organize a newborn nursery

before i start, thank y'all so much for humoring a girl with a passion to organize by following along! the first question i got on "how to organize" was about how to organize a newborn nursery.  i will do my best to show systems that have worked for me and others!  however, i should also add the caveat that while i love pretty spaces, i am moderately practical in set up and decor in a nursery because the room is used in such a short time frame (and the nursery "look" is really for you, not the baby)! :) also, please bear with me as i write my first "how to" post.  i will try to make it as clear and concise as possible!

i would recommend having as few "baby specific" pieces of furniture as possible, so the pieces can transition to big boy/girl rooms.  i would also recommend having simple decor for a boy/girl because then it's easy to replace/update for your next baby.

i will take you through charlie's nursery and my "method to the madness."  charlie's room has an unusually big closet, but i still managed the same organization in the nursery closet in our last home too.

this is charlie's nursery.  it has (from left): a bookshelf, a glider, a crib,
a monkey seat, a "changing table," and a basket of lovies.

i will start with an explanation of what furniture i have in the room and how i organize it, and then i will move into the closet!

bookshelf

i wanted a bookshelf that i could put in any room for any reason.  i have a cd player and frame on top (and as you can see, i still need to add a picture).  i have a basket for toys on the top shelf (*i only keep toys in the nursery, but i do not keep toys in kids' rooms...more on that when we get to organizing kids' rooms).  then i keep books on the bottom shelf for easy access!

"changing table"

i fell in love with this piece of furniture when i was pregnant with ellie, and we bought it for our changing table. as you can see, there isn't a changing pad on the top, and that's because i just decided it was easier for me to change my babies on the carpet (i always have the new diaper under the current diaper, so no bare bottoms are on the carpet...i am still a bit of a germ freak).  anyway, onto what i store in the piece.  i put the extra diaper genie liners and diaper cream in the top left drawer, and i store new pacis and paci clips in the top right drawer.  i have used this piece of furniture with both baskets, one basket, and no baskets.  i currently have nighttime diapers, daytime diapers, and wipes in the top basket, and i have board books in the bottom basket.  i do not like to see a lot of "stuff", so the baskets help keep stuff out of sight while still being easily accessible.
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now onto your greatest asset or the bane of your existence...the closet!  my favorite way to organize a baby nursery is to put a dresser (or some sort of storage that will hold folded items) in the closet.  there are a lot of little baby items that will be needed, and a dresser (or the cubby system with pull out baskets/open shelving) is a great way to organize them.  baskets can be your best friends!

dresser in closet

i will tell you what i keep in the drawers for my babies.  i will go thru them by their numbers:

1. at first, i keep little items in here: socks, hats, mittens (for newborn scratching); then i transition to socks and shorts or pants depending on the season (as well as swim suits)
2. i keep swaddle/muslin blankets in here
3. i keep baby blankets in here (like the kind you use in the stroller or for snuggling)
4. i keep white essentials in here: snap shirts, onesies, footie pjs...anything solid white
5. i keep swaddles for sleeping in here (like the swaddleme, woombie, sleep sack, etc.) as well as burp cloths
6. i keep sheets/blankets in here: bassinet sheets, pack n play sheets, extra crib mattress pad and sheet

all of these above items do not have to go into dresser drawers, but it is a good way to group them together whether in cubbies, sterilite tubs, baskets, etc.


i would suggest two ways to do current clothes.

1. hang all clothes, including onesies.  this is a little bit of work after laundry (depending on how particular you are about buttoning onesies and such, but this is a great visual of the clothes baby has, and will show the length of the body of the outfits, so you will know when to rotate the clothes out. (this is the method that i use; see picture below)    
2. hang only "nice" outfits, and fold footie pajamas and play clothes.  drawer dividers are great for these, so you can fold the footies small, and just line them all up for easy access.  once you notice a few items are getting snug, take a moment to pull out the clothes to compare sizes, so you can retire some outfits and mix in the bigger size.

up close of hanging clothes

i hang clothes by type.  once they're in their type, i will organize each type by size.  for example, the footie pajamas go from current size to one size bigger.  the types i organize by, in order, are: onesies, rompers, collared rompers, footie pjs, and "nice" outfits on the right (see pano below)

panorama of closet

i use a hanging shoe cubby (on far left) to hold burp cloths and random items (like the sound machine and extra camera for the monitor).  i am a firm believer of keeping all baby things in the nursery/closet.  so, i keep the pack n play in the nursery closet as well as all boxes of diapers.  i also keep things in "storage" in the closet; i will describe how and what i store things below.

shelves in closet

i store my baby wraps, humidifier, and tubs of baby gear in the closet.  i will go through the contents of these tubs, by number:

1. this tub has extra diapers that i still have left over from when ellie was in diapers; i kept these because diapers are real money, and we knew we wanted more kiddos
2. this tub has all of my breastfeeding/pumping gear
3. this tub has anything baby/toddler that will be used while a kiddo is sleeping in a crib...for example: car seat cover, shopping cart cover, car seat insert, sippy cups, etc.
4. this tub has clothes for the future (whether the immediate next size needed or 2T); we don't have too many future boy clothes at the moment

i also have all of my girl nursery decor/bedding in this closet bc it is for a baby.  if your closet does not have the space, then i would store all of that in another storage space.  once clothes have been worn and are "sized out", i fill a tub (like these sterilite ones shown), and label the sizes contained within.  i will do a post on outgrown clothes/school work/keepsakes soon.

i hope this post answered your questions, gave you some ideas, or let you tweak your systems to be a little more organized for what works for you!  are there any areas of a nursery you still have questions about or wish i had covered more?

i hope y'all had a wonderful holiday weekend and are starting this four day week fully rejuvenated!