City Living: Closet Babies

City living! "Location, location, location" often means sacrificing space. A few teal accents and man-chair replacement turned a bachelor's San Francisco industrial loft into a cozy space for two. It sometimes felt like a game of Tetris organizing our apartment, making use of every nook and cranny. When we learned our duo was soon to be a party-of-3, we started getting creative i.e. I started nesting. Where to put a baby?...

Well, we had closet. It was a unique space, just wide enough to move around in with a little nook off to one side. We removed all the clothes which ended up in an armoire in our living room (you make do). After we pulled the shelving out, I painted the closet a soft-white using FrogTape to outline stripes which I painted pink of course! Then my husband took a picture of me in front of it that we used for our baby announcement :)

I spent a lot of time researching mini-cribs and changing tables, I had to find ones that would fit. Finally I found the Bloom Alma Mini Crib. It's the perfect city livin' crib and folds down to the size of a small radiator. I'm not going to lie, it ain't cheap especially after you add a mattress but it was the only thing on the market that would work in the space. So to Craigslist I went! I eventually found one, ordered some sample paint from the manufacture, touched up a few teeth marks and voilà, good as new! As for the changing table, I wanted something simple, functional and inexpensive. I chose the South Shore Angel Changing Table. I used black tape to mark the dimensions to ensure a proper fit and spacing before making a final decision.

     

After some complimenting accessories and new rug, we had ourselves a baby nook! 

 

I had one final space to complete. I needed a small swivel chair to fit into a tiny corner. After an exhausting search, I found the Babyletto Madison Swivel Glider, again not cheap but worth every penny! It was perfect for nursing and rocking my little one to sleep, she is now 1 year old and it's still our favorite place to read books and cuddle before bedtime. Now, for the DIY bargain find of the day: Ikea spice rack book shelves! Just a few bucks each and you could totally paint them to match your nursery.

    

So there you have it, closet turned baby nook! 

Even if you don't live in a city loft, you could still utilize a closet in a nursery to create more living space. Check out what my good friend, Lauren did by putting their crib in a small closet. She created a custom backdrop made with a wood-flooring-kit from Home Depot, stained and nailed together, finished off with her little boy's name in letters from Pottery Barn. Love, love her style and DIY ideas!