Who else is not jazzed about decorating the nursery? - Page 2

[mama.rye]

There is alot of pressure to "do" a nursery, but don't make yourself feel bad.

I was totally not into it at all, but then once I had a shower and started collecting some stuff, I got more motivated. Still, people always ask about how I "did" the nursery, and I have to marvel at how much emphasis and money is spent on this aspect of having a baby.

We decided not to even get a crib - just a co-sleeper and pack and play, both of which were gifts, and there is NO theme. This is another point of pressure - you don't have to have a theme to have a nursery!!

We did ours over a period of 3 months, just picking up and adding things as we found them. No pressure to decorate, just put together things that make you smile. We collected a bunch of hodge podge pics we liked, old Star Wars posters of my husbands, and an embroidered pic that was in his nursery as a baby, and throw them on the wall. I bought 5 colorful bins to store things in (highly reccomend the Koala Baby Canvas bins at Babies R Us - so much crap fit in them, and they added instant color) and put them on an existing rack we had. Installed one Home Depot $8 white shelf for baby books, and just threw some stuffed animals on the guest bed in there and VIOLA! A nursery, of sorts.

I go in there and fiddle every 2 or 3 days, and it's far from "done" (I have 5 weeks to go...) but the important thing is that we spent very little money, but it's got love and personality in it.

Do what works for you!

[Herausgeber]

If you don't feel like it, just don't do it. We sort of had one in our old house, where we lived when DD was first born. We didn't bother setting one up at the new house as it was clear DD would be sleeping in our room. She's now 21 months old, and we're setting up a toddler bed for her in our room. I don't imagine she'll be moving into her own room until she's 3ish, and by then she will have her own preferences for decorating.

[trayls]

I am SOOOO glad to hear someone else say they are not into the nursery thing. I was motivated to paint the walls because they needed to be painted, needed color, but otherwise I'm just not the cutesy, decorating kind of person. Kind of wish I was, looks to be fun, but I'm not. (One of the reasons I am glad to be having a boy -- I don't do makeup, dresses, etc either!)

I bought a crib because I was suppose to. Other than that, the room will be a place for his stuff. We have a very small house and the only thing of his in our room will be the co-sleeper if we use it.

EVERyONE asks, "So do you have the nursery done?" And I say, "Uh, yeah, well he's going to be co-sleeping and in our room for the first 6 months, so there's really no rush." Since no one knows what co-sleeping is, the questions end there

Now Cloth Diapering! That gets me jazzed!!!!!

cheers

[dividedsky]

Originally Posted by trayls

I am SOOOO glad to hear someone else say they are not into the nursery thing. I was motivated to paint the walls because they needed to be painted, needed color, but otherwise I'm just not the cutesy, decorating kind of person.

i am with you 100% - theme-type rooms make me gag. completely and totally not my thing.

we're going to paint the walls also, get a nice big fresh area rug, put up some art and that's it...

[leerypolyp]

We didn't do it with the first. Even when we got a place with extra rooms, we just kept her in the room with us -- she didn't get her own room until she was about two. That suited me just fine -- I didn't want to fix up some room I knew she wouldn't spend any time in.

This time, same deal -- now 3yo DD has her own room, which was a HECK of a lot of fun to fix up since she was old enough to appreciate it, but the new one will have to wait. Eventually I want them to share a room, which we'll fix up to their liking.

I just wasn't into the nursery thing. I think it's a silly cultural artifact, this idea that EVERYSINGLEPREGNANTWOMAN is dying to frill up some room in pink roses or vintage airplanes.

[avivaelona]

now pink roses with vintage planes would be an awesome theme.

[javilu]

I think we're just going to put a glider and ottoman into the room that is currently a library/music space and call it done. Maaaaaybe a changing table. I don't think the baby will mind.

[maizy]

This is #2 for us and I'll tell you... you don't need a nursery. With our first, we co-slept an at 2 1/2 he wanted his own bed so we went out and bought a sheet set, painted the walls, etc. So the rooms was HIS not my idea of what might be cutsie.
With this baby I plan to do the same thing. Getting a room was a right of passage and very fun. As far as baby gear I need diapers, a sling, car seat and possibly a bouncy seat. Other than that I have found all of the other baby gear to be cluttersome, pricey and just not needed. We all find what works so us. I have a friend who had an entire baby room designed and furnished, she bought lovely antiques for the baby room. Its beautiful but the baby still cosleeps and I think they only use the nursery for changing diapers sometimes.
Anyway... don't feel bad for not getting into the decorating. Lots of us don't.

[yummama]

I have been surprised at how many people have asked us about the nursery. In my fifth month people started asking if it was set up or if my DH was busy working on it. We had to laugh because at that point we were more worried about getting the house sided and painted--not getting coordinating bedding! We plan to co-sleep, so getting excited about the nursery was impossible. I took the advice of other co-sleeping friends who like to have a crib for daytime naps and did get one off craigslist and painted it a really cool color. also, the changing table is in there with all of the CD supplies. And the clothing. But nothing matches or anything, it's basically a storage space. I actually think it's weird to get excited about the perfect nursery. I am much more excited about sleeping with the baby!

[D'sMama]

Yay! I'm so glad so many of you are like, "Nursery? Why?" That makes me feel much better! For about a day, I entertained the idea of a themed nursery, but it was just annoying me. Then when I thought about it, I just couldn't help wondering what in the world it would be there for? The baby will be sleeping with us for at least the first year or two, I imagine, and I don't see the point of going to a special room for diaper changes and nursing.

When I thought about it, what I really needed was an office/guest room, that could convert to a toddler room eventually. So, we're going to have a full size bed, dresser, desk and bookshelf in there and call it a day! Saves money & time & the hassle of re-doing it as soon as the baby gets old enough to have an opinion on the matter!

Now if only I could figure out what to say when people ask about it...

[kalirush]

Originally Posted by rachel616

Now if only I could figure out what to say when people ask about it...

"Oh, she'll definitely be sleeping with us for at least the first year, so I don't see the point in decorating a nursery."

That's what I would say. Your plan, by the way, is almost precisely what we did. My daughter's room was a guest room/office for ages, and then when we were ready to move her on out, we moved the spare computer/desk into our room and moved her over to that room.

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by suewolfie

So, I don't know if it's because we are limited financially or if I am lazy or what, but I am so over thinking about this stupid nursery!! I have spent so much time online trying to find a reasonably priced crib and some gender-neutral bedding that isn't totally ugly and ridiculous, and I am just sick of thinking about it. I feel like a bad mama already because I am caring less and less about creating this perfect little darling space for the baby. My husband is good at reminding me that the baby won't know one way or the other, but I feel like I should put some effort into this.

Anyone else battling the urge to give up on the possibility of a decently cute nursery?

Family members donated a crib and changing table. We chose a "modern" dark brown color and re-painted them in hi-gloss. Then I got winnie-the-pooh sheets/bumpers from my mom. Now the set looks like it's from a catalog. Our price: $15 for paint. My little brother painted for free, God bless him.

Have you checked craigslist? Or asked if anyone has a crib to donate or for a small fee? Maybe you could post a wanted ad around local grocery stores.

[battymama]

Dont have one, dont need one, didnt even consider making one. Having said that when she is older i hope she likes fairies and things because i want to do up a majical forrest mural and theme, but that is awhile off, when she is ready to leave our room.

[SABE]

We lived in rental housing when our first 3 kids were born (3 different residences), so we never did much in the way of decorating. Now that we own a house, I keep forgetting that I have full liberty to decorate a room the way I want for baby #4! The room needs repainting anyway, but who knows when it will get done.

[Phoenix~Mama]

I hear ya. My friend is due next month and she was harping on my yesterday about why we didn't pain the nursery yet... cause I don't feel like painting it and don't see the need to? Then she was asking about my theme... I can't pick themes... I love too many things and my house is a kleptic hodge podge of decor. lol It's all me, but I've come to terms that my house will never look like something out of Home & Garden or whatever. lol

Same thing with the kids rooms... I'm not going to designate just one theme and freak if someone got a giraffe for a "butterfly themed" room, you know?

Who cares? As long as the kid is happy and healthy and the room isn't falling apart... does it really matter if everything matches or not?

But yeah.. it is stressing me out with people giving me a hard time that I'm not picking a theme. lol It's just not me. lol

[tjjazzy]

we had to re-do the baby's entire room (we bought another house and moved this summer and the room was seriously ugly with bad carpeting), from ripping down the walls right up to rewiring/drywall/flooring/trim. i chose to paint it with green all over and brown stripes on the change table wall. i made 3 paintings to go over the crib (with a bird on one, an owl on another, and a poem on the 3rd) and have bedding and a matching lamp and mobile from DS1. i also have a dresser from DS1 that hubby painted and put new handles on that i got for $8 at a second hand store. it's the PERFECT height for the $5 change table/pad my mom found (second hand also.) our rocking chair was $8 at the same second hand store i bought the dresser from. it doesn't have to be expensive to be attractive furniture. i'd still like to get a shelf or two for over the dresser/change area to keep diapers and whatnot on.

our DS1 HATED sleeping with us (he wouldn't even sleep on my chest) and slept in a bassinet for the first few months in our room but i plan to use the crib for naps with the new baby right away, as DS1 found the crib to be too big and scary when i first put him in to nap/he got too big for the bassinet.

[2lilsweetfoxes]

We plan to just have a pack-n-play for the baby to sleep in, a bouncy seat and a car seat. The pack-n-play will be in our room or moved to whatever room we need the baby in. The bouncy seat is for when we need to put the baby down somewhere safe to take care of stuff (cooking, shower, other kids). However, the bouncy seat is easier to move than the pack-n-play. The baby *could* nap in that, too. And car seat is for the car. We live in a 3-bedroom apartment and the baby will not have his/her own room until we buy a house. Gender will determine who he/she shares a room with until then.

[thixle]

Nursery? :
With dd, we side-carred a crib to our bed and got a dresser for clothes, lol.
This one we are doing the same. Of course, now that DD is 3 and has her own opinions and we are buying a house, well... she'll get to help decorate the play room.

My step-MIL is driving me nuts with nursery talk, though. Ugh. What does a baby need with it's own room? None of us have our own rooms! Everyones crap is fairly equally spread out for each family member

[Peony]

I just decorated my first child's room late last year and my oldest is 5.5 years old! We have never had a nursery, have had absolutely no need for even a bedroom for a baby/toddler. A changing table and a dresser in the master bedroom has always been the extent of it. Heck, even some days DD1's room still doesn't get used. I think you have some time if you aren't interested in one!

[chaoticzenmom]

We don't do a nursery either. We had a room with a crib, dresser, changing station and rocking chair for our first child...what a waste. We stripped one of the sides off of the crib to make a sidecar bed and turned the room into a playroom/spare room.

With our second, we didn't bother with setting up anything except a bassinet and swing in the living room. She did end up in her own bed at 9 mo.

My third got a swing in the living room coslept with us. Poor kid didn't even get a playroom.LOL

This 4th one...I'm debating on the swing. He might just get a blanket on the floor of the living room.

We just did our daughter's room though. She's 6. It was so much fun to pick, out paint with her and go shopping for comforters and rugs. Next is curtains. It's much more fun when they're older and can participate.