We are getting settled in at home as a family of four, and Cooper is such a wonderful new addition! It's always amazing to me how much stuff comes along with such a tiny little person. Fortunately this time around there wasn't much new that we needed to purchase, but there was still the question of where to put it all.
When we were preparing for the arrival of baby number one a year and half ago, we spent most of our time decorating the nursery and getting it organized with all the baby essentials. Beckett's nursery provided plenty of storage for everything we needed - diapers in the top drawer of the changing table, blankets in the next drawer down, tiny clothes, hats and sock organized neatly in the closet. But while all of the baby gear had a nice and organized home in the nursery, it was more than six months before Beckett moved in to the nursery. For the first months of his life, Beckett slept in a cradle in our bedroom, which is a floor above all of the other bedrooms. It was nice having Beckett just a few feet away for middle of the night feedings, rather than having to go up and down the stairs to and from the nursery all night long. However, since all of Beckett's stuff was in the nursery, we still found ourselves going up and down the stairs all too frequently.
This time around, we needed to find a new solution. Cooper will be sleeping in the cradle in our room for 6 months or so, and Beckett will continue to stay in the nursery throughout that time. Since the nursery closet is already full of Beckett's clothes, and to minimize the need to run up and down the stairs to get Cooper changed and dressed, we wanted to make space in the master bedroom for all of Cooper's stuff. The answer was to convert our under-utilized armoire into "baby central."
When we lived in our loft downtown, the armoire housed the television in our bedroom and provided much needed storage to supplement our small-ish closet. But since moving into our current house, the armoire, which sits in the corner of our bedroom, has just been holding an assortment of miscellaneous items - all of which could be better stored elsewhere.
The shelf in the armoire is the perfect depth for a changing pad. I picked up some cute fabric and my mom sewed it into several changing pad covers, as well as matching sheets for the cradle.
Two small baskets next to the changing pad hold diapers, wipes and other diaper changing essentials, such as Desitin.
The clothing rod across the top of the armoire is an obvious place for hanging all of Cooper's itty bitty clothes.
The two drawers work perfectly for holding all of Cooper's swaddlers and sleep sacks (one drawer for cotton, the other for fleece).
In order to make good use of the remaining open shelving, I picked up two packs of Skubb storage bins from Ikea. The smaller bins contain all of the tiny things, like socks and hats. And the larger bins hold blankets, extra cradle sheets, and the like.
I used washi tape and my handy dandy label maker to create pretty labels for the drawers and bins, making it quick and easy to find just what we need.
I also added a small battery operated light in the armoire to provide just enough light for middle of the night diaper changes. The light is held up by a few Velcro command strips, allowing it to be easily removed when the batteries need to be replaced.
Where there are diaper changes, there will be lots of dirty diapers and lots of baby clothes that need washing. That's why I added a Diaper Genie and a small laundry hamper right next to the armoire. When the bedroom door is open, it hides these items from the view of the rest of the room.
Repurposing the armoire in our master bedroom as "baby central" has been a perfect solution!
It allows us the space to store everything we need for baby Cooper, but also allows us to keep it all behind closed doors so that our bedroom doesn't appear totally overrun with baby gear.
Are you looking for more tips for organizing your life with kids? Here are some great posts that you might be interested in:
