live in Florida, after all.
p.s. Don’t worry…you’ll get it done. 🙂