If you know anyone pregnant or looking to adopt a baby, organizing the nursery can be one of the most exciting times!
I wouldn’t call myself an expert organizer by any means, but I am great at creating systems that work! That’s why I’m writing all about how to organize a nursery today.
When I had my first son, the nesting hit me hard. I can remember spending, evening (after evening) folding his clothes and rearranging his things. My husband would joke with me about “how many times can you fold his clothes?”. Well, for a nesting mom … a lot to be exact!
Please tell me about any of your nesting stories in the comments below, I’d love to hear them!
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Now as a mom of 2 with a full-time job, and blogging on the side I don’t have time to be unorganized. That’s why I set my kids rooms up with systems that work for our family.
Please let me know in the comments below how you organize a nursery. I’d love to know what systems work for your family.
In this article, you’ll learn about how to organize a nursery and help create systems that work!
Clothes
Let’s start with clothes because they can definitely take over a nursery if you aren’t careful!
I had my father-in-law make this nice dresser and changing table for our first son. I love it for a nursery for a variety of reasons. In this picture, the dresser is on the right.
The first is it’s the perfect height for changing a diaper (more about that later). I wanted to have open shelving for boxes at the top. On the right side, we keep all of his P.J.’s this makes after bath time super easy for getting what we need. We also have a small blue box there full of his socks. He’s older now (1.5 years) and loves to pick out his own socks in the morning.
The middlebox is for changing pad covers and liners. The box on the very left side was full of swaddles and burp cloths when he was an infant. In the drawers, we keep his daily clothes that currently fit like short-sleeve onesies, long sleeve tops, pants, and sweatshirts.
In the closet, I keep clothes that are brand new and too big hung up so I can see them. I keep a box on the floor of his closet of clothes that are too small and too big (from his older brother). Something else to note is that we currently don’t have closet doors. We are in the middle of renovating our home and that’s something that is on the list to replace.
On top of those boxes, I make sure to keep an open basket to throw clothes he’s outgrown in. This makes decluttering his drawers during the week super quick. On the weekends (about 1 time every few months) I spend cleaning out the basket and organizing clothes in the bins.
We keep his laundry basket right beside the changing table to make things easy. Also side note, the cloth laundry baskets are adorable but not at all practical. Babies are gross between blowouts, spit-ups, and drool you’re going to want a basket that you can wipe or spray down.
Diapers
As I mentioned before we used the top of his dresser for our changing table. On it, we keep diapers, wipes, diaper cream, and lotion in a bin on top next to his changing pad. Extra diapers and wipes are all in the closet on the top shelf.
I also like having that open bin on his changing table for extra diapers/wipes. Nobody wants to mid-diaper change realize they don’t have what they need to finish the job.
Bedding
I have an extra dresser in his room for bedding (sheets and mattress pads), hats, memorabilia, and clothes in the next size up. I also keep a bin next to his rocking chair of blankets, that we don’t use in his crib. He’s at an age now that I feel comfortable having blankets in his bed. Make sure you check with your child’s pediatrician on when it is appropriate for your child.
If you are looking for more information on baby sleep, I recommend takingcarababies.com. Cara is a sleep consultant, mom, pediatric nurse, and wife of a pediatrician. She’s also has a huge heart for getting families the sleep they need. You can also find her on Instagram if you are more into that route! Either way, if your family needs sleep, or you are a pregnant mom looking for information on babies and sleep she’s a great resource!
Toys
In his closet, I have a 4 cube shelf from IKEA that holds 2 baskets for toys. The other two shelves allow for bigger toys. I also keep a box of toys on a small table side table by his rocker. Although this is still his nursery, he’s old enough now that I feel okay having the toy up next to his bed. If you are setting up a nursery for the first time be sure to talk to your child’s pediatrician about sleep safety.
Books
We are a huge fan of books in our house! It’s important to me to keep books out and available for my kids.
We have a box of books on the floor, as well as some on top of the side table by the rocker. This allows me easy access to the books before nap or bedtime, or just to read to him while relaxing a bit.
Conclusion
These are the systems that best seem to help my family stay organized. I can’t wait to hear the systems you use about how to organize a nursery. Or your favorite systems for organizing a nursery in the comments below!
Love, Ashley E
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