We've been working on the nursery for months on end and we're finally finished. When we moved into our home in 2016 we kept the spare bedroom next to our bedroom empty. We told friends and family that it will be a "store room", but we always knew that it would one day (God willing) become a nursery. Today I'll be taking you through the nursery and showing you all the things we've bought and made. I am incredibly proud of the nursery and especially proud of my husband's handiwork.
First off, we painted (ok, my husband painted, I just supervised and checked for missed spots) the walls white and grey: the bottom third is dark grey and the top two thirds are white (ceiling is also white). Coincidentally the grey on the walls perfectly match the curtains, but I've had the curtains since we moved into the house. The curtains are lined cheapies from Mr Price Home. The idea was to replace them later on (we just bought the cheapest decent ones we could find so that we at least had something to hang in front of the windows!), but they grew on me and now they're staying.
We initially had thick textured carpets in a chocolate brown colour in the room, but with a baby and all the bodily fluids that come with that, we didn't want to risk it. Initially we couldn't decide between (thinner) carpets, tiles, or laminate flooring, but in the end laminate flooring won as it's easier to keep clean than carpets, but not nearly as cold as tiles. That was the only thing in the nursery that we didn't do ourselves. We got a very reasonable quote from a company and it took them all of 90 minutes to remove the carpets, put in laminate flooring, and put up new matching skirtings. We're very happy with the result and it makes the room look much bigger and lighter. It also goes surprisingly well with the two-toned walls.
The white cot we bought second hand from Gumtree. At the time I didn't know you get different sized cots; I thought a cot was a cot was a cot. We got a large cot so everything else also had to be large: the mattress, the waterproofs, and the fitted sheets. We bought the Snuggletime Healthtex 3-in-1 mattress from Takealot as Takealot were the cheapest at the time. I received a few waterproof fitted sheets as well as soft cotton fitted sheets (such as the pink one on the photo) as presents for my babyshower. The mosquito net I got at Mr Price Home - I initially bought one for a cot but it was too small so I had to exchange it for a larger one. I like the pom-pom details and as it is actually for a single or three quarter bed, I can still use it when Olive gets bigger and sleeps in a bed.
I know not to put toys in a baby's cot (choking and suffocation hazard and all that), but since she's not here yet the cot looks incredibly empty without the stuffed toys... The star and moon pillows are both from Mr Price Home and the soft toys are from various shops. The beautiful pink bear is a babyshower gift made by an aunt.
First off, we painted (ok, my husband painted, I just supervised and checked for missed spots) the walls white and grey: the bottom third is dark grey and the top two thirds are white (ceiling is also white). Coincidentally the grey on the walls perfectly match the curtains, but I've had the curtains since we moved into the house. The curtains are lined cheapies from Mr Price Home. The idea was to replace them later on (we just bought the cheapest decent ones we could find so that we at least had something to hang in front of the windows!), but they grew on me and now they're staying.
We initially had thick textured carpets in a chocolate brown colour in the room, but with a baby and all the bodily fluids that come with that, we didn't want to risk it. Initially we couldn't decide between (thinner) carpets, tiles, or laminate flooring, but in the end laminate flooring won as it's easier to keep clean than carpets, but not nearly as cold as tiles. That was the only thing in the nursery that we didn't do ourselves. We got a very reasonable quote from a company and it took them all of 90 minutes to remove the carpets, put in laminate flooring, and put up new matching skirtings. We're very happy with the result and it makes the room look much bigger and lighter. It also goes surprisingly well with the two-toned walls.
The white cot we bought second hand from Gumtree. At the time I didn't know you get different sized cots; I thought a cot was a cot was a cot. We got a large cot so everything else also had to be large: the mattress, the waterproofs, and the fitted sheets. We bought the Snuggletime Healthtex 3-in-1 mattress from Takealot as Takealot were the cheapest at the time. I received a few waterproof fitted sheets as well as soft cotton fitted sheets (such as the pink one on the photo) as presents for my babyshower. The mosquito net I got at Mr Price Home - I initially bought one for a cot but it was too small so I had to exchange it for a larger one. I like the pom-pom details and as it is actually for a single or three quarter bed, I can still use it when Olive gets bigger and sleeps in a bed.
I know not to put toys in a baby's cot (choking and suffocation hazard and all that), but since she's not here yet the cot looks incredibly empty without the stuffed toys... The star and moon pillows are both from Mr Price Home and the soft toys are from various shops. The beautiful pink bear is a babyshower gift made by an aunt.
We decided to rather get a chest of drawers and put a changing mattress on top than buy a dedicated changing table or compactum. When the baby's older we can still use the chest of drawers as a chest of drawers. The changing mattress/pad is a Snuggletime mattress from Babies R Us as they were the cheapest. I poked and prodded a couple of changing mattresses and the one from Snuggletime felt the sturdiest, plus it has a plastic cover so easy to wipe off. The white frame around the changing mattress is a wooden changing station made by my dear husband. It's a bit larger than the chest of drawers and it has a frame surrounding the changing mattress so that the mattress can't slide off the chest. It also has space for toiletries on the side.
The toiletries on the right hand side are bath time and changing time toiletries: cotton wool, cotton wool balls, baby oil, Sudocrem, baby jelly, lotion, wash, earbuds, wash cloths, comb, brush, and nail clippers. I might put most of these things back in the drawers, but this is how it looks for now! The bath time supplies will be getting their own container and moving to the bathroom across the hallway, but for now everything is kept in the nursery.
Our Tommee Tippee nappy bin is next to the chest of drawers, behind the door. I know I can just use a normal plastic bin, but gosh, I really can't stand the smell of dirty nappies! Our house and yard is also quite big and the outside dustbin is literally on the other side of the yard, so I'm not at all keen on walking that far every time Olive has a dirty nappy...
Inside the first small drawer I keep a lot of nappies - these are newborn nappies that I got as part of a baby shower gift. I also keep a packet of Johnson's baby wipes in there.
In the second small drawer I keep more toiletries: some of the things on top of the chest of drawers might end up back here depending on what I'll be using. In here are more cotton wool balls, linen savers, bath thermometer, wash cloths, baby powder, Sudocrem, bum cream, and soap bars.
In the first large drawer I keep newborn and 0-3 month clothes. I don't know how big she's going to be or how long she will be wearing newborn clothes, so I decided to pack both sizes in here. The drawer looks incredibly untidy, but the drawers are very small so it's difficult to fit in everything the way I want to!
In the second large drawer I keep her socks and booties, more wash cloths, burp cloths, towels, and random things like nasal aspirators, dummy clips, dummies, a medicine dropper, etcetera.
In the third large drawer I keep her muslin and swaddling blankets and a few other fluffy and fleecy blankets (and her lamb snuggle blanky). The rest of the blankets are too thick for the chest of drawers so I keep them in the closet.
Our Tommee Tippee nappy bin is next to the chest of drawers, behind the door. I know I can just use a normal plastic bin, but gosh, I really can't stand the smell of dirty nappies! Our house and yard is also quite big and the outside dustbin is literally on the other side of the yard, so I'm not at all keen on walking that far every time Olive has a dirty nappy...
In the second small drawer I keep more toiletries: some of the things on top of the chest of drawers might end up back here depending on what I'll be using. In here are more cotton wool balls, linen savers, bath thermometer, wash cloths, baby powder, Sudocrem, bum cream, and soap bars.
In the third large drawer I keep her muslin and swaddling blankets and a few other fluffy and fleecy blankets (and her lamb snuggle blanky). The rest of the blankets are too thick for the chest of drawers so I keep them in the closet.
On the other side of the chest of drawers we have a woven laundry basket. I got it at Mr Price Home for next to nothing. I think it was originally priced at R699 but I got more than half off, score!
We put two floating shelves up in the nursery and both are from Mr Price Home. The one above the changing table is a 90 cm one in "natural" (there are about five colours to choose from), and the one above the feeding chair is a 60 cm one also in "natural". On this shelf we have a lot of small random things. I might change it later on, but this is what it looks like for now. The rubber ducky set was part of a baby shower gift. The picture frame (this one and the one right at the beginning of the post) we bought on special at Builder's Warehouse. The bear and the shoes were gifts. The white star nightlight is from Mr Price Home, and the grey stars are actually coat hooks that we still need to put up (maybe), also from Mr Price Home.
We got the feeding chair at Eric Barnard Furnishers on special. I'm very thankful because I was not going to pay R3,000 for a chair! The white and grey blanket was a gift from my Gran. The side table actually comes a long way: I bought it about 6 or 7 years ago from Ericcsons Mattress and Pine for something ridiculous like R70. It's been used in the most random places since then, but when we couldn't get an affordable side table (why are they so expensive?!) we decided to just use this one. The husband fixed it up: sanded the legs, oiled the legs, put vinyl on top, and did the edging. and I think it looks great! I still need a lamp for the side table, but I'll get to that this week now that I'm on maternity leave.
On the floating shelf I put all the books that Olive received as gifts. The trinket box, the pink bear book stand, and the Carol Boyes picture frame were all gifts from friends and family. I bought a baby record book at Baby Boom to record all her milestones and I was very chuffed to find an Afrikaans one!
The multicoloured rug in the middle of the room was another steal of a deal from Mr Price Home. I went in there one day looking for something else when this caught my eye on the Priced To Go rack... It really adds a lovely pop of colour to the room without being too contrasting.
We have a small walk-in closet in this room with lots of shelves. Unfortunately this is where we store a multitude of stuff, including our fancy evening wear and clothes that we don't wear very often but that are too bulky to fold up. I made space on the shelves for Olive's things and it really helps!
The multicoloured rug in the middle of the room was another steal of a deal from Mr Price Home. I went in there one day looking for something else when this caught my eye on the Priced To Go rack... It really adds a lovely pop of colour to the room without being too contrasting.
We have a small walk-in closet in this room with lots of shelves. Unfortunately this is where we store a multitude of stuff, including our fancy evening wear and clothes that we don't wear very often but that are too bulky to fold up. I made space on the shelves for Olive's things and it really helps!
The first shelf contains three woven baskets from Mr Price Home with clothes that will be too big for Olive now: 3-6 months, 6-12 months, and 12-18 months. There are also two pairs of shoes (so cute!) and a few things for me such as breast pads. On the second shelf are extra toiletries. We got a lot of wet wipes when we bought nappies at the Baby Expo, as well as for my babyshowers. There's also extra shampoos and lotions, nappy bin refills, linen savers, a Tommee Tippee microwave steriliser, Phillips Avent bottles, bottle brush, breastmilk bags, and a breastmilk bottle. The third shelf is currently a bit unorganised and contains a baby wrap, baby carrier, baby pamphlets, feeding bottles, feeding sets, and toys to use when she's a bit older. The fourth shelf contains size 1 nappies.
On the floor I keep size 2 nappies. Next to the shelves there are size 3 nappies, extra bed linen (I need a better way to store them), as well as thicker blankets that don't fit into the chest of drawers. She only has about three dresses, so they hang on teeny tiny hangers on the rail next to the shelves. I also put my Medela breast pump that came with the City Style Bag on the floor so that I know where it is when I need to use it. My Dischem baby bag is also there, packed and ready to go when we're out and about (I'm taking my other bag to hospital for now).
On the floor I keep size 2 nappies. Next to the shelves there are size 3 nappies, extra bed linen (I need a better way to store them), as well as thicker blankets that don't fit into the chest of drawers. She only has about three dresses, so they hang on teeny tiny hangers on the rail next to the shelves. I also put my Medela breast pump that came with the City Style Bag on the floor so that I know where it is when I need to use it. My Dischem baby bag is also there, packed and ready to go when we're out and about (I'm taking my other bag to hospital for now).
Something that's for the baby but that isn't in the nursery itself is our bath trolley. I bought a baby bath at Mr Price Home (I promise this post isn't sponsored by them!) and then we had to figure out how we're going to make it work so that I don't have to bend over or stand on my knees next to the big bath tub. My wonderful husband decided to build a trolley (at the right height) so that I can put the baby bath on top and not strain my back. It has wheels (and brakes!) so that we can move it around. The idea is to use it as a kitchen island when we're done using it for the baby.
If you're still reading this, kudos! I know it's a monster of a blog post, but I'm so chuffed with the way the nursery came out, and I'm looking forward to spending lots of time in there..
Until next time!
Hildegarde
xoxo
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