Small Nursery & Townhouse Organization

This blog post is not sponsored, nor does it contain any affiliate links. All purchases were made with our own money, or gifted to us by family and friends.

When we started planning for baby R’s arrival, we quickly realized that having a newborn in a town home was going to pose it’s own set of issues. With a nursery on a different level than our main living area and our bedroom on another level, we needed a space for baby toys, sleeping, changing items on three different floors. There’s no way in the middle of the night when the baby is sleeping in a bassinet that I am going to walk downstairs for feeding and changing. Also, we spend the majority of our time in the main living area & the steps up to the nursery would get old real quick.

Nursery

So let’s start with the fun space, the nursery! This was actually an office before we turned it into a nursery, so it does not have a closet - which made storage tricky. In order to maximize the space, we decided to refinish a old large dresser. It was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, and I absolutely love the blue milk paint we decided on. The nursery is a really small space, but we were able to fit pretty much everything we need in this dresser. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I found it much easier to label the dresser for you guys instead of typing it all out. Items pictured: Pictures, Frames, Wallpaper, Knobs, Storage basket

This is a picture of the 0-3 month drawer, I put the smallest onsies on the right and they get larger as we move to the left. In the extra space on the right I put in all the bathing suits we were given for our little summer baby. The 3-6 month drawer and 6+ month drawer is set up the same way.

Below, is a snap shot of the bottom drawer, I used little baskets and boxes instead of drawer dividers because everything is so small! Obviously, this drawer is not perfectly organized but I think it shows how we actually live. Unless you are our 6 yo, who loooveees to organize your drawers probably look more like the picture below than pinterest. This is really our miscellaneous catch all drawer. A few items did not fit in the nursery, extra diapers and wipes are in a storage closet where we keep all our other toiletries. Bath supplies and towels are in a basket under the sink in the bathroom with the tub

We did have a hard time finding a rocker that was small enough for our space ( & reasonably priced), we found this one at Target. I was not sure on keeping it once we assembled it because it is small, but it does come with legs to change it to a regular chair. We have the perfect place in the guest room for this chair, if we decide we do not like it once the baby is here, so for now it is staying. Under the crib we are storing play mats., but once we move the crib down and the skirt is closer to the floor, I am going to get one of the under bed storage bins . We received a lot toys than I expected, so I picked up this whale toy bin , it was inexpensive and is collapsible. I was not quite ready to commit to a full on toy chest, as this is not a permanent room for Baby R. Behind me and not pictured is a ladder bookcase , it has one shelf with books and another with a empty basket & besides that it is completely empty! I had plans to decorate it and make it look pretty but I’m planning on waiting for little bear to get a little older to see what actually needs to be on the shelf & be functional.

As, I’m writing this & linking up items, I feel like our nursery is a target add. But we got a TON of gift cards, and for that I am grateful. Items pictured not already linked: rug (is much more blue and not grey like online) quilt, crib skirt, laundry hamper, wallpaper, lamp was awful but we refinished it to white.

The main living area
We have an open concept main living area, so the dinning, kitchen, & living room are all open. There are no closets or pantries, so the kitchen cabinets are used for everything. Cleaning supplies, food, dog supplies, paper products, etc. are all in the kitchen cabinets. We have exhausted all the storage opportunities on this floor, so when planning for Baby R I found this space the most stressful. Even during school weeks this space stresses me out because there is nowhere for the kids to put down their backpacks and jackets, then you have my husband and I’s computer bags, gym bags, lunches etc. It has taken some time but we have finally gotten everyone in the routine that this floor gets picked up & everything gets put away, every single night before bed. Starting my morning in a clean kitchen & living room with the kids already packed and ready, really just sets the tone. Making everyones morning less frantic and stressed. And the secret, it takes all of five minutes the night before. Anyway, I digress. The thought of baby shit ( I mean cute little toys and changing supplies) everywhere stresses me out. I can hear all the mothers laughing at me now, “Sure Raye, but just wait.”

I absolutely have to keep this space organized for my own sanity, and my parents offered me the perfect solution. They offered to refinish my old changing table! Now, at first I politely declined. A changing table seemed like a waste of money and space. But after thinking about it, I knew we needed a space for the baby in the living area & a changing table with storage would be a good solution. Also, it was free and wouldn’t you know it - it actually looked liked real furniture & was functional too.

We chose these wooden crates over cloth ones to make it look more mature & less baby to blend in with the rest of our decor. In the living room, we have the mamaroo which isn’t ideal to the decor but we know that it makes the most sense to have a swing where we spend the majority of our time.

Bedroom

On a completely different floor than the main living area AND the nursery, is our bedroom. The baby is going to be sleeping in a bassinet in our room for awhile until we decide we are comfortable moving him. So our floor needs a spot for the middle of the night feedings and changing. We have a massive walk in closet (same size as the nursery), so I made a “mini nursery” in there. I cleared one corner of the closet, put a little table, a changing pad, a carrier equipped with what I think I need for changing & feeding, and a lamp so we wouldn’t have to use the harsh overhead lighting. We moved the loveseat from the bonus room to the closet and it’s been perfect for nursing.

No I did not roll the diapers, haha. They were from a diaper cake.