Small Spaces ~ Mixing a Master Bedroom and Nursery
Posted By jayna on January 12, 2012
When we made the crazy decision to buy this house – with me 6 months pregnant – we knew it would be a challenge to downsize so much. One of those challenges was the question of where to put the baby, where to designate as the “nursery.” E stayed in my room until she was 6 months old, and MJ . . . well, MJ never really left our bed for the first two years, so we knew it wouldn’t be a big deal to plan on keeping this baby close by for a while.
We moved into the house right as my giant kick of nesting began. I wanted nothing more than a nursery to decorate, and I whined and complained for weeks about our poor decision on this and that and wah wah wah . . . Eventually, I turned my attitude around and launched into Operation: Duel Spaces. Our Master Bedroom got a complete make-over and a nursery area was blended in with minimal gnashing of teeth.
Here are the before pictures, from when we moved in in June:
So nice and blah and small!
But now! Ta-dah!
(The quilt is from Target. The wall squares are scrapbook paper pieces on 12″x12″ canvas.)
I couldn’t do without my trusty rocking chair. The hours we’ve logged together are countless by now.
(The pillow matches the quilt. I love it. Much.)
And here is the “baby nook” that I agonized over. Too skinny for much of anything, yet too big to let go to waste. We filled it with a dresser for diapers and clothes, shelves, hooks, pictures, a changing pad and a mobile that I made.
(The dresser is from Target. The only one at the right height that was skinny enough to fit the space and purchased in a fit of “I’m due tomorrow and have nothing to put baby clothes in!!!!” panic. Do. Not. Buy. Ever. Four of the knobs have already come off and the drawers are constantly stuck.)
We added the shelves with the intention of using them for practical storage. So far, I’ve just managed to put cute things up there. Though the baby monitor is fairly practical.
(More 12″x12″ canvas. Two with strips of scrapbook paper that the girls and I glued on and one print like I have in the girls’ room. Yes, they’re bubbly and messy, but I still love them.)
On the other wall, we added hooks for more practical storage uses. It is nice to just grab a blanket off the hook in the middle of the night after he pukes all over another one.
(Yes, those brackets are hideous. That’s the last thing I have left, which may never get done. I’m brainstorming ways to hide, integrate or cover them.)
Whee! A mobile!
(This was the last thing I finished, after collecting pieces for it for months now, here and there. Super easy and a million times cheaper than anything else I could find.)
Moving on around the room, we have the crib side of the “nursery.” To small for a traditional sized one, we opted for a mini crib and are beyond thrilled with how it fits.
(Bedding for mini cribs, however, is almost non-existent. Sooo . . . I found another one of the quilts that is on our bed which was marked down on super clearance. A cut here and a stitch there and voila! Bedskirt! The bonus is that it matches perfectly – it’s the other side of the quilt, birds on one, chevron print on the other.)
Above the crib hangs another canvas with matching scrapbook paper glued to it, complete with his tiny footprints marching across. Above that is a double strung bunting banner made out of . . . yep, scrapbook paper.
(When hanging all the bunting, I wisely added a spot to hang the mobile. Now I easily can move it from one spot to another, depending on where I want him to enjoy it. And really, he thinks it’s just the most awesome thing he’s seen yet, judging by the flailing arms and screeching.)
More mobile!
(I added jingle bells the other day and that just made it all the more awesome.)
And then, we’re back to the beginning again. That’s my dresser, an antique from my great-grandmother, awaiting a knob overhaul eventually.
(The three of us – baby, husband and I – all fit in this 10′x13′ room. I have a dresser and half of the closet, the baby has a dresser and half of that closet. And the husband has the larger closet. Cozy, but functional.)
It’s all baby approved.
Love! Love! Love! You did a fantastic job! And I want that bedding. BAD.
Idea for the stuck drawers: I rubbed a bar of soap all over the slider-thingys on one of ours that was always stuck and it has helped tremendously.
Idea for the shelf brackets: Would it work to use them upside-down? Meaning, the brackets would wrap under the shelf and then go up behind it. Then when you put stuff on the shelf, it would block the view of the brackets.
It’s the tracks themselves that get stuck – like the metal is shaped wrong. But I’m totally going try the soap on the other dresser!
And yeah, flipping the brackets would have been absolutely genius . . . had I not gone and already anchored them with giant drywall screws :-)
Wow, amazing. You always give me motivation to get my butt in gear and finish putting together this house. If you can do that room 6 months pregnant with 2 young girls, then I should be able to do mine with just a dog and 2 cats under my feet. Great job!
What paint color did you use? (Although you probably shouldn’t tell me and encourage the obscene amount of blue I have going on in this house)
You did a fantastic job with a little space. We have much more space than this so I guess I can’t use lack of space for not having baby #3 anymore. AND you have inspired me to get moving on some projects around here to make this place more like home. Good luck covering up those brackets!