By Malissa, Contributing Writer
Our family is truly blessed. We have two great girls and a little Boy on the way. We have a house that has 4 bedrooms in a good neighborhood in our city. My parents are willing to visit often to help with the girls as I grow larger and slow down. Andrew’s job has changed since our move in 2010 and he works from home 100% of the time now. Our children are surrounded daily by the adults that love them.
However, a 4-bedroom house with a Daddy that needs an office and a NanaPop that need a guest room presents a problem for Baby Boy. Where will he go once he arrives? The girls share a room and are waiting on the arrival on a set of bunk beds to replace the twin they share most of the time. The addition of a twin over full bed severely limits our space for furniture in their room. After much discussing, we decided to put Baby Boy the only logical place - our room.
And Baby Makes Three
At first, I was really concerned about having all of the baby’s things in our room. We are a nursing and co-sleeping family, so the addition of his physical presence in our room for at least 6-9 months is normal and expected. In the past, however, all of the toys, clothes, diapers, etc., have always been part of a nursery or separate bedroom. Our room has been just that – a place for us to be together without any distractions or alterations with the exception of a few extra pillows to nurse with at first.
But now, we need a bassinet, a changing table, a small dresser, and a glider to fit into a space that already was busting at the seams. We also wanted to modify our room in a way that would still be comfortable for us to live in daily and feel as is it was still an adult room. We made a plan to clean out, clean up, and then arrange the space in the most functional way possible.
Cleaning Things Out and Up
We had (and honestly still do) a lot of STUFF sitting around. My first step was to clean up the existing space. I de-cluttered the night stands and dressers- donating things that we didn’t need or use, putting things away in their proper place, stacking books, and adding baskets for the books that we were currently reading.
The books that I use as resources for babies and homeschooling went into a magazine “basket” that we weren’t using anymore.
Things that were just sitting around the room were dealt with next:
- Clothes that were in bins to go to the attic went to the attic.
- Bags that were full of donation items were placed in the van and donated on the next trip to the store. All of the bed linens (comforter, quilt, and shams) were washed and then put back on the bed.
- I steam cleaned the carpet and dusted baseboards and corners. I vacuumed.
Now the room looked like a room for adults.
Test Run
We decide to sacrifice space in our closet and moved my dresser into our closet. We placed the changing table on the wall where it had been. We then moved in Baby Boy’s tiny dresser and placed it in the corner beside my night stand. We then surveyed the damage.
We could move around our bed easily. We have all the essential things in the room that the baby and I would need. I grabbed baskets and bins to organize his clothes in drawers, blankets and burp clothes around the room, and provide a place for baby toys to live that wasn’t too obvious. Then we left the room alone for a few days to see how it functioned for us.
How did it go? Stay tuned for 5 in a House Built for 4: Adding in All that Baby Gear, where we’ll take a look at how to incorporate all of baby’s furniture into our bedroom.
Do you have to add your sweet bundle to your room for space reasons? What tips or tricks do you have for making the most of your space?
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