5 EFFICIENT WAYS TO PLAN FOR THE NURSERY!

5 EFFICIENT WAYS TO PLAN FOR THE NURSERY

PLANNING FOR THE NURSERY

The moment I found out I was pregnant, all I could think about was decorating and planning for the nursery! In the beginning, I would just think about it and wonder what styles and themes I would be into if I were having a boy or girl. The moment I found out I was having a girl, things got real! You begin to vision exactly what you want the moment you know the gender of your little babe.

Once you you find out the gender of your babe, you will get a better idea of what you want the nursery to look like. Unless you’re going for a gender-neutral nursery (which is totally trending right now), of course. With a gender-neutral nursery, you can already figure out what type of theme you will go with. If you’re not going gender-neutral, definitely wait to find out the sex of your baby before planning anything or buying anything!

1. FIND YOUR INSPIRATION

It’s always nice to find inspiration to help guide your train of thought when it comes to the nursery. Especially if you’re a first-time mommy, you don’t necessarily have the experience that will tell you everything you need in a nursery. For me, as a first-time mommy, I knew the style I wanted once I found out I was having a girl, but I simply didn’t know where to begin!

I began finding inspiration online — Pinterest, of course, and I was super inspired by a lot of big-time bloggers on Instagram with the way they’ve done their nurseries. So, all I did was take bits and pieces of all the inspiration I’ve found and started to piece together what I wanted my baby girl’s nursery to look like. I started pinning ideas and styles on Pinterest and taking screen shots of things I loved on Instagram to save in a photo album.

So, first thing’s first, find some inspiration! Don’t just dive into it — you will end up with ten different themes and it might not flow all together once it’s done! So ease into it.

2. PLAN WHEN TO ACTUALLY BEGIN

It’s a good idea to figure out when is the best time for you to actually begin putting together the nursery. A lot of women tend to wait at least until the first trimester is over, since the risk of miscarriage drops dramatically. In addition, women tend to wait until after they find out the sex of their baby! Depending on when you find out the gender (as early as 12 weeks and as late as 22 weeks), that’s when you should start the nursery. But don’t get too excited! Start slowly — don’t go out and buy all the things you need the week after you found out what you’re having! Your taste may change, your theme may end up different, and you may find better inspiration as time goes on.

Personally, I started buying little things I knew I wanted for my nursery whenever I saw them at the store and for a good price, but it was after I turned at least 18 weeks. I wouldn’t buy anything major — I bought simple things such as a blanket and pillows that matched, a lamp that was on sale that I knew I loved, a pretty basket for blankets and teddy bears, and I also happened to find the perfect window curtains on sale, so I grabbed them! If it made sense to me and I found the perfect item on sale, I would buy it. I didn’t plan to buy much more until after I got my anatomy ultrasound done (20 weeks) so I know everything is going smoothly and baby is healthy. If you feel you shouldn’t buy anything until then, do that.

It also depends on your personal schedule! If you’re a teacher, for example, and you’re going to be so busy being back to school in August, then maybe it’s best for you to get the nursery done beforehand! It’s simply best to have an idea in mind about when to actually begin that works best for you as well as for your partner!

3. PICK YOUR THEME & COLOR PALETTE

Being organized is the best thing you can do for yourself during pregnancy, in all things! With the nursery, you need to have an idea of what theme and color palette you will be going with before buying. That’s why starting by finding your inspiration is best to do first, so you know what theme and color palette fits best! Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I want a gender-neutral nursery?
Do I want to go with a simplistic look?
Do I want to maximize the room space?
Do I want a typical pink or blue color?
Do I want gold or silver accents?
Do I want to go for cozy or classy?
Do I want to go with rustic or modern?
Do I want to paint or keep a neutral wall color?
Do I want it to be super boyish or girlish?
Do I want it heavily decorated or more minimalistic?
What color accessories do I go with?
What color furniture matches best with the room floors and baseboards?
Do I need an area rug? What color would look best?

Once you’ve figured out the answer to all those questions, you should have a general idea of what direction you want to go in! Once you have your plan ready and your ideas written down, begin buying things when you feel it’s time, but only little by little.

From my own experience, I knew I wanted to go with a dusty rose accent color with accessories, pillows and blankets, the area rug, and the window curtains. I also knew I wanted white furniture since my baseboards and doors were white and that it would match better with my espresso colored hardwood floors. I figured that keeping my walls grey was the best idea so I can have more accessories that amplified the dusty rose color instead of the walls making it look overboard! I knew that I wanted gold accents since it seemed to flow nicer with the dusty rose color. Finally, I knew I didn’t want to have a dramatic or childish theme and I wanted a more classy-cozy type nursery, so I chose a specific theme that’ll eventually be revealed to you all! Once I figured all this out, I started keeping my eye open for things that would work perfectly with my plan!

4. PLAN EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED

If you’re a first-time mommy, you need to figure out what you actually need. I’m not talking about all the little baby accessories and the essentials in your diaper changing station... I’m talking about the bigger things. Do your research to find what’s best for you and what you need in your nursery several months before baby arrives. Here are a list of things I made sure to have in her nursery:

​Crib
Crib wall name frame
Baby cam
Changing table/dresser
Changing table topper
Diaper genie
Rocking chair & end table
Ottomon
Lamp
Sound machine/night light
Rugs
Hamper
Black-out curtains
Pillows, blankets
Basket for blankets, pillows, etc.
Wall book shelves
Large mirror
Floating shelves
Wall hooks
Inspirational decor

Of course, there are many more things to what you need in a nursery in terms of little essentials, but as for the basics, that’s what I need to be done in order to finish the look of our nursery! I had a plan my entire pregnancy to have every detail of her nursery complete by December 1st! Which would be one month before my due date and we’re scheduled to finish on time, which feels so good! My best piece of advice is for you to finish everything in the nursery a minimum of one month prior to your due date. That way you can spend your last month relaxing and getting the major things ready in the house. Also, it’s a good idea to research lists of essentials and necessities for a nursery to ensure you have everything you need — Pinterest has tons of them! Make a checklist to be sure!

5. MAKE A TIMELINE OF WHEN TO FINISH

As I mentioned earlier, it’s best to wait a little while before buying a ton of stuff! I say this for a few reasons — you want to ensure you’re having a healthy pregnancy, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself all at once, and you also don’t want to put a huge dent in your bank account all in one month (nurseries are not cheap)! You don’t want to stress yourself out while pregnant, so easing into it is the best idea. I know that building and decorating the nursery is probably the best part during pregnancy (at least for me it is), but you also don’t want to have all the fun in just a few weeks! Girl, you have time to kill during this pregnancy. Nine months is a long time and by the time you slowly start putting together the nursery of your dreams, time will fly by even faster! Make a plan for what to do in the nursery and for how to go about completing it.

For example, I made a schedule for when I wanted to get things done in our nursery organized by months.

5 months: Slowly buy the small accessories
6 months: Clear out nursery and deep clean
7 months: Start buying furniture little by little
8 months: Make sure the nursery is complete
9 months: Wait for baby S to arrive!

Once you’ve created your own timeline of when to finish that works best for you and your partner, then you should feel a lot more organized and a lot less stressed about getting done in time! Feel free to buy things for the nursery as you see them on sale or if you happen to find the perfect thing to add to it! It’s a great idea to be on the lookout for sales on things like furniture, since they’re the most expensive things to be part of your nursery. If you can save a couple hundred bucks, then why not! Having a baby is expensive — it’s best to get in the habit of budgeting and saving as you can. Also, important reminder — save all your receipts in a place you know you won’t forget! Just in case things don’t come out as you imagine.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAVE FUN!

Building the nursery is supposed to be a fun and exciting time! So do whatever it is you need to do to make this process less stressful on you and your partner. If that means waiting a little longer to get started, budgeting, or buying little by little due to financial stress, then do it. If that means finding ways to do some DIY projects to save money, have fun with it! Whatever it is, do what you need to do in order to make this a smooth time for yourself. Whatever works for you and your schedule, do it. However you do it, just be happy and have fun with it! I can’t wait to show you all my nursery — I worked so hard on it! I’m really excited — I’m going to show you all the details and link everything as well! So stay tuned for that in the upcoming months. 💗

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