I wanted the room to fresh and light and be a comfortable place to hang out (since I suspect I have a lot of hanging out to do while nursing, changing, trying to get a certain someone to sleep). Somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted a white furniture kind of look which is not the most obvious for a boy's room. Most of the boy rooms I see are all natural or dark woods which just feels a little too grown up for the Guppy (especially since he hasn't even been born yet).
Our house is not big. Ok, truthfully, our house is small, and the baby room is the smallest of the three small bedrooms. I knew we needed smallish furniture and the dresser needs to do double duty as a changing table. I know lots of people say they change diapers wherever, but our house is so tiny (and one floor), that I'm hoping to contain diaper changing to the baby room. I'm also not very tall (understatement), so I want a relatively low dresser where I don't feel like the baby is right under my nose.
In walked (ok, it was carried) the Mandal Dresser from Ikea.
I like the leg shape, the easy open drawers (without handles), and I like that outside is actual wood. Most Ikea stuff is laminate (like the drawers), but the real wood makes the whole things feel warmer and more expensive. For $249, sold.
Next up... rocking chair. While I love the look of the old timey rocking chairs, I know I will have a lot of late nights in said chair and require maximum comfort. Again, I didn't want to blow the bank on the chair, but I knew I would need to spend some extra cash to get what I wanted. I scoured craigslist and diy sites and considered taking a regular chair and turning it into a glider but ultimately decided I wouldn't save that much after the cost of the chair and the hardware.
I sat in a bunch of chairs at Babies R Us and ultimately decided on the Kacy Madison Glider that was on sale (15% off). If you buy in store, you can choose a fabric from quite a few options, but I ultimately decided on the one that would show the least dirt/spit up stains/dog hair. It also happened to be the "off the shelf" option. Plus, the store ended up giving me 20% off instead of 15%, so it was an extra good day. It's a little less brown than the image but not much. Final price on sale, $320.
And of course the last big decision and purchase is the crib. While I plan to have the Guppy in our room for a couple months for ease of nursing, I also know that I am a light sleeper and will likely sleep MUCH better once he transitions to his own room. While I know nothing about newborns, I'm hoping to have him nap in the crib at times as well so that he gets used to it.
Now this is where you can really blow the bank which is kind of funny considering it's the least long-term piece of furniture you need. Yes, most now transition to toddler and then twin or full size beds, I still don't need to spend $1200 (or more). Our bed didn't cost anywhere near that, and we sleep juuuuust fine at night (or did before I was pregnant anyway).
I looked and looked and looked. Requirements: a white crib without looking to cheap or girly. Oh, and of course, it needs to be cool and kind of modern looking. I found the Babyletto line pretty instantly and determined (after a girlfriend told me about hers) that was probably the right choice for our style and budget. But I couldn't leave well enough alone. $400 for the crib still seemed like more than I really wanted to spend, so I scoured the world wide interwebs and hit on a well kept secret. Babyletto's parent company produces a line REMARKABLY similar to the regular Babyletto line that is sold exclusively at Walmart. And the prices are about half of the regular Babyletto line. I'm honestly not sure why they're doing it, but I'm glad they are. Enter...the Marley Crib.
Sorry the photo isn't better. In real life, the base is a bit darker and goes well with the light wood on the Ikea dresser. Final price? $229. Yes, please!
The only bummer is that the crib arrived with a broken part (though I was able to confirm that it's actual wood). I phoned the company, and they're shipping out a replacement piece immediately at no charge. And to top it off, Walmart gave me a $25 credit for the trouble. Yay!
Once we put the crib together, I'll post a follow up with photos of the "finished" nursery. All told, though, I'm please we were able to get the look we wanted and spend about $800 for three high quality pieces of furniture that should last thru the next 5+ years.
Have you shopped for a nursery? Did you get what you wanted at the price you wanted, or did you have to compromise?
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