Closet Nursery

When we found out we were pregnant with Riley, our first thoughts were 'Where are we going to put a baby in our 500 sq ft studio apartment?' Our minds immediately began reeling and we spent many months tossing around ideas about how to fit all of the baby necessities. A crib? Changing table? All of the little odds and ends a baby collects? WE barely fit in our apartment with a dog, how would we add another human being?

Then our creative, outside-of-the-box thinking kicked in. A baby doesn't need THAT much room. And we have 4 closets (all small, but hey, there are 4 of them!) and one was a walk-in (again, small, but it's a walk-in...). Lightbulb! We then spent a significant amount of time measuring said closet and collecting measurements on small baby items that would fit into the space. With about 4 feet x 5 feet of space to work with, we luckily were able to find a mini crib that would fit perfectly along the long wall of the closet, leaving a small hanging shelf left on the other wall to act as her closet. It seemed too good to be true.

There were still a lot of logistics to work out. There was a bi-fold door and shelving that needed to be removed and we would need to figure out how to have some light in there.

Removing the door proved to be much trickier than anticipated (Sean's first handyman project at work!) and finding somewhere to store the door was even trickier. 

 Before, after the door had been removed and the crib was in place

   

After:

 Rory was pretty sure this room was for him.

I added curtains behind the crib so the poor little thing would hopefully not realize she was sleeping in a little closet dungeon. The addition of a small faux-sheepskin rug and some lightweight curtains for the door definitely helped brighten it up and feel more cozy. Jen and Jamie, being the task-masters that they are, came and installed a hook to hang the light fixture from. It took a really long time to find ceiling lighting that would not have to be hardwired in, but thanks to Ikea we found the perfect solution! Just outside the closet we put a small 3-drawer chest to hold all of her clothes, diapers, and other necessities with a changing pad on top.

So far, this quirky little arrangement has worked out perfectly and will hopefully buy us time in this apartment until she is over a year. With a little ingenuity, we have managed to keep all of our furniture, add in all the baby necessities and still fit in an exersaucer, play mat, jumperoo, bouncing chair, stroller and soon the addition of a highchair. I'm sure most people think we are completely nuts when we tell them we live in a studio with a baby but I can honestly say we have no complaints about it. It will be a great story for Riley to hear when she's older and living in a big house.

Crib : Alma Mini Crib
Dresser : Ikea Hemnes Chest
Rug : Ikea Faux Sheepskin