Decorating and preparing a nursery is a very exciting part of pregnancy. It’s the moment when it hits home that all of it is real.
Your family will soon be adding it’s newest member – especially if it’s your first child. You’re probably getting well-intentioned advice from everyone, and you probably don’t know who to listen to.
Instead of overwhelming you with even more information, here’s a helpful checklist of do’s and don’ts. This is just to make sure the necessary things you probably already know don’t slip your mind.
DO: Paint Early
The fumes from the paints will still be present in the air. Of course, you can’t exactly leave the window open the whole day if your baby is in the room.
When choosing your colors, go for something light and pastel. Don’t limit your options to only pinks and blues.
Instead, try to create a peaceful and calming environment for your baby.
DON’T: Obsess with Décor
You might think three-dimensional flowers and butterflies pasted on the walls are an adorable touch, but you’ll soon learn they only collect dust.
The hanging toys and paper decorations will regularly get in your way, or they’ll be pulled off by your baby. Everything else will seem like it’s just creating more clutter rather than enhancing the nursery’s look.
What you should do is pick out several well-thought-out pieces that don’t take up much room. Make sure you leave plenty of free space.
DO: Be Practical with Storage
Soon after the baby arrives, you’ll realize just how many supplies you need on a daily basis. Naturally, all of those supplies require a lot of space, so you’ll need to plan out your storage space carefully.
First, you need to understand you don’t have to keep everything right there in the room.
Second, make sure you compartmentalize everything: you should be keeping everything within arm’s reach of the place where you’re most likely to use it. Diapers should be close to the changing station, and so should clean clothes, whereas blankets should be closer to the crib.
The space under the crib, above the changing station and any other area in the room, can be a perfect place for some creative storage solutions. Use the vertical space to store things you don’t want to be within your child’s reach when they start exploring the world around them.
DON’T: Get Caught Up on Perfection
While pregnant, you’ll probably be browsing mommy blogs, Pinterest boards and baby magazines. All of those portray the most perfect, ideal image of parenthood.
You see perfectly tight rooms, endless smiling faces and not a dirty diaper in sight. You have to realize those presentations only exist in an alternate universe.
Please don’t expect your own life to look like that. Cut yourself some slack and give yourself space to not be picture-perfect every moment of every day.
DO: Make the Space Pleasant for Yourself
In the end, your baby will not care how the nursery is decorated.
This means everything in the nursery will only be there to help you get things done. Therefore, focus on making the space around you enjoyable.
Decorate it for yourself: fill it with delicate curtains, cute round rugs, wall quotes and family pictures. Make it a room you want to spend time in.
Another thing you want to do is make it physically comfortable. Get yourself a good armchair or rocking chair, headphones so you can listen to some music or audiobooks while your baby is sleeping.
Also a dimmer light you can use without waking your baby up. You’re going to be spending a lot of time in there, so you should feel comfortable.
Anyone who raised children will tell you parenthood isn’t easy. A few days after the baby arrives, and the hype dies down, you’ll fall into a routine and a new life.
The nursery will become the center of the home, and even though the rest of the house won’t be without baby things either, the nursery will be the central place where things go down.
Remember to give yourself time to adapt and don’t burden yourself too much with perfection. Just do everything your way, and you’ll be just fine.
