As some of you know whenever I visit my family in Ontario I try to help them with an organizing project wherever I can. I’ve done my sister’s kitchen, my sister’s entryway closet and my brother’s bookshelf. It’s fun for me and they are happy for the assistance. It almost always takes less time than they anticipate it will.
This time my sister needed help with her nursery. My sister just had another sweet baby girl two months ago (I so enjoyed all the baby cuddles!). Just before the baby arrived she moved her oldest daughter (2) out of the nursery and into her big girl room. The baby has been sleeping in my sister’s room in the bassinet since she was born but was now ready to start transitioning to her own room. The problem was the nursery wasn’t quite ready for permanent residency yet. It needed a little TLC.
Now anyone who has had littles at one point or another knows how overwhelming this season of life can be. Time is of a premium and some days just getting a shower in is quite the accomplishment. There isn’t a lot of time left over at the end of the day for things like organizing rooms that is for sure. I remember, boy do I remember.
I want to encourage you that if you are in this particular season or any other that is equally draining, please please reach out to someone for help. Those of us no longer in the baby days vividly remember what it was like and are more than happy to help. Eventually your babes will be older and you’ll be able to return the favor to someone else in a similar situation. There is no shame in that, we need to stick together!
My sister just needed an extra set of hands and I was on it. The plan was to make room for the change table and a chair, find a home for the totes of clothing and make it a welcoming, restful place for my little ladybug to sleep.
With my plan in place, I was ready for the second step in the PROCESS which is to remove and remove I did. Everything but the big furniture got pulled out into the hallway or another room. Once I had the space opened up I could do a little space planning to see how I was going to fit everything back in. Organize the big stuff first. Once the furniture was in place we could start organizing the clothes. Since my sister had excellent cubbie storage that wasn’t being used to it’s full potential we decided to put some of the next size clothing in those and that helped free up a few totes. The cubbies will be labeled soon when she finds some of those self laminating sheets.
We also brought in the change table and that has three big drawers underneath for diapers/wipes, sleepers, crib sheets, blankets, socks, etc….
We organized shoes, booties and hats using the Koala Baby Organizer behind the door.
Clothes a couple of sizes out were either hung up in the closet or added to cubbies in the closet. Others were stored in totes under the crib. Clothes that weren’t going to be needed for at least another year yet went up in the attic. Sorry I neglected to take a picture of the closet, but here’s a picture of it from a couple of years ago when my sister added a closet organizer to it.
She’s since added a shelf to the top and each of the cubbies now has a fabric bin to keep things containerized and tidy.
Before:
After:
I’m really happy with the way it turned out especially since we only had a short window of time with which to do it and we also had a very cute 2 year old helper for part of the time that had different ideas of how things should be stored. Mainly all over the floor of course! 🙂
Teresa says
sometimes all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes and someone with some time and a clear head to get it done. having baby brain and trying to tackle things like this is just frustration waiting to happen. love it!
Laura says
You said it perfectly Teresa!
Joyce says
Looks great!
Marjorie says
The room turned out beautifully-great job!
Living So Abundantly says
WOW! You have an amazing talent. So nice to see you haven’t kept it to yourself. What a blessing to share gifts with others! =)
Adrien says
I am always looking for a good way to store the “to grow into soon” boxes. I LOVE your idea with the cubby shelf. We are expecting #5 & #6 in May so i will be desperately in need of storage.
THANK YOU for your fresh eyes!
Karen says
Did you add the beautiful fall colored trees to the outside of the window too? Just kidding. The room looks nice.
melissa says
Looks so great! I need a fresh set of eyes at my house. My older boy is 3 1/2 and my baby boy is almost 3 months. They will share a room seeing we only have two bedrooms. I sure need to change things around in the room before the baby will be in there.
Becky L says
Am loving the redo! Thanks. My daughter-in-law is in this phase, as they are expecting a boy in Jan. Their little girl is 2 1/2 years old. It would be fun to help her some and plan on doing that soon. Hugs!
Mel says
This looks so awesome girls.
Mel
Amy Lynne says
You are an awesome sister! When my sister moved into her house I was her kitchen organizer. Her hubby said he knew I had set it up because everything had labels on it!
Tara says
The room turned out great and I am happy to say that my daughter is now sleeping in her new room and enjoying every minute of it.
Thanks Laura
April says
Love it! Such a good sister! We all need a few extra helping hands sometimes =)
Camille says
Looks great, but I didn’t expect anything less. I started tackling my closet, in the midst of it now but plowing through it. It feels great when its done and looks even better. Can’t wait. I’m glad I came a cross your website Miss Laura it’s really encouraged me to live simpler and tidier. Speaking of, on a Oprah epsiode with Nate Burkus he said keep and show off those things you absolutely LOVE. So with that in mind, I’ve sold my bulky sofas and bought something sleeker leaving with lots more room. And am trying to sell my kids bunk beds for something more manageable and more streamlined.
Tabitha Kokoska says
I love the closet layout: The fabric bins are great because she can change them out if needed and I love that there is a double hang section and a long hang section included – also gotta love those hanging closet organizers like the one on the door! The nursery looks great and functional. I read the blog “Speaking of Closet Organizers…” too – great stuff.
Living the Balanced Life says
I love what you did! I helped my son’s GF get ready for their baby (2 months old too!) We got the same basic white cubby shelf and did the baskets as well! Very handy they are!
I recently redid my baby’s room… except she is 17!
Bernice
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/the-minimalist-lifestyle/
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
Such a cute room!! Love it. Very nice. I love helping other people organize and decorate their rooms and closets, lol!
Colleen P. says
I am SO glad you put a shout-out there for people with little tinies who think they ought to get more done! STOP! Let people help you, and don’t beat yourself up-you just made another whole person for heavens sake, give yourself time to recover! Believe me, vividly doesn’t even begin to describe how well I remember tiny baby days, and I’m a grandma.
No one will think less of anyone that doesn’t have a perfect house and freshly decorated nursery, we will, in fact, be waiting patiently in the background for you to collapse from exhaustion so that we can help you.
Melinda says
What a great redo. It looks gorgeous!
Shawn says
Please..Please..Please..COME TO MY HOUSE!!!
Shawn
WhoWhatLogos says
We love this. It is a necessity for everything to have a place, and especially in a nursery. We also love personalizing them, too!