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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a home design lover and mom of two, with one more on the way in January 2027. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, design tips, occasional sewing and crafty projects, and de-stressing goals.

I show you how to create a beautiful home that still works with kids!

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nursery
Showing posts with label nursery. Show all posts

1.25.2025

Strawberry floral and gingham little girl room!

Four years ago we finished Lucy's nursery in the "pointy room" upstairs. This house has four bedrooms with closets plus this room and the basement, which sounds like a lot but nothing is perfectly laid out for traditional family living (e.g. all bedrooms on the same floor, or kids upstairs and primary suite downstairs)... and this room is only accessible through my bedroom! Won't always work, but for now (she's four and I'm single), it works great. 

I've made a few updates over time (like these pegs for hanging clothes instead of a closet), but she slept in the crib until recently. (It was great. She never tried to climb out, either!) But this summer I found a charming vintage (c. 2002) daybed on Facebook and repainted it, and just now I finally found the perfect bedding and accessories. "Big girl" room complete!

Lucy's Big (Little) Girl Bedroom Update

The pointy ceiling and low walls add a lot of drama!


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2.02.2022

3.5 years later: Otto's nursery/bedroom reveal!

It is taking me way, way too long to reach this point and write this post! Anyone who knows me would assume that I would’ve been all over the first baby nursery thing four years ago when I was pregnant with Otto. I really wish I had! I’ve many times been jealous of people who get to plan and decorate nurseries while still pregnant, without a baby or toddler to deal with, and I’ve never done that.

When I got pregnant with Otto we were living in and had just finished our first fixer upper house, which would’ve been a great place to bring him home to, but we were so anxious to be ready to buy this house that we sold that one and moved in with my parents… Then we realized we would not be able to buy this house on our timeline so we moved into a one-bedroom apartment. That’s where Otto was born, and he slept in the bassinet in our room and his dresser was in the living room. Then we moved into this house when he was about two months old and our lives became very stressful and full of house projects... and his room was the walk-through to the garage and had a nonworking fireplace in it and was drafty and funky. I shared his crib/rocking chair wall (latest here) some, but I didn’t like the rug and/or curtains and there was really only the one wall to show etc. etc. etc. etc. (complaining). Then last winter we moved our bedrooms upstairs and he got one of the best rooms in the house! West-facing windows, small but certainly not too small for a baby/toddler. It had been my office in the beginning of COVID and it was great for that too.

We also started doing Lucy's room last winter too, and our room, and Otto's room was not bad because it had everything he needed and even some special personal things like art. But there were a few things that I wanted to do to finish it, and I only just now have! With a couple of little DIY projects recently done and a cool antique shelf I finally found, I have finished Otto's room!
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7.15.2021

DIY painted peg row instead of closet in Lucy's nursery

So happy with this solution! Lucy's charming nursery is a funky sort of bonus room that doesn't have a closet. 

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5.31.2021

Kid wall bookshelf storage solution (and what not to do!)

Otto‘s room is almost done! The shelves were one of the last things. His room doesn’t have a lot of wall space and I was struggling to store books, even a few of them. (We keep most of them in the living room.) For a while we just kept a basket of books next to the rocking chair, but it was always overflowing. There’s just this little wall space above the heater vent so it was tricky to find a shelf for there. I’m sure a lot of other kids rooms are lacking in wall/storage space, so this bookshelf method is really helpful for a lot of people!

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5.17.2021

Fairytale baby girl nursery reveal! So-called pointy room before, after, and sources

Hooray! I am so excited to finally reveal this room and share all the details! Last December/January, we turned this mysterious paneled extra room off our bedroom into a charming nursery for Lucy, thus creating a 5th bedroom and making enough space for all of us upstairs. It took a while to "finish," but now, it is beautiful!

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1.11.2021

DIY custom patterned fabric Roman shade tutorial!!!

Possibly my favorite project of the year!!! though I started it in 2020 and just finished installing it now, so I'm not sure what year. I am SO happy with how this DIY custom fabric Roman shade came out!

I wanted to add pattern to Lucy's room but because the back wall is so small and has a pointed ceiling, there wasn't room for curtains and art, and curtains can look funny on unique windows anyway. I'm very particular about the pattern and color we bring in here and I didn't expect to find the right thing from a custom window treatment company (or want to pay for super custom).

So, I took an affordable fabric blackout Roman shade I found online (same as this one for more sizes) and covered it with the perfect Indian block print cotton. It was super fast, pretty easy (with a few tips I'll share below), and it turned out AWESOME and unique!!!

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8.17.2020

Affordable SNOO Alternatives: Important Update

When Otto was a newborn, we really really struggled with sleep. I shared in this post how I found he slept better/longer napping in the Rock N Play than he did in his flat, plain bassinet, but of course the American Academy of Pediatrics' sleep guidelines say baby needs to be on a flat surface, i.e. NOT a Rock N Play or swing seat, for sleep. (Since Otto was a newborn, the Rock N Play has actually been recalled for safety reasons and we sent ours back in.) Otto also slept better in the wrap, or when we were rocking him.

The SNOO bassinet is an incredible invention by the author of a popular baby sleep book that aims to help babies get and stay asleep safely, on a flat surface, swaddled, in part by sensing their cries and rocking when they start to wake up. It's also very stylish, compared to all the ugly plastic-ey baby stuff out there. Oh, but it's $1,400.

They do have rental options and military discounts, but it wasn't an option for us. So instead, I found this alternative that plugs in and rocks, and lays flat. (A lot of baby rockers/bassinets are not "safe" because they are on a recline rather than flat, and a lot just vibrate, which I don't think really helped much for Otto.)

Well, even though it's only been 2 years, there have been a LOT of updates in the market and safety standards since 2018. I definitely needed to update this post and share what I would choose now!
(See our bedroom sources here)
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3.05.2019

Nursery design--and making it really functional!

We moved twice while I was pregnant with Otto, the last time into a one-bedroom apartment, and then into our house when he was 3 months old... so I wasn't able to decorate a nursery for him until then (and it's still not "finished"). But nursery design can be so fun and cute--but baby rooms also have to be super functional. THAT I am a pro at by now!!

This week on the Your Home Story podcast, Ashley and I talk allllll about style plus function for nurseries. We cover all the essential items you need in the room, ways to add your personal design touches (without going too trendy and doing something you'll be tired of soon), some favorite pieces, and some inspirational baby rooms. We also talk about how to design a nursery that’s perfect for baby but still fits within your home!

Resources and inspirations:
  1. Best picture I have so far of Otto's nursery/progress
  2. My nursery pinboard
  3. My ultimate glider/rocking chair
  4. My affordable rocking chair research blog post and how we like it/review
  5. Baby clothing divider tags
  6. Blue light-free nighlight
  7. Some inspiraation rooms we talked about:
    1. @carpendaughter’s playful nursery
    2. @price_landing’s elegant, muted nursery (and a recent update here)
    3. DIY Playbook’s larger space with great nursery to grow into
    4. Cassie Bustamante’s wallpapered nursery closet and simple built-in shelves
Here's a favorite very elegant nursery by @price_landing on Instagram. (I mean, make the bed bigger and I would love this room for myself!)

You can find us on our blogs or connect with each of us on Instagram:

We love to hear from you! Join our Facebook group here!

Listen here or in your podcast app!
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9.24.2018

Nursery progress and Newton Baby crib mattress review

If you've been following along with our house-selling and house-hunting journey, you know it was really hard for me that I couldn't work on our baby's nursery while I was pregnant! I think most new moms get to do that maybe halfway through the pregnancy? At that point in mine, we were living in my old bedroom at my parents' house with all of our stuff in a storage unit, and then when I was 7.5 months pregnant we moved into a 1-bedroom apartment, so still no nursery.

I found out about Newton Baby and their breathable, washable!, hypo-allergenic crib mattress way before I was ready to put together Otto's room. But I jumped on the opportunity to try it out and it sat in storage for months! Now we've put together his nursery and he sleeps on it every night and nap, and I'm so happy with it!

Newton Baby provided a mattress for review for this post.

 This post contains affiliate links.

I didn't know much about baby mattress options before motherhood, but I figured I'd want something free of harsh chemicals. That was about it. I hadn't done any of the research I have now about baby sleep and safety. Now, as a mom (and as Otto has started flipping over and sleeping on his belly a lot), I'm so glad that we have not only a hypoallergenic, nontoxic and non-off-gassing (Greenguard Gold Certified), latex-free mattress, we also have the most breathable one out there!

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8.23.2018

Rocking chair resolution: the one we chose for Otto's nursery, and progress

A couple months ago I posted a round-up of 14 cute rocking chairs that aren't crazy expensive. I had been researching them for months but we didn't have a place for one in our apartment, so I finally just bought one recently. The verdict: we love it!! Nicest chair we've owned in a long time, and so cute in the nursery! (Which is coming along, progress pics below!)

This post contains affiliate links.

Check out that post to see the ones I found and considered. I ended up going with my #1 pick from last fall... the DaVinci Piper glider in cream.

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6.14.2018

14 stylish, affordable rocking chairs - nursery decor

I have been excited to decorate a nursery for a long, long time now, and we will finally be moving into our house in a few weeks! We've made it this far (8 weeks with Otto) without one--we store extra baby stuff in the hall closet, and his changing table/dresser is in a corner of the living room--and it's been fine, so I was questioning recently about what else we'll need.

I picked out a rocking chair months ago when I was making mood boards, but now I was questioning if we needed one more big thing and if it would be useful past the newborn stage. I shared that question on this post on Instagram and the response was overwhelming--YES!!! So many people said they loved theirs and use it every day, even for bigger babies and toddlers.

But I've also seen comments that it's hard to find rocking chairs that are more affordable than the chicest $800+ ones... lucky for you, I've been comparing options for months for our nursery and I have lots of ideas!
Source

There are lots of options for stylish rocking chairs under or around $300, if you know where to look. I found all 14 of these and linked them in the graphic below at the lowest price sources I could find. There are a couple splurges on there, but nothing as expensive as the ones you see in designer portfolio nurseries.

Only problem is, I was sure I was set on rocker #1 for Otto's nursery, till I did some more research for this post and found a few more choices!

Rocker or glider? Exposed wood or hidden base? Some of these even come with ottomans! Lots of choices. Many come in several colors, but I chose my faves in beige and grey below. So versatile.

Inspiration image sources (clockwise): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

You can also shop all of them here!

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4.16.2018

Real simple IKEA hack - Hemnes dresser to changing table update for the nursery

It has been too long since I've done a DIY project or house update! We have our own apartment now so I have a little freedom and have been hanging art, etc. (see updates on Instagram) but we don't have a lot of room to work with and are trying not to buy new furniture until we have our next house.

The exception is baby stuff. We have a crib and I've done some nursery mood board-ing, but we don't have room for it yet so have this bassinet set up and most of the baby stuff is in our big hall closet built-ins.

I knew I needed a dresser for baby clothes and more... I dreamed of a medium wood tone mid-century one, but couldn't find one the right width on Craigslist and didn't want to spend $$$$$ on a new one when the style for the nursery might change at the next house. So, I bought an IKEA Hemnes on Craiglist and did a minor IKEA hack on it to make it look good in our current place!

The Hemnes is a nice traditional style line, but I haaaate the big black cartoon-ey bug eye handles they come with. (I changed them out for a pull style on our Hemnes bathroom vanity--big improvement.) For this dresser, I thought about a pull or wider handle, but didn't feel like drilling the second holes... so this is a really easy project!

I looked at different knob options and thought about hexagons, midcentury look cones, and more... but ended up going with this simple modern "finger pull." I got a pack of 10 so I might use them on something else, too. I really like them!
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