Elizabeth’s Room: How to Turn a Small Room Into a Nursery

We have about six weeks left, and I finally was able to finish with my daughter’s nursery! It feels good to be done, and also to look back and see how we transformed a small room into a little girl’s nursery. It took some work and a little research, but my husband and I did it! We didn’t think we could fit everything in our old guest room, but we did. Wondering how we did it? Here’s how to turn a small room into a nursery!

How to Turn a Small Room Into a Nursery:

1. Start From Scratch
The room we needed to change into Elizabeth’s nursery was our guest room. It was filled with three bookshelves, a guest bed, and several pieces of furniture that we would need for Elizabeth. It was basically our catch-all room. We decided to start from scratch and move everything out that we didn’t need.

We started with my beloved books and bookshelves. We had no room for them so we sold all three bookshelves, and put the books in bins in our garage. After that, my husband moved the guest bed into my son’s room since his room is pretty large. We moved the coffee table into Adam’s playroom to use for more toy storage, and the tv into our room on top of a nightstand. Figuring out what to do with everything (and agreeing) was the hard part, once that was done we were able to see the potential of the room.

2. Get your Big Pieces and Move Them Around
A friend sold us the crib and that was definitely the biggest piece in the room, so my husband put that together. Next we moved in the rocking chair from my son’s room, and the dresser and changing table were already there. A little overwhelmed with how many pieces of furniture we had in such a small room, my husband started moving them all around to see what fit best where.

Since the crib was the biggest piece we moved our other pieces around that. We didn’t want the crib near the window, so that left only two other options. After figuring it out, it was easier to put the other pieces into place. I will say that we did move everything around more than several times before we found what we liked and what worked best!

3. Organize the Little Things

After all the big pieces were in place, the only thing left to do was organize all the little things – things like bibs, socks, shoes, clothes, toys, and more! I was a little overwhelmed at how many little things I had, but started with just a few things at a time and was able to organize it all and fit everything in!

• Clothes: I organized all the clothes by size and hung them on hangers. The closet is super small so we bought an extension so that I could have another rack to hang clothes on. I started with newborn and worked my way up to about 9 months in clothes. Everything  12 months and over I folded neatly in her dresser for later. I also plan on getting size separators for the closet.
• Burp cloths, bibs, socks, and shoes: I knew I needed an extra storage bin for these, so I bought a plastic bin with three drawers. The top drawer is filled with burp cloths for easy access, the second drawer is filled with bibs, and the third is socks, shoes, and newborn mittens.
• Blankets: We had several baskets I was able to use for storage when my son was born, and now I am using them for Elizabeth too! I was able to fold all the receiving blankets (and other blankets) in the large basket and put it on the bottom of the changing table.
• Diapers and Wipes: These are all stored underneath the changing table and one large box of diapers is in the closet!
• Towels and Wash Cloths: I didn’t have a place for these in her room, so I am storing them in the bathroom for easy access.
• Pacifiers, Teethers, and Rattles: I stored these in the top drawer of Elizabeth’s dresser. Dressers don’t have to be just for clothes they can fit other things too!
• Bows and headbands: Right now I have these neatly stored in her dresser as well, but I would like to get a special holder to store these on top of her dresser. Still working on that!
• Other Bigger Items: Things left over that she would not use for awhile; like the bumbo, bigger toys, a baby bathtub, and more were stored in the closet above the clothes. Thankfully there is a nice shelf in there that fits all the “extras.”

Wondering where  bought some  of the stuff we used? Check it out here:
Purple Butterfly Rug – Walmart, Pink Polka-Dot Changing Table Cover – Target, Purple Bin With Three Drawers – Target, Pink Black-Out Curtains – Target, Purple Polka-Dot Lamp – Target, Clothing Rack Extension – Bed, Bath, & Beyond.