Stick Baby In The Closet

When I considered having a baby, I knew it would involve many personal sacrifices. Losing my walk-in closet, however, felt like the biggest. The upside was that I always enjoy a good home design project, and I was excited to take on the challenge of designing my son’s nursery.

One of the classic layouts of a Brooklyn brownstone includes a small room situated over the entry of the parlor floor. In New York, this is a bonafide room, but measuring at only 6 feet by 8 feet, this is a walk in closet in the rest of the country. Before having a baby, our apartment was huge by NY standards – huge enough to turn this “second bedroom” into my walk-in closet. Now it was time to transform this room where my clothing, handbags, jewelry, scarves, shoes had provided me with years of great dress up opportunities. In hindsight, it was not such a huge loss since as a new mom spending more than 5 minutes getting dressed is not an option. In exchange, my little boy has a special place to sleep, play and show his friends.

This is how we did it:

Step One: WARDROBE

We needed a place for all the contents from the walk-in closet. We loved the PAX designs from IKEA and I ordered pulls from Anthropologie to make them look less generic. My wardrobe was very happy in its new home.

Step Two: PAINT

I was inspired by a photo on my friend Mieke’s Instagram. It was from a home decor photoshoot in France. The blue color in the interior was very regal and made me think of Marie Antoinette – perfect for my little boy’s room, ha! I found the perfect match in Benjamin Moore paints : Nantucket Fog. For the trim, I chose White Dove.

Step Three: ACCENT

With such a serious wall color for a baby boy’s room, I chose a funky orange to offset the blue. The polka dot rug from IKEA gave it the fun pop every child’s room needs.

Step Four: STORAGE & FURNITURE

In such a small room, an open concept closet/ storage system will not congest the space. It does mean everything is on display (see decor below) but this can be a good thing. Within this area, I used a chest of drawers as the changing table. The round crib is also a great space saver in a small room–aside from looking really good.

Step Five: DECOR

Many children’s toys and books and clothes are too cute to hide. So instead of storing it all away, I let it serve double duty as room decor. This also makes it easier to see what we have to play with. This open shelving system serves as a nice display.

Step Six: COZY

Lastly I made it cozy with treasures like sentimental gifts, souvenirs from travels, plants from friends, a New Orleans map blanket, throw pillows for sitting on the floor, and a white noise machine.

Voila – Now we have a nursery!

Really, once it was completed, I wanted to sleep in there as it was now the best room in the house. It is now a bonafide room (albeit a tiny one).

*Always remember that baby’s room should have proper ventilation! If you have any questions about your baby’s safety, ask your doctor.