Gender Neutral Nursery: Part Two

Just a few more snapshots of the nursery to share. We decided to forgo the change table this time around and went for a space saving option instead. We have had this white chest of drawers since Harry was born (my lovely Dad painted them for me) and they are a great size for a nursery.

I found a second hand Tesori change top which fits the drawers perfectly and hopefully will provide an efficient changing area, at least for the first few months. Although there isn't as much storage as a purpose built change table, there is a small area for nappies and wipes at the end.

My favourite rocking chair.

I have "borrowed" my favourite replica Eames rocker from another part of the house and it is now at home in the nursery, finished with another chevron cushion. :)

One of my favourite items is the mobile above the change table. I made this very simply with some Wee Gallery Art Cards which I found on Trademe, and a photo mobile hanger. These are bold black and white prints and I really love them.

Wee Gallery Art Cards.

Clothes and shoes are also a great inexpensive way to decorate your nursery. I found these baby Ugg boots for 99cents from Savemart and they look like they have never been worn. I know many people don't like buying second hand items but I love searching for little bargains and it is one of my favourite hobbies. I just wish I had more time to do it!

99 Cent Baby Ugg Boots!

I picked up a couple of these wooden grey elephant wall plaques for $1 each and they also fitted with the unisex theme well. The elephant motif is very popular in children's decor and it is quite easy to find bedding and other items in this theme if you wanted to take it further.

Creating a space for baby is such a fun part of the nesting process and whether it is a corner in your bedroom or a dedicated nursery, there is so much you can do to personalise it and make it fun.

My babies are in their own room from Day 1. We had every intention of sleeping them in their bassinets in our room (which is recommended) but after one night, we realised this wouldn't work for our family. We seem to have very loud little sleepers and we wake constantly with every sniffle and movement.

The nursery is only a few metres from our room and this arrangement works for us. Only a few short days before this new baby arrives and I am trying to relax as much as I can and enjoy the last few days of being a family of four. :)

Gender Neutral Nursery: Part One

The room is ready for it's newest little occupant.

Well, after a final burst of energy I have finally finished pottering around in the nursery and created a new gender neutral place for the new little one to sleep. Knowing me, I will want to make changes as soon as I find out whether it is a boy or girl and for that reason, I really didn't want to spend much money at all on the room.

The birdhouses and my two home made cushions.

I looked around the house at what we had and apart from the Expedit cube storage unit and the cot, most things were either a Trademe or Op Shop find, or items we already owned from other parts of the house. The room was finished really inexpensively and I got to complete a couple of mini craft projects along the way.

Grey and white theme with a touch of pink and blue!

I love these little Charlotte and Austen pink and blue birdhouses which I found at Mary's Market a few months ago. They belong to Rosie and Harry but I have "borrowed" them from their room for the time being. You will also notice my grey chevron cushions made it into the nursery after all.

I love this Eeni Meeni Miini Moh wool blanket, a Trademe find.

I am a huge fan of Dwell Studio, a US based company selling high end linen, but needless to say, most of their range is cost prohibitive for me. When I stumbled upon a square dove patterned crib sheet set on Trademe which had never been used, I snapped it up, knowing it was the wrong size for our cot, but hoping I could use the fabric for something else.

The cot is now assembled.

As it turns out, one of the sheets fitted the cot perfectly so I have used that and out of the other sheet, I was able to make two cushions and the bunting flags you can see hanging along the wall.

Pink gingham cushion, courtesy of Rosie.

I love bunting and it is so easy to make. I didn't even bother sewing the flags, I just cut them out with a pair of pinking shears and sewed them to some plain white binding that I had cut off a new electric blanket we bought last year.

The toy box hiding in the corner...aka drinks tub from the supermarket!

The little toy box you can see peeking in the corner of the photo above is a plain white drinks tub which I found at Countdown for $10. It fits a lot, is lightweight and easy to carry to other parts of the house if need be. There is so much out there now and it is easy to find loads of great items for next to nothing. Part of the fun is in the finding!

Part Two to follow. :)

Nursery Progress: Driftwood Mini Hanging Wardrobe

One of the challenges of creating a gender neutral nursery has been finding the motivation to tackle some of the projects I had in mind for the room. I really enjoy hunting for bedding and special touches for a specific gender and in the absence of this knowledge, I have held off committing to anything other than plain white and grey, which I admit is rather boring.

Our driftwood hanger.

A few months ago I was browsing one of my favourite blogs, The Happy Home and came across an idea I fell in love with. The talented Belinda had created a super cute driftwood hanger to hang her new baby's clothes from and I vowed to keep an eye out for something similar on our next trip to the beach.

Fiddling with fishing line to get the height just right.

When we visted Rangitoto Island as a family after Christmas, we found a few pieces of driftwood that we popped into our backpacks and then promptly forgot about for a few months.

Voila! Driftwood hanger complete.

A couple of days ago we finally got around to this little project (the nesting instinct has now kicked in!) and my patient husband was super obliging and hung my driftwood hanger for me. Isn't it cute?

Cube storage

The best thing about this little DIY project is that it costs virtually nothing! We just used fishing line and a couple of little screw in metal eyelets in the ceiling. I wouldn't like to hang anything too heavy on it, but it is perfect for baby clothes. :)

Belinda's nursery picture that inspired me so many months ago.