Creative Ways to Set up and Organize a Nursery

If your family’s just about to welcome a new little member, you’ve probably got a million and one things to think about, plan, and do… organizing the nursery being just one. Deciding on a color scheme and furniture is the fun part, but unless you want to spend the next few years tripping over piles of clutter, you’ll also need to consider storage space. Babies may be tiny, but the list of accouterments and accessories they come with most certainly is not. Having plenty of storage solutions to house them all in is the key to a well-organized, tidy space that will work as well for you as it does your child. Here, we look at a selection of some of the creative ways you can set up and organize a nursery.

Go Big on Storage Space

If you’re working with a small space, having multiple closets and chests for your baby’s clothes, shoes, changing supplies, toys, and everything else they come with isn’t always going to be viable. Small rooms demand you look beyond traditional storage spaces and find new, creative places to stick your stuff. A crib with under-bed storage is just one of the ways you can get imaginative with storage – and with more designers cottoning onto the idea that storage and babies go together like a horse and carriage, you’ll find plenty of stylish options on the market.

Think Outside the Box

Just because you have a dedicated room for your baby doesn’t mean you have to keep every single thing belonging to them in there. If space is a problem, look outside the four walls of the nursery to see where, and what, else in the house you could utilize. As containerstore.com recommends, bottles and bottle accessories are kept just as well in the kitchen as they are the nursery… even more so, in fact, considering how often you’ll need to clean the bottles and prepare the milk. Dedicate a space in the pantry or kitchen cabinet to the baby – not only will it free up some valuable space in the nursery itself, you’ll find it much easier to have everything on hand when it comes to feeding times.

By Hook or By Crook

Fill a blank wall with several rows of hooks, hang canvas bags from each one, and what do you have? You guessed it – a wealth of places to store toys, clothing, and other light supplies without intruding on your floor space.

Go with the Flow

You don’t need to go full Feng Shui in the nursery (unless you want to, of course) but it pays to spend a little time considering how well the space flows. You don’t want to spend the next couple of years clambering over ill-placed furniture, so plan out an accessible room-layout that will keep both your sanity and your safety intact. Try to organize the furniture in such a way that you have everything you need within easy reach – if your changing station is on the other side of the room to your changing supplies, diaper changing is going to be even more trying than it needs to be.

Label Everything

Storage bins are a nursery essential, taking up minimal space and storing pretty much anything you care to shove their way. But for all their efficiency, they come with a problem – if your closet is full of them, how can you possibly remember what you’ve put in which bin? The answer, of course, lies with labels. Label every bin with a little note to mark what’s inside – not only will it stop you having to scramble through umpteen bins looking for what you need, it’ll also let you organize the closet so the bins storing everyday essentials can be kept within easy reach at the front, and those containing occasional or seasonal items can be popped at the back.

Be Clever with Space

If you have a closet, use it. And when we say use it, we mean use every square inch of it. Digsdigs.com has some great ideas on how to optimize every available space in the closet, including adding wire baskets to the door, basket boxes for storage on the floor, and a storage unit with fabric boxes on the side.

Skip the Changing Table

We don’t all have acres of space to play with, but that doesn’t mean we’re stuck with an overcrowded, cluttered nursey. If your baby’s needs are bigger than the space allows, go double duty on furniture. The Spruce makes the clever suggestion of skipping a dedicated changing table and bringing in a crib-top changing station instead. These handy pieces of kit take up barely any space – simply hang one vertically over the crib, secure with straps, and, once you’re done with diaper-time, simply fold it away under the crib.

Go Vertical

If you want to add some extra storage space to the nursey, don’t think you have to introduce yet another cumbersome closet. If you’re short on floor space but have the luxury of high ceilings, make the most of the vertical space by introducing floating shelves. These versatile solutions will give you acres of storage space without taking up even an inch of valuable floor space.

Double up on Rails

Why have one rail in your closet when you could have two (or even 3, if the closet is particularly cavernous). Baby’s clothes are small enough not to take up too much hanging space, so make the most of the closet space you have by adding an extra rail – you’ll double up on its storage capacity in an instant.

Make it Parent -Friendly

Sure, the nursery is ostensibly your child’s room. But you can bet that over the next couple of years, you’ll be spending more time in the nursery than you do in your own bedroom. Make sure it’s designed as much for your comfort as it is for your baby’s by ensuring the crib, the changing station, and everything else is at a comfortable height for you – your back will thank you for it.

You can also read:

• 10 Tips to Paint Your Stairs Properly
• When Does it Make Sense to Have a Backyard Chicken?
• 10 Great Ways to Add Retro Style to Any Room in the House
• The Best Methods to Get Milk Out of the Carpet
• 10 Essentials to Create a Gothic Living Room