Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is 2.5. We got rid of the jungle animals at 18 months and moved to Thomas the Train. Other than his Thomas toddler bed, I've gotten rid of most Thomas because honestly, it's a little creepy. I can't decide whether to go with cars (his obsession) or baseball (mine), so his room is in limbo. I hate that I keep changing it before there's barely time for any dust to collect - so I'm holding off until I'm sure. Or he can decide by himself!

You understand that this is over the top ridiculous, right? Good luck if you have a girl and change decor at every whim.

Oh, yes, I know it's crazy, which is why it's still in limbo now, as I can't bring myself to start again. I'm just glad everything was found at great prices, and no significant painting was involved, otherwise, I'd probably still be staring at the monkeys and elephants.

We've already been through 2 girls, both their rooms stayed the same until we were stationed somewhere new. Not sure why so many changes with a boy, I suppose I knew what little girls liked so it worked longer. Also, all babies seem to me more tender, almost feminine, whether girl or boy. So, baby girl decor transitions easier to older girl decor. Boys on the other hand (IMO, please no one freak out), start out as babies, then become "Boys". I couldn't really imagine hard trucks, cars and trains for a newborn boy, yet monkeys, giraffes and elephants just don't scream boy to me.

We got nice furniture, painted the room a pretty color, and got a comfy glider. We also installed a ceiling fan and put blinds up. I'm so glad to have a nice calm place to sit and nurse, and just spend time with the baby.

At the risk of sounding (ok, being!) immodest, I made a really beautiful nursery for DS. I did all of it myself, from painting walls, installing new floors, sewing drapes, quilts, pillows and other linens, refinishing furniture, collecting vintage lamps, toys, etc. for decorative purposes, and more. It was so much fun to do, a total indulgence of my time and energy that I was blessed to have. I loved that room. It made me happy and peaceful every time I went in there, even when I was tired and DS was being difficult.

DS stayed there until he was 7, when we moved to a new house. He loved it, too. He knew that I did all of it myself, and it made him feel special.

Now for DC2, that's a different story. Second child, I'm working, and no time for any of that fun. I don't have so much as a basket or shelf for diapers-- they stay in the Huggies box next to the changing pad. Maybe when DC2 is tween, I make a special room for her. Although she'll probably want to do her own thing with it!

OP here. I've been stuck in Day 2 of a 3-day meeting, but am loving the responses I can read in our breaks. Thank you, keep them coming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We kept it simple. Went with neutral colors, assuming we would have two kids eventually (we didn't, but that's another story). Yellow walls, white trim, sage rug, burgundy black out shades. Super comfortable chair & ottoman. My old flea market dresser (changing pad on top for the first 12 months). Crib. Book shelves from college. We "decorated" with valances, crib skirt, sheets, and a throw pillow from PBK. Art work that complemented the room that we already had.

The crib converted to a toddler bed and we didn't change anything else for a while. When DD got a twin bed, we swapped the valances for something a bit more age appropriate (stars instead of safari animals), went with a white bed skirt. She has some plain flannel sheets, and some of my sheets from childhood and college. A variety of duvet covers to switch things up. A quilt from her granny that she loves (and I tolerate).

One of my favorite things is we put in an "art gallery" for her art. It is essentially a clothes line with fancy clothes pins. She can hang the art she brings home from school, swapping things out as she wishes.

What a cute idea! I'm totally stealing this.

We did the same, but it runs along the wall of the staircase leading to the bedrooms. Fun way to decorate a plain space that is in the "private" area of your home.

I put a lot of thought into the nursery prior to having the baby and now that she's here - I'm happy with the decisions I made. We have a neutral wall color, but invested in fabric I loved and my mom made roman shades and a pillow out of it. Those things make me happy and make her feel connected with the baby. Invested in a glider that I love. Agonized about the furniture and it doesn't matter in the least. Agonized about wall art...and still haven't purchased anything (have a whole pinterest board dedicated to it...). Bottom line, the room makes me happy and is warm and cozy, which makes me want to be in it. Baby seems to enjoy it too (calms down when we go in - possibly good associations with food and sleep?).

I started out with this awesome Jungle Themed nursery idea and it was going to be awesome. We ended up with the green walls and a Monkey lamp and blanket.

DS is 18 months and we're expecting #2 and just now thinking about buying the decals and actually decorating a little bit more since they'll share a room, but it never really turned into that amazing themed nursery I always thought I would have.

Other than that, we have a glider, a crib that converts to a toddler and then a full bed, and a changing table. I did make sure at least the furniture was all one color, but that's as far as I got.

Don't sweat it. The nice thing about decals is that they're easy to remove. I'm glad we didn't get a changing table--we put a changing pad on top of an old dresser, and then moved the changing pad to the floor when DS became too wiggly. We have an IKEA crib that will convert to a toddler bed. We got a cheapo glider and footstool for about $150 for both on Amazon, and it might have been nice to get something a little studier with a more comfortable seat, but an extra pillow on the seat does the trick.

You'll find a nursing set up where you can read a book, surf the web, or watch TV.

Pp-- I'm looking for art for our nursery. Mind linking to the etsy prints you got?

oh, the only furniture I plan on spending good money on is the glider because I want something I can use as regular furniture when the time comes.

I also am investing in hiring an interior designer by the hour because our place is small (like I said, dining room turning into baby room), and the investment in her to make the space more usable for longer so we can avoid moving is worth it.

Anonymous wrote:Judging by the rest of my house, it's unlikely that I'll develop a sudden knack for decorating and have an amazing nursery with proper scheme, decor and ambience. I'm going for neat and tidy.

What did everyone's nursery look like once you were in the swing of things - 3+ months after delivery?
What did you purchase in great anticipation, but then freecycle or give away quickly?
Do you stare lovingly at the monkey decal on the wall while nursing or do you think about picking off his little smarmy face - lol?
At what age, did you re-decorate to reflect your kiddo's personality and interests (or your own)?

I set up the glider in the family room so I wouldn't have to stare at monkey decals while nursing! I watched a lot of tv.

Anyway I hate decorating. My son is 17 mo so we have made few changes in his room. It consists of a rocking chair/glider (swapped with the family room one now), crib, changing table, dresser and bookshelf. The color is neutral so it will grow with him. My greatest effort in this was purchasing some prints on ETSY and getting them framed at Hobby Lobby. They're animals, not very babyish, so I won't have to redecorate for a while. I also hung a mirror. No decals.

We have a little built-in shelf by the chair for books. It's nice to have a stack sitting there waiting for story time.

Our daughter's nursery is gender neutral: aqua walls with orange accents (crib sheet, orange and aqua curtains). We wanted it to be a warm, cheerful space, and it is. She's 20 months now and we're planning to move her into a new room in anticipation of the new baby (sex unknown).

I don't regret any of the choices we made for the nursery: it's functional, practical, and a cute space for a baby. Even with the new room we're preparing for her, we're not going to go crazy tailoring it to her, because it may well end up a shared bedroom if we go for a third.

I may not be the kind of person you want to hear from, though, since I'm way too practical to get worked up over nursery decor. I mean, I want her to have a nice space, but I'd never consider hiring a decorator for the nursery. FWIW, though, we've used everything in her room quite a bit; that combined with the fact that I wasn't overly invested in which glider we chose means no buyer's remorse.

Anonymous wrote:Judging by the rest of my house, it's unlikely that I'll develop a sudden knack for decorating and have an amazing nursery with proper scheme, decor and ambience. I'm going for neat and tidy.

What did everyone's nursery look like once you were in the swing of things - 3+ months after delivery?
What did you purchase in great anticipation, but then freecycle or give away quickly?
Do you stare lovingly at the monkey decal on the wall while nursing or do you think about picking off his little smarmy face - lol?
At what age, did you re-decorate to reflect your kiddo's personality and interests (or your own)?

My son is only 13 months, so I haven't lived with things for too long, but I love his nursery. We bought a crib and glider from Great Beginnings, which I love (especially the glider). The bookcase, bedside table (next to the glider), and dresser with a changing pad on top came from Ikea. We painted the walls a periwinkle color and he has jungle decals on the walls. I'm not much of a decorator, so I'm really proud that I actually decorated a room and I like looking at it while I'm nursing or rocking him. We don't spend a lot of money on furniture, so I felt like we splurged a little getting a glider for about $400-$500 and I'm glad we did.

+1 that blackout shades are the most important item in any nursery.

We knew we were having a girl first, but did a gender-neutral yellow room with pale green and blue accents, because we knew we wanted more than one kid. Hand-me-down white crib and changing table, hundred dollar white dresser, and nice glider from Buy Buy Baby. My daughter used it for three years, and then moved into a larger room that was a guest room before. Our nursery is too small to be anything else but a nursery or an office, and has no closet. The nursery stayed as it is for another year until my son was born, he used it for three years, moved into another room and we turned the nursery into an office/guest room.

We used my DH's childhood furniture. I used the dresser as the changing table and kept everything but the changing pad in the drawers. I hate clutter so that was great to not have everything out. We bought a convertible crib that matches the furniture. He is now using it as his double bed headboard. We did not paint and I bought a few decorative things at TJ Maxx. I used a wooden rocking chair with a nursing stool, it was great. I didn't want to be too comfortable so I wouldn't fall asleep.