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The shared nursery for the newborn and toddler is ready, we are all so excited! I’m 37 weeks pregnant now, so it is really nice having this done, even if the new baby will be in a basinet in our bedroom for the next few months. I have always loved nautical themed nurseries and adore navy blue with turquoise, so it was a perfect fit. And that giant giraffe has been a fixture in all of the baby nurseries, so now he is a sailor giraffe!
Because it is a pandemic, and because I am very *frugal* (or cheap, however you want to say it), I was not willing to spend any money on this room. And not just because it’s the fourth baby! First of all, I didn’t want to send my husband out into the world to pick up decorations and supplies while the risk of getting sick is so high, it is just not worth it. Second of all, being shacked up in the house has really brought out the minimalist in me. There has been a lot of donations to goodwill and selling of things we just simply don’t need, I have been cleaning room by room and really purging our home of “stuff.” So, I wasn’t about to bring in more stuff simply to decorate a baby room.
I did need to buy three things for this room: one of the shelves above the gallery wall (from Ikea with curbside pickup), the wooden letter C for the new baby’s monogram (from Michaels with curbside pickup), and the little pair of black antique baby shoes from the 1920s (delivered to my door via Etsy). It is a tradition that I buy each of my kids a pair of vintage baby shoes, so that was a necessity. That’s it! Everything else was from around the house. The Octopus triptych was a custom made art piece that was hanging in the piano room, the gallery wall had been in my kitchen, the DIY tissue tassel garland was something I made for my first baby’s nursery but hadn’t used, and the bunting was actually made with the last piece of navy cardstock left over from my wedding invitations, if you can believe that! I DIYed the mobile with sea shell potpourri my sister gave me for Christmas and a branch from our apple tree and glued the same shells on the monogram initials. I printed just two pictures from our DIY maternity photoshoot and put them in frames we already had (I’ll make a post of that photoshoot next and link to it here, it was incredible). I’m really quite pleased with how re-used and recycled this room is yet still totally cohesive.
Because the room is being shared with Baby A, who is 1.5 years old, I decided to take out the diaper change table and the rocking chair. This was for space concerns but also for practicality–I don’t want to be changing or rocking new Baby C if Baby A is napping and vice versa! So, for the next little while the change table is in the hall outside the room, not ideal, but, c’est la vie. The rocking chair was at first temporarily moved to our master bedroom but I love it in there so much that it will stay permanently right under my Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree–it’s absolutely lovely to sit and relax under a real tree, especially now in the dead of winter.
And right after I finished the room, the most beautiful handmade crochet blanket was delivered to my door from one of my dearest friends who has made blankets for each of my babies, and even one for me. I cherish her and the baby will cherish this blanket! I placed it on the end of the bed so you can all see how amazingly she was able to coordinate her creation to my vision without knowing anything except for a few colours I’d be using…turquoise, who would have guessed!
We all adore this room and can’t wait to see a little baby in that crib. All that’s left now is to share my pandemic friendly DIY maternity photoshoot and for this baby to arrive…stay tuned!
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Square floating shelves: Amazon
Babyletto Harlow 3-in-1 Convertible Acrylic Crib: West Coast Kids
Organic Star Crib Fitted Sheet: Pottery Barn Kids
Twin Bed Comforter: I can’t find the exact one I got at Bed Bath and Beyond, but this Crayola Playful Plush Bedding set looks to be the same colour from Bed Bath and Beyond.
AmazonBasics Kid’s Sheet Set in Multi-Color Scallop: Amazon
Melissa and Doug Giant Giraffe: Amazon
Picture Ledges: Ikea
turquoise toffee 