Living in a One Bedroom with a Baby on the Way
So, you just renewed your lease to your one bedroom apartment, and now you find out that you’re expecting a little one. That’s what happened to me, at least. Initially, I thought I would need to sublet my apartment and find another one that was bigger in order to account for my newborn. With a little bit of research and a lot of creative energy I soon realized that I could definitely make this work.
Whether you don’t want to move because you love your tiny apartment, or can’t move because you just renewed your lease, I’m going to make this easy for you.
Step 1: Don’t panic! You can totally make this work. Reassess all of the spaces in your home and consider if you’re really using them efficiently. When I say all of the spaces, I really mean all of the spaces! This includes closets, corners, nooks, hallways, the works.
Are there ways that you could be using your space more efficiently? Take a look around and really look. Do you really need two dressers, do you really need a night table that size, do you really need all of the clothes that you have. Is it time to purge?
In my scenario, I lived in a small 8 foot by 10 foot 1 bedroom apartment in which there was 1 medioum sized step-in closet -- meaning you could step into the closet and reach around the back and the sides of the closet, but it wasn’t a true walk-in. This closet was the only closet in the ENTIRE APARTMENT, best believe it was maximized. To make room for my baby, I found the smallest mini crib that could still fit a growing child and cleaned out a corner of the room to make room for it. Previously, I had a 2x4 dresser in the corner with some sweaters. I did some Marie Kondo-ing, and moved the items from that dresser to other locations et voila, space. Not a lot of space, but space.
Don’t worry if you can’t fit a full-size crib, babies are tiny for a while and a mini crib will do. Yes, that’s a thing! Now, there are a lot of mini cribs, you’ll have to check the dimensions of the crib before purchasing to make sure it fits in the space. For our space, we measured down to the inch and chose the Bloom Baby Alma Mini because it was 6 inches slimmer than the Babyletto Origami and we needed every inch of space. Our baby was born at 21 inches (average height) and was able to stay in his mini crib up until he was 14 months old without issue.
In my research, I was so very inspired by these amazing tiny nurseries:
Step 2: Think minimal! Remember this: Babies don’t actually need all of the things they tell you they need. Even parent’s with a dedicated nursery keep the baby in their rooms for a majority of the first year. That being said, what do you actually NEED in your nursery space?
Crib
Crib sheet
Storage for diapers, wipes, burp clothes, onesies, etc.
Sound machine
Black out curtains
Baby monitor
That’s really all for the most part. If you can fit a rocking chair or stool, it’s definitely nice to have, but now there are these RockerMamas that basically turn any seat into a rocking chair, so you could really just use your bed!
With a little bit of finesse and creativity, you can make this space as beautiful as a full-fledged nursery.
Follow me on Pinterest for my favorite tiny nursery options.
Step 3: Think vertical across the board. There’s a lot of moving around that will need to happen to make space for your new addition. You’ll need to really channel your creative energy to think about ways to add purpose to wasted space and reinvent ways to save on floor space.
A great rule of thumb when trying to maximize a small space is to think vertically. Maximize floor space with tall furniture and wall-mounted shelves. Get creative with how you do that by sourcing pretty shelves, or using a bit of creative energy to turn an unconventional item into wall mounted storage.
Step 4: Think Ahead.
When your child gets a bit older and begins to crawl, you will need to think about how to maximize other spaces in your home to allow for play. Turn your living room into a space that converts from adult use, to baby-friendly with:
Still need help? Let me help you design the most magical tiny nursery.
