Minimalist Nursery Tour

Now that we're getting closer to being prepared for baby boy to make his arrival, I wanted to share with you all a quick tour of his room.

I would describe the style of our nursery as "minimalist," although I know that for plenty, the idea of having a room for the baby at all is completely at odds with the idea of minimalism, let alone all the baby stuff that's inside it. But for me, my biggest priority in designing my home is to make it a home that I enjoy and that functions well for my purposes--and varying degrees of minimalism seem to suit those purposes well on occasion.

I should have taken "before" photos of the room, as transforming it into its current state was a process! Previously, this was the spare bedroom in our apartment, and it contained a bunkbed and another twin bed--it was our guest room, or really, more accurately, "bunk room," and came in handy for various short-term guests that needed a place to stay temporarily, and we liked that we had simple sleeping quarters to offer to someone who needed them. We've actually had a surprising number of strangers end up in our bunk room for a night or two over the past couple of years...our longest guest stayed three months!

However, with this new phase of life, I was no longer interested in dedicating a room in our small apartment to the occasional houseguest, since I'd rather devote the space to someone who will be living here day-in-and-day-out. My idea is that the baby will sleep in our room until I feel comfortable and safe enough to have him sleep in the other room, but in the meantime, even if he doesn't sleep there at night, it's much more convenient to have all of his stuff organized in a separate room. We dismantled the bunk bed and kept only the bottom bunk--so we will still have one bed to offer when needed.

Notes on the tour:

- I requested diapers at my baby shower, and man, my friends delivered! Very happy to have a variety of diaper sizes already prepared for the upcoming months!

- The song that I handlettered and added to the inside of the wardrobe door is one that's very precious to Angel and I, and somewhere along the way in this pregnancy we chose it as the one song for our boy. The whole song is great, and I recommend looking it up and having a listen, but the lyrics that I wrote out are:

Let mercy lead
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach
Beyond the wisdom of this age
Into the foolishness of God
That foolishness will save
Those who believe
Although their foolish hearts may break
They will find peace
And I'll meet you in that place
Where mercy leads 

- The only things in this room that Angel and I purchased ourselves for the baby are the crib and accompanying crib stuff, and the Calvin College onesie--that onesie was actually purchased, in faith, slightly before this baby existed. Everything else is a hand-me-down or was given to us sometime along this journey. Even the mini-hangers in the closet came to us from my little sister's closet clean-out session! We are so, so very thankful for how our community has met little needs and wants for this boy before he's even been born--both our community here and our community in the USA. I think it's hard to even accurately communicate how grateful we are for those who have thought of us and have helped provide for our boy in a way that we honestly know we never could have done on our own. We have the best family and friends ever, y'all.

- I realize that the oceanic theme is very...subtle, at this point. Mostly just seen in the colors of the bedding and rug and curtain, and in my three sea creatures on the wall. I may do more painting or handlettering as time goes on to add a bit more to the walls. Because we rent, painting and nail holes are something I want to avoid. I also hope to, later on, discover some cool natural wooden toys to add when he's older. I'll be honest, I've been in love with wooden toys for about as long as I can remember. Even while living in Michigan and attending craft shows without a baby in sight to buy for, I would find myself magnetically pulled to the booths with naturally finished wooden boats and trucks and animals and blocks and puzzles. 

What do you think of the space? Is there any particular baby item that you have a special weakness for?